Stefan Zweig's novel "Fear" was the basis of this Spanish film. Unfortunately, the adaptation by Gonzalo Suarez, who also directed, bears no resemblance to the original material, or can compare favorably with the Roberto Rosellini's take on the book.
A theatrical troupe arrives in the gorgeous city of Oviedo, in Northern Spain, to begin rehearsing for a revival of a classic play by Leopoldo Alas, "The Regent's Wife", which has been turned into an event because of the reinterpretation of the text. The cast is headed by Sebastian, married to the leading lady, Mariola. Sebastian catches sight of the mayor's wife, Emma, who is working on her thesis. At first she feels repulsed by the actor's advances, but ultimately falls for the man that can whisper caressing words to her ears.
The mayor, Ernesto, is no angel. He is also having an affair with a woman that is in charge of the liaison with the local press. To complicate things, his mother-in-law, Mina, a wacky lady, acts as a procurer for the thespian's quest to bed her daughter, with great success. Thrown into this milieu is Alvaro, an actor that comes along to Oviedo because of his love to Mariola.
The problem with the film is the bad acting on the part of the lead actors, which reflects heavily on the direction of Mr. Suarez. The wonderful Carmelo Lopez is totally wrong as Sebastian. Aitana Sanchez-Gijon emotes to the high heavens in her take of Mariola. Jorge Sanz, one of the most overrated actors from Spain looks sad most of the time. The only exception to the general bad acting is the Emma of Barbara Goenaga.
On top of all that, the film is pretentious. Inside jokes about Marlon Brando, or even the reverence of Alvaro for the statue of Woody Allen, or a silly reference to "Sunset Boulevard" does not help the film at all.
A theatrical troupe arrives in the gorgeous city of Oviedo, in Northern Spain, to begin rehearsing for a revival of a classic play by Leopoldo Alas, "The Regent's Wife", which has been turned into an event because of the reinterpretation of the text. The cast is headed by Sebastian, married to the leading lady, Mariola. Sebastian catches sight of the mayor's wife, Emma, who is working on her thesis. At first she feels repulsed by the actor's advances, but ultimately falls for the man that can whisper caressing words to her ears.
The mayor, Ernesto, is no angel. He is also having an affair with a woman that is in charge of the liaison with the local press. To complicate things, his mother-in-law, Mina, a wacky lady, acts as a procurer for the thespian's quest to bed her daughter, with great success. Thrown into this milieu is Alvaro, an actor that comes along to Oviedo because of his love to Mariola.
The problem with the film is the bad acting on the part of the lead actors, which reflects heavily on the direction of Mr. Suarez. The wonderful Carmelo Lopez is totally wrong as Sebastian. Aitana Sanchez-Gijon emotes to the high heavens in her take of Mariola. Jorge Sanz, one of the most overrated actors from Spain looks sad most of the time. The only exception to the general bad acting is the Emma of Barbara Goenaga.
On top of all that, the film is pretentious. Inside jokes about Marlon Brando, or even the reverence of Alvaro for the statue of Woody Allen, or a silly reference to "Sunset Boulevard" does not help the film at all.