Volver (2006)
Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave
BY BEATRIZ CABALLERO RODRIGUEZ
From the outset, Pedro Almodóvar’s film Volver (2006) tackles the topics of memory and trauma across three generations of women. As the title Volver (meaning to return, to come back) indicates, this film is marked by a strong sense of disjointed time where the past refuses to stay in the past, ghosts refuse to stay buried, traumatic events refuse to be forgotten. Read More…
LOREAK (Flowers, 2014)
Directed by José Mari Goenaga and Jon Garaño
Written by José Mari Goenaga, Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregui
Starring: Nagore Aranburu, Itziar Aizpuru, Itziar Ituño
BY R. MARTÍNEZ
Why do we give flowers to people? Are they a colourful allegory of youth and beauty? Or are they a tangible proof of feelings such as love or perhaps regret? Flowers are the main theme that binds the film Loreak’s female protagonists together. Loreak was filmed in the Basque language and is one of the strongest examples of 2015’s Basque cinema together with Asier Altuna’s enigmatic Amama. Read More…
Todas las mujeres (2013)
Director: Mariano Barroso
Written by: Alejandro Hernández and Mariano Barroso
Starring: Eduard Fernández, Michelle Jenner, Lucía Quintana, María Morales, Petra Martínez, Marta Larralde, Nathalie Poza.
BY REBECCA NAUGHTEN
Adapted from the TV series of the same name in which veterinarian Nacho (Eduard Fernández) interacted with a different woman in each episode, Mariano Barroso’s film compresses the story down into not much more than a 24 hour period wherein Nacho’s life implodes. I’m not going to say what the exact turn of events are, because it’s something that is revealed gradually, but ‘plot’ is also somewhat superfluous to the real point of the film: a study in character. Read More…
Calle Mayor (Main Street, 1953)
Written and directed by Juan Antonio Bardem
Starring: Betsy Blair, José Suárez, Manuel Alexandre
BY R. MARTÍNEZ
The Spanish Civil War has been considered one of the most horrendous events in the recent European history and has been depicted by a plethora of writers, philosophers and artists – Hemingway, Picasso and even Guillermo del Toro. But how much do we know about the thirty-five years General Franco ruled in Spain for? Under what conditions did Spaniards live in the 1940s and 50s, for example? This is a much obscure period, due mainly to Franco’s protectionist attitude towards international politics.
La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly’s Tongue, 1999)
Directed by José Luis Cuerda
Written by Rafael Azcona, José Luis Cuerda and Manuel Rivas
Starring: Fernándo Fernán Gómez, Manuel Lozano, Guillermo Toledo.
BY R. MARTÍNEZ
How can a war shape a country and its people? To what extent may social pressure affect the behaviour and political ideas of individuals? And most importantly, can a conflict change dramatically the way a child perceives the world around him? La lengua de las mariposas takes place shortly before the start of the Spanish Civil War, Read More…
El Bola (Pellet, 2000)
Directed by Achero Mañas
Written by Verónica Fernández and Achero Mañas
Starring: Juan José Ballesta, Pablo Galán, Alberto Jiménez, Manuel Morón, Ana Wagener
BY PAUL HUNTER
Playing potentially lethal games with express trains may not be everyone’s idea of fun, but for the eponymous 12 year old boy it’s where he can feel some rare companionship with his peers. It’s also safer, than being with his father. For the boy, nicknamed El Bola (Pellet) after the lucky ball bearing he always carries, is a victim of Read More…
Tierra (Earth, 1996)
Written and directed by Julio Médem
Starring: Carmelo Gómez, Emma Suárez, Karra Elejalde, Silke, Nancho Novo
BY R. MARTÍNEZ
There is a certain amount of complexity in Julio Medem’s films. The Basque director has developed his own fictional universe through a very recognisable range of elements which often include non-chronological narration, incomplete stories and emotionally unstable characters. Medem – who graduated in Medicine and Read More…
Balada Triste de Trompeta (The Last Circus, 2010)
Written and directed by Alex de la Iglesia.
Starring: Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang, Manuel Tafallé
BY ANDRÉS ROMERO – JODAR
During the first half of the twentieth century, Europe was engaged in an atrocious fight against fascism. Fortunately, the Second World War put an end to some of those terror regimes, but sadly enough, in the Iberian Peninsula the wrong guys won the war. For more than forty years, both Portugal under Salazar and Spain under Franco Read More…
Ana y los Lobos (Ana and the Wolves, 1973)
Directed by Carlos Saura
Written by Rafael Azcona and Carlos Saura
Starring: Geraldine Chaplin, Fernando Fernán Gómez, José María Prada, José Vivó
A mansion in the countryside, three eccentric brothers, a death-obsessed mother and Ana, the new babysitter. These are the main characters in Carlos Saura’s 1973 film “Ana y los lobos”. When young English Ana (Geraldine Chaplin) accepts a job as a babysitter in the outskirts of Madrid she becomes the witness of her new employers’ Read More…
Alas de Mariposa (Butterfly Wings, 1991)
Directed by Juanma Bajo Ulloa
Written by Eduardo Bajo Ulloa and Juanma Bajo Ulloa
Starring: Silvia Munt, Fernando Valverde, Susana García, Laura Vaquero
“Alas de Mariposa”’s opening scene takes place in a hospital’s maternity ward. There Carmen (Silvia Munt) has given birth to a baby girl called Ami. Far from being happy though, Carmen feels disappointed for not having brought a male offspring into the world. Six years later, Ami has grown up an introvert little girl who loves drawing Read More…
Spanish Film Review Club 