Madrid — Barcelona-based Filmax has acquired world sales rights to “La Innocencia” (“The Innocence”), an uncompromising rites of passage feature which has been sparking good buzz over the summer off sneak previews in Spain.
An integrated film-tv production-distribution-sales operation, Filmax will also handle the film’s Spanish distribution.
Filmax’s Ivan Díaz will introduce “The Innocence” to buyers at a private screening at Toronto before it world premieres in competition at San Sebastian’s New Directors section, the Spanish festival’s main sidebar.
The feature debut of Spain’s Lucía Alemany confirms yet another talent-to-track young woman director based or trained in Barcelona.
Featuring Sergi López, Laia Marull and network À Punt, and Catalan public broadcaster TV3 and the Catalan Institute of Cultural Industries (Icec).
Penned by Laia Soler and Alemany, and drawing heavily on Alemany’s own experiences, “The Innocence” kicks off with a knowing portrait of Lis, 15, hanging out...
An integrated film-tv production-distribution-sales operation, Filmax will also handle the film’s Spanish distribution.
Filmax’s Ivan Díaz will introduce “The Innocence” to buyers at a private screening at Toronto before it world premieres in competition at San Sebastian’s New Directors section, the Spanish festival’s main sidebar.
The feature debut of Spain’s Lucía Alemany confirms yet another talent-to-track young woman director based or trained in Barcelona.
Featuring Sergi López, Laia Marull and network À Punt, and Catalan public broadcaster TV3 and the Catalan Institute of Cultural Industries (Icec).
Penned by Laia Soler and Alemany, and drawing heavily on Alemany’s own experiences, “The Innocence” kicks off with a knowing portrait of Lis, 15, hanging out...
- 9/4/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Sergi López and Laia Marull co-star in rites-of-passage drama “La Inocencia” (Innocence), the feature debut of Lucía Alemany, a key name in a generation of often very young women cineastes now energizing Catalan cinema.
Starring Carmen Arrufet in her first lead role, and Joel Bosqued (“Que baje dios y lo vea”), “Innocence” marks a follow-up to Alemany’s multi-prized short “14 Years and a Day.” Produced by Morena Films, and a take on adolescent angst, budding sexuality and daughter-mother conflict set in a nosy Spanish village where privacy is near impossible, the short marked out Alemany, an alum of Barcelona’s Escac film school, as very much a director to track.
In production from Aug. 6 in Alemany’s home village of Traiguera, in the region of Castellón, central eastern Spain, “Innocence” comes with strong backing. Alemany has been championed by Iciar Bollaín, one of Spain’s most foremost women directors,...
Starring Carmen Arrufet in her first lead role, and Joel Bosqued (“Que baje dios y lo vea”), “Innocence” marks a follow-up to Alemany’s multi-prized short “14 Years and a Day.” Produced by Morena Films, and a take on adolescent angst, budding sexuality and daughter-mother conflict set in a nosy Spanish village where privacy is near impossible, the short marked out Alemany, an alum of Barcelona’s Escac film school, as very much a director to track.
In production from Aug. 6 in Alemany’s home village of Traiguera, in the region of Castellón, central eastern Spain, “Innocence” comes with strong backing. Alemany has been championed by Iciar Bollaín, one of Spain’s most foremost women directors,...
- 8/20/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Four of Spain’s veteran prize-winning directors will vie for the Golden Shell award in the official selection’s competition lineup at the 66th San Sebastian International Film Festival, organizers unveiled Friday.
That means that the full list of Spanish films in this year’s main section is now known.
Iciar Bollain, whose Take My Eyes won best acting awards for Luis Tosar and Laia Marull, takes her third swing at the Spanish festival’s top award with Yuli, based on a screenplay by Paul Laverty that is inspired by Carlos Acosta’s autobiographical No Way Home, the story of a black dancer ...
That means that the full list of Spanish films in this year’s main section is now known.
Iciar Bollain, whose Take My Eyes won best acting awards for Luis Tosar and Laia Marull, takes her third swing at the Spanish festival’s top award with Yuli, based on a screenplay by Paul Laverty that is inspired by Carlos Acosta’s autobiographical No Way Home, the story of a black dancer ...
- 7/20/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Four of Spain’s veteran prize-winning directors will vie for the Golden Shell award in the official selection’s competition lineup at the 66th San Sebastian International Film Festival, organizers unveiled Friday.
That means that the full list of Spanish films in this year’s main section is now known.
Iciar Bollain, whose Take My Eyes won best acting awards for Luis Tosar and Laia Marull, takes her third swing at the Spanish festival’s top award with Yuli, based on a screenplay by Paul Laverty that is inspired by Carlos Acosta’s autobiographical No Way Home, the story of a black dancer ...
That means that the full list of Spanish films in this year’s main section is now known.
Iciar Bollain, whose Take My Eyes won best acting awards for Luis Tosar and Laia Marull, takes her third swing at the Spanish festival’s top award with Yuli, based on a screenplay by Paul Laverty that is inspired by Carlos Acosta’s autobiographical No Way Home, the story of a black dancer ...
- 7/20/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hubert Sauper's Darwin's Nightmare Head-on, Javier Bardem, Imelda Staunton: European Film Awards 2004 European Film Academy Documentary – Prix Arte Aileen: Life And Death Of A Serial Killer by Nick Broomfield & Joan Churchill / UK * Darwin's Nightmare by Hubert Sauper / Austria / France / Belgium Die SPIELWÜTIGEN (Addicted to Acting) by Andres Veiel / Germany La Pelota Vasca, La Piel Contra La Piedra (Basque Ball, Skin Against Stone) by Julio Medem / Spain Le Monde Selon Bush (The World According to Bush) by William Karel / France Mahssomim (Checkpoint) by Yoav Shamir / Israel The Last Victory by John Appel / The Netherlands Touch The Sound by Thomas Riedelsheimer / Germany / UK / Finland European Film Academy Short Film – Prix Uip * Prix Uip Ghent: J'attendrai le suivant… by Philippe Orreindy / France Prix Uip Valladolid: Les Baisers des Autres by Carine Tardieu / France Prix Uip Angers: Poveste La Scara "C" by Cristian Nemescu / Romania Prix Uip Berlin: Un Cartus De Kent Si Un Pachet De Cafea...
- 11/26/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Te doy mis ojos (Take My Eyes) is a drama/romance directed by Iciar Bollain and jointly written by Iciar Bollain and Alicia Luna. The film stars Laia Marull, and Luis Tosar, and is about a woman who suffers abuse from a husband whom she still dearly loves.
The beginning of the film says it all: Pilar (Marull) scrambling about her apartment, waking her son from his sleep, with her hand trembling and grabbing anything she could in a short amount of time. When trying to hail a cab was not successful, she and her son took a bus. It was not until she made it to her sister Ana’s (Candela Pena) house; she breaks into tears—she was still in her house shoes. The next day, her sister goes to the apartment to retrieve some of their clothes and sees medical notices of injuries Pilar had suffered. When...
The beginning of the film says it all: Pilar (Marull) scrambling about her apartment, waking her son from his sleep, with her hand trembling and grabbing anything she could in a short amount of time. When trying to hail a cab was not successful, she and her son took a bus. It was not until she made it to her sister Ana’s (Candela Pena) house; she breaks into tears—she was still in her house shoes. The next day, her sister goes to the apartment to retrieve some of their clothes and sees medical notices of injuries Pilar had suffered. When...
- 9/2/2011
- Cinelinx
Sunday February 13th was quite the awards jam. Nicole Kidman was jamming to Katy Perry at the Grammys, Helena Bonham Carter was being crowned at BAFTA, and Javier Bardem was in Madrid winning The Goya to add to his huge statue haul.
Does Penélope Cruz know where his lips have been? He loves to kiss his trophies.
Javiin 2011 with his Goya; Javi in 2008 with his Oscar
'Oh to be a slab of stone / gold plating!' shriek millions of fans in unison.
Javier has won plentiful awards over the years for his in arguable screen presence and acting gift: one Oscar, one BAFTA, one Golden Globe, one Spirit Award, one "actor" from SAG, one Nbr, two Volpi cups from Venice, two European Film Awards, two Gothams, two ADIRCAEs (no, I don't know what that is either) and numerous critics prizes. But it's at the Goyas, the Spanish Oscars, where he reigns supreme.
Does Penélope Cruz know where his lips have been? He loves to kiss his trophies.
Javiin 2011 with his Goya; Javi in 2008 with his Oscar
'Oh to be a slab of stone / gold plating!' shriek millions of fans in unison.
Javier has won plentiful awards over the years for his in arguable screen presence and acting gift: one Oscar, one BAFTA, one Golden Globe, one Spirit Award, one "actor" from SAG, one Nbr, two Volpi cups from Venice, two European Film Awards, two Gothams, two ADIRCAEs (no, I don't know what that is either) and numerous critics prizes. But it's at the Goyas, the Spanish Oscars, where he reigns supreme.
- 2/15/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Francesc Colomer in Agustí Villaronga's Black Bread Álex de la Iglesia Speech: Goyas 2011 Whereas Álex de la Iglesia's A Sad Trumpet Ballad won only two — Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup and Hair — of its fifteen Goya 2011 nominations, Agustí Villaronga's Pa negre / Black Bread won nine of its fourteen nods, among them Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay (also Villaronga), and Best Actress (Nora Navas). Based on a novel by Emili Teixidor, the Catalan-spoken family drama is set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Most Promising Actor Francesc Colomer plays an 11-year-old whose family life has been deeply scarred by the war. Black Bread also earned Laia Marull the Best Supporting Actress Goya. Javier Bardem picked up his fifth Goya — fourth in the Best Actor category — this time for his Oscar-nominated performance as a dying con man in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Biutiful. [...]...
- 2/14/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Black Bread, Buitful, and the other winners of the 2011 Goya Awards (Premios Goyas) have been announced. The 25th Annual Goya Awards “known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain’s main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards.” The full listing of the 2011 Goya Awards (Premios Goyas) winners is below.
Film
Pa negre (Black Bread)
Director
Agustí Villaronga, Pa negre (Black Bread)
New Director
David Pinillos, Bon Apetit
Production Supervision
Cristina Zumárraga, También la lluvia (Even the Rain)
Photography
Antonio Riestra, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Original Screenplay
Chris Sparling, Buried
Adapted Screenplay
Agustí Villaronga, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Art Direction
Ana Alvargonzález, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Leading Actress
Nora Navas, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Leading Actor
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Supporting Actress
Laia Marull, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Supporting Actor
Karra Elejalde, También la lluvia (Even the Rain)
New Actress
Marina Comas,...
Film
Pa negre (Black Bread)
Director
Agustí Villaronga, Pa negre (Black Bread)
New Director
David Pinillos, Bon Apetit
Production Supervision
Cristina Zumárraga, También la lluvia (Even the Rain)
Photography
Antonio Riestra, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Original Screenplay
Chris Sparling, Buried
Adapted Screenplay
Agustí Villaronga, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Art Direction
Ana Alvargonzález, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Leading Actress
Nora Navas, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Leading Actor
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Supporting Actress
Laia Marull, Pa negre (Black Bread)
Supporting Actor
Karra Elejalde, También la lluvia (Even the Rain)
New Actress
Marina Comas,...
- 2/14/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
2010 was the weakest year at the Spanish box office in a decade – proof that the films with the most box office potential fell flat. Actually, very few have performed decently. Ironically the biggest flops and the most coldly received by critics films are the ones top lining the nominations for this year's Spanish Academy Awards, the Goyas. Alex de la Iglesia's “Balada Triste de Trompeta” gathered 15 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Antonio De La Torre), Best Supporting Actress (Terele Pávez) and Best Newcomer Actress (Carolina Bang). “Pan Nere” follows with 14 nominations, the surprise hit by Agustí Villaronga will compete for Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Sergi López), Best Actress (Nora Navas), Best Newcomer Actor (Francesc Colomer) and Best Supporting Actress (Laia Marull). Following Agustí Villaronga's film we find “También la Lluvia” by Icíar Bollaín with 13 nominations fighting for Best Film,...
- 1/18/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
MADRID -- Two of Spain's key female directors, Iciar Bollain and Gracia Querejeta, will provide the only Spanish films in the San Sebastian International Film Festival's Official Section, organizers said Friday as they revealed the first titles for this year's edition.
Bollain, whose "Take My Eyes" was a San Sebastian favorite in 2003 and earned acting awards for Luis Tosar and Laia Marull, will see her much-anticipated "Mataharis" vie for the festival's top honor, the Golden Shell.
"Mataharis" stars Najwa Nimri and Tristan Ulloa in a detective story that leads beyond the thin line that protects the public from the private domain into the intimacy to their own secrets.
With "Seven French Billiard Tables, Querejeta follows her 1999 appearance at the festival with "Cuando vuelvas a mi lado", which won the directorial special mention and best photography nod.
"Billiard" is Querejeta's fifth feature and tells of a woman forced to rebuild her life after her father's death and her husband's strange disappearance.
Bollain, whose "Take My Eyes" was a San Sebastian favorite in 2003 and earned acting awards for Luis Tosar and Laia Marull, will see her much-anticipated "Mataharis" vie for the festival's top honor, the Golden Shell.
"Mataharis" stars Najwa Nimri and Tristan Ulloa in a detective story that leads beyond the thin line that protects the public from the private domain into the intimacy to their own secrets.
With "Seven French Billiard Tables, Querejeta follows her 1999 appearance at the festival with "Cuando vuelvas a mi lado", which won the directorial special mention and best photography nod.
"Billiard" is Querejeta's fifth feature and tells of a woman forced to rebuild her life after her father's death and her husband's strange disappearance.
This Spanish thriller manages to combine fast-paced action with heartwarming sentiment to produce an entertaining popcorn picture with just enough substance to satisfy art house audiences.
The tale of the growing emotional attachment between a young streetwise criminal and the little girl she's been saddled with even as she attempts to evade both the police and some revenge-minded hoods, "Fugitivas" manages to transcend its formulaic aspects, even though it's those very familiar plot devices that could well inspire a Hollywood remake. The film recently received its U.S. premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Newcomer Laia Marull makes an impressive debut in the starring role of Tony, who along with her boyfriend Juanjo and two partners plan to hold up a Madrid bank. Complicating matters is Juanjo's need to pick up his young niece Laura from her prostitute mother and transport her to her flamenco singer farther in the south.
After persuading Tony To rip off their partners and run off with the money, Juanjo winds up betraying her as well. So Tony finds herself fleeing, with Laura in tow, not only from the authorities but also from her former partners, who have trouble believing that she's not in possession of the loot.
The film alternates between violent encounters and lengthy chases, of both the foot and auto variety, and scenes in which Tony attempts to dump her young charge even as she finds herself increasingly devoted to her. She manages to find the aunt of the girl's father, an elderly woman who readily assumes the role of pseudo-grandmother. And when she does finally locate the father, he turns out to be unaware of his daughter's existence -- and completely uninterested.
Director Miguel Hermoso stages the action sequences with visual flair and brisk pacing, and his excellent work is nicely complemented by the handsome widescreen cinematography. Indeed, the film well serves as a Spanish travelogue, with its extensive location shooting of locales ranging from Madrid to the Costa Del Sol.
One wishes that the characterizations had been drawn with more depth -- the title heroines rarely rise above their most obvious characteristics, and the pursuing hoodlums are of the common junkie/near psychopathic hothead variety, but the performers, especially Marull and young Beatriz Coronel, are highly engaging. Even better are veteran Spanish thespians Maria Galiana and Juan Diego, whose savvy performances are filled with the kind of complex grace notes that can only come from decades of experience.
FUGITAVAS
Maestranza Films
Director: Miguel Hermoso
Screenplay: Miguel Hermoso, Oscar Plasencia, Raul Brambilla
Producer: Antonio P. Perez
Cinematography: Tote Trenas
Editor: Blanca Guillem
Music: Antonio Meliveo
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Tony: Laia Marull
Laura: Beatriz Coronel
Raimundo: Juan Diego
Ascension: Maria Galiana
Maxi: Miguel Hermoso Arnao
Moco: Roberto Cairo
Juanjo: Jesus Olmedo
Running time -- 98 minutes
Not rated...
The tale of the growing emotional attachment between a young streetwise criminal and the little girl she's been saddled with even as she attempts to evade both the police and some revenge-minded hoods, "Fugitivas" manages to transcend its formulaic aspects, even though it's those very familiar plot devices that could well inspire a Hollywood remake. The film recently received its U.S. premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Newcomer Laia Marull makes an impressive debut in the starring role of Tony, who along with her boyfriend Juanjo and two partners plan to hold up a Madrid bank. Complicating matters is Juanjo's need to pick up his young niece Laura from her prostitute mother and transport her to her flamenco singer farther in the south.
After persuading Tony To rip off their partners and run off with the money, Juanjo winds up betraying her as well. So Tony finds herself fleeing, with Laura in tow, not only from the authorities but also from her former partners, who have trouble believing that she's not in possession of the loot.
The film alternates between violent encounters and lengthy chases, of both the foot and auto variety, and scenes in which Tony attempts to dump her young charge even as she finds herself increasingly devoted to her. She manages to find the aunt of the girl's father, an elderly woman who readily assumes the role of pseudo-grandmother. And when she does finally locate the father, he turns out to be unaware of his daughter's existence -- and completely uninterested.
Director Miguel Hermoso stages the action sequences with visual flair and brisk pacing, and his excellent work is nicely complemented by the handsome widescreen cinematography. Indeed, the film well serves as a Spanish travelogue, with its extensive location shooting of locales ranging from Madrid to the Costa Del Sol.
One wishes that the characterizations had been drawn with more depth -- the title heroines rarely rise above their most obvious characteristics, and the pursuing hoodlums are of the common junkie/near psychopathic hothead variety, but the performers, especially Marull and young Beatriz Coronel, are highly engaging. Even better are veteran Spanish thespians Maria Galiana and Juan Diego, whose savvy performances are filled with the kind of complex grace notes that can only come from decades of experience.
FUGITAVAS
Maestranza Films
Director: Miguel Hermoso
Screenplay: Miguel Hermoso, Oscar Plasencia, Raul Brambilla
Producer: Antonio P. Perez
Cinematography: Tote Trenas
Editor: Blanca Guillem
Music: Antonio Meliveo
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Tony: Laia Marull
Laura: Beatriz Coronel
Raimundo: Juan Diego
Ascension: Maria Galiana
Maxi: Miguel Hermoso Arnao
Moco: Roberto Cairo
Juanjo: Jesus Olmedo
Running time -- 98 minutes
Not rated...
MADRID -- Take My Eyes, Iciar Bollain's drama about domestic violence, cleaned up at the 18th Goya Awards, earning seven of the 29 honors in an evening that highlighted the growing prevalence of women in the Spanish film industry. Bollain's heart-wrenching tale won not only the best film award for Bollain and Santiago Garcia de Leoniz's production company La Iguana Films, along with Alta Produccion, but all the top honors including those for director (Bollain), actress (Laia Marull), actor (Luis Tosar), supporting actress (Candela Pena) and script (Bollain and Alicia Luna). For the first time, women made a powerful presence at the Goyas by winning not only the director and script nods, but those for new director (Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde for Sleeping Luck) and adapted script (Isabel Coixet for My Life Without Me). Boxoffice success Mortadelo and Filemon: The Great Adventure finished second with five nods, among them production design and editing.
MADRID -- The 51st San Sebastian International Film Festival ended Saturday as it had begun more than a week before, in a cloud of controversy as Dito Tintzszade's German film "Schussangst" won the Gold Shell. Booing broke out as the awards were announced to the press when Iciar Bollain's "Take my Eyes" was passed over for the highest honor at the Spanish festival, despite its two stars -- Laia Marull and Luis Tosar -- winning best actress and best actor honors. Korea's Bong Joon-Ho won the €120,000 ($138,917) new director award for his "Memories of Murder", which also won the best director award, while Tom McCarthy's "The Station Agent" took home the Special Jury Award. The official jury -- which had no chairman because Chazz Palminteri pulled out two days before the festival kicked off -- was limited to two prizes per film, according to rules set for A-level festivals. Juror Silvia Munt told the local press that "the awards for Marull and Tosar were beyond question, and that prevented us from giving the film more prizes. In honor of the truth, you could say that 'Take my Eyes' is the moral winner of the Gold Shell because I have to say that all the jury members were in agreement about it." The controversy was one more bump in what was a rocky festival. A strike at the posh Maria Cristina hotel set the tone for the week as confused and polemic. Julio Medem's documentary about the Basque region's nationalism fanned the flames as the Minister of Culture condemned the film, saying it gave "unfair treatment to the victims of terrorism" without having seen the film.
- 9/29/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This Spanish thriller manages to combine fast-paced action with heartwarming sentiment to produce an entertaining popcorn picture with just enough substance to satisfy art house audiences.
The tale of the growing emotional attachment between a young streetwise criminal and the little girl she's been saddled with even as she attempts to evade both the police and some revenge-minded hoods, "Fugitivas" manages to transcend its formulaic aspects, even though it's those very familiar plot devices that could well inspire a Hollywood remake. The film recently received its U.S. premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Newcomer Laia Marull makes an impressive debut in the starring role of Tony, who along with her boyfriend Juanjo and two partners plan to hold up a Madrid bank. Complicating matters is Juanjo's need to pick up his young niece Laura from her prostitute mother and transport her to her flamenco singer farther in the south.
After persuading Tony To rip off their partners and run off with the money, Juanjo winds up betraying her as well. So Tony finds herself fleeing, with Laura in tow, not only from the authorities but also from her former partners, who have trouble believing that she's not in possession of the loot.
The film alternates between violent encounters and lengthy chases, of both the foot and auto variety, and scenes in which Tony attempts to dump her young charge even as she finds herself increasingly devoted to her. She manages to find the aunt of the girl's father, an elderly woman who readily assumes the role of pseudo-grandmother. And when she does finally locate the father, he turns out to be unaware of his daughter's existence -- and completely uninterested.
Director Miguel Hermoso stages the action sequences with visual flair and brisk pacing, and his excellent work is nicely complemented by the handsome widescreen cinematography. Indeed, the film well serves as a Spanish travelogue, with its extensive location shooting of locales ranging from Madrid to the Costa Del Sol.
One wishes that the characterizations had been drawn with more depth -- the title heroines rarely rise above their most obvious characteristics, and the pursuing hoodlums are of the common junkie/near psychopathic hothead variety, but the performers, especially Marull and young Beatriz Coronel, are highly engaging. Even better are veteran Spanish thespians Maria Galiana and Juan Diego, whose savvy performances are filled with the kind of complex grace notes that can only come from decades of experience.
FUGITAVAS
Maestranza Films
Director: Miguel Hermoso
Screenplay: Miguel Hermoso, Oscar Plasencia, Raul Brambilla
Producer: Antonio P. Perez
Cinematography: Tote Trenas
Editor: Blanca Guillem
Music: Antonio Meliveo
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Tony: Laia Marull
Laura: Beatriz Coronel
Raimundo: Juan Diego
Ascension: Maria Galiana
Maxi: Miguel Hermoso Arnao
Moco: Roberto Cairo
Juanjo: Jesus Olmedo
Running time -- 98 minutes
Not rated...
The tale of the growing emotional attachment between a young streetwise criminal and the little girl she's been saddled with even as she attempts to evade both the police and some revenge-minded hoods, "Fugitivas" manages to transcend its formulaic aspects, even though it's those very familiar plot devices that could well inspire a Hollywood remake. The film recently received its U.S. premiere at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Newcomer Laia Marull makes an impressive debut in the starring role of Tony, who along with her boyfriend Juanjo and two partners plan to hold up a Madrid bank. Complicating matters is Juanjo's need to pick up his young niece Laura from her prostitute mother and transport her to her flamenco singer farther in the south.
After persuading Tony To rip off their partners and run off with the money, Juanjo winds up betraying her as well. So Tony finds herself fleeing, with Laura in tow, not only from the authorities but also from her former partners, who have trouble believing that she's not in possession of the loot.
The film alternates between violent encounters and lengthy chases, of both the foot and auto variety, and scenes in which Tony attempts to dump her young charge even as she finds herself increasingly devoted to her. She manages to find the aunt of the girl's father, an elderly woman who readily assumes the role of pseudo-grandmother. And when she does finally locate the father, he turns out to be unaware of his daughter's existence -- and completely uninterested.
Director Miguel Hermoso stages the action sequences with visual flair and brisk pacing, and his excellent work is nicely complemented by the handsome widescreen cinematography. Indeed, the film well serves as a Spanish travelogue, with its extensive location shooting of locales ranging from Madrid to the Costa Del Sol.
One wishes that the characterizations had been drawn with more depth -- the title heroines rarely rise above their most obvious characteristics, and the pursuing hoodlums are of the common junkie/near psychopathic hothead variety, but the performers, especially Marull and young Beatriz Coronel, are highly engaging. Even better are veteran Spanish thespians Maria Galiana and Juan Diego, whose savvy performances are filled with the kind of complex grace notes that can only come from decades of experience.
FUGITAVAS
Maestranza Films
Director: Miguel Hermoso
Screenplay: Miguel Hermoso, Oscar Plasencia, Raul Brambilla
Producer: Antonio P. Perez
Cinematography: Tote Trenas
Editor: Blanca Guillem
Music: Antonio Meliveo
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Tony: Laia Marull
Laura: Beatriz Coronel
Raimundo: Juan Diego
Ascension: Maria Galiana
Maxi: Miguel Hermoso Arnao
Moco: Roberto Cairo
Juanjo: Jesus Olmedo
Running time -- 98 minutes
Not rated...
- 12/11/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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