Spain

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The first feature film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is controversial and shocking, especially the time it was made (although not that shocking in Spain), but also very funny. Basically it is a movie about nothing, although it shows a pop-culture that Almodóvar inhabited.

We see how Pepi (Carmen Maura) is raped by a policeman (Félix Rotaeta) after she offers sex, although tries to back out, so he would not report her illegal cannabis plants. Pepi seeks revenge and she lets her friends beat the guy up. It seems they have beaten his twin brother so Pepi must come up with another plan. She tries this through the policeman’s wife named Luci (Eva Siva) who turns out to be a masochist, perfect for Pepi’s friend Bom (Olvido Gara) who likes to disparage her.Read More »

Elvira is travelling through the French countryside with her friend Genevieve, searching for the lost tomb of a medieval murderess and possible vampire, Countess Wandessa. They find a likely site in the castle of Waldemar Daninsky, who invites the women to stay as long as they like. As Waldemar shows Elvira the tomb that supposedly houses the countess, she accidentally causes the vampire to come back to life, hungrier than ever. Daninsky has a hidden secret of his own, but will it be enough to save the two girls from becoming Wandessa’s next victims?Read More »

His teachers, coaches, childhood friends and Barça teammates, together with journalists, writers and prominent figures from the history of football, come together in a restaurant to analyze and pick apart Messi’s personality both on and off the field, and to look back at some of the most significant moments in his life. Viewed from Álex de la Iglesia’s unique perspective, Messi recreates the player’s childhood and teenage years, from his very first steps, with a football always at his feet, through to the decision to leave Rosario for Barcelona, the separation from his family, and the role played in his career by individuals such as Ronaldinho, Rijkaard, Rexach and Guardiola.Read More »

AMG: Based on the best-selling novel by Isabel Pisano, Spanish actress-turned-director Maria “Luna” Lidon’s The Life offers an intimate glimpse into the experiences of male and female prostitutes in a variety of culturally diverse settings including Budapest, Madrid, Paris, and Las Vegas. Dispersed among the facts are performances from Daryl Hannah, in the role of an aging thespian who has taken to supplementing her income by dabbling in the world’s oldest profession, and her neighbor (Denise Richards), an anthropology student who approaches her for help after her grant money is depleted. The Life also features Joaquim de Almeida in a supporting role.Read More »

In the twilight of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, an 8-year-old orphan and her two sisters find shelter in the house of their stern aunt and try their best to acclimatize to a new reality. Can they summon up the courage to grow up?Read More »

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A dysfunctional family in Madrid: Gloria is a cleaning lady, hooked on No-Doze, living in a crowded flat with Antonio, her surly husband, a cabby who adores an aging German singer he used to chauffeur; he’s also a forger. One teen son sells heroin, the other sleeps with men. Her mother-in-law keeps bottled water and cupcakes under lock and key, selling them to the family. Two alcoholic writers cook up a plot to sell a manuscript as Hitler’s memoirs, if Antonio will transcribe it in Hitler’s hand. He agrees, so they ask the German singer to play the role of the original owner since her past affinity for Nazi memorabilia makes her a likely candidate. Meanwhile, Gloria has given away one son to a sex-crazed dentist, and grandma picks up a pet lizard. Can this chaos be tamed?Read More »

Jose Manuel Gomez Perales, “El Jaro”, lives alone in Madrid, with no other company than his band and his “girlfriends.” One day he meets Mercedes, a prostitute of Mexican origin. Mercedes falls for him and offers him her home to take him apart from his life of crime.Read More »

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Pedro Almodovar’s films are a struggle between real and fake heartbreak–between tragedy and soap opera. They’re usually funny, too, which increases the tension. You don’t know where to position yourself while you’re watching a film like “All About My Mother,” and that’s part of the appeal: Do you take it seriously, like the characters do, or do you notice the bright colors and flashy art decoration, the cheerful homages to Tennessee Williams and “All About Eve” (1950) and see it as a parody? Even Almodovar’s camera sometimes doesn’t know where to stand: When the heroine’s son writes in his journal, the camera looks at his pen from the point of view of the paper.Read More »

Reckless (Spanish: Balarrasa) is a 1951 Spanish drama film directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde. It was entered into the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.

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Javier Mendoza, a Spanish missionary known as Balarrasa, recalls his life while waiting for the worst after being trapped in a snowstorm in Alaska. Of disorderly life in his youth, during the Civil War he suffered a traumatic event, when playing cards with the guard that played with his companion. He loses and dies while replacing him. Followed by the sensation of guilt, he decides to straighten its life and enters the seminary.Read More »