THE WALTER READE THEATER

Spanish Cinema Now

Dec 8 - 28, 2004


left: Tuna and Chocolate

Presented in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Film Institute (ICAA) of the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX).

Each December we dedicate the lion's share of our program to both new and classic Spanish cinema. When the series began in 1992, the film industry in Spain was facing a deep crisis; production was down, and domestic audiences seemed to be staying away from Spanish films. The past few years, however, have witnessed a renaissance: new talents have successfully reached Spain's younger generation, making it perhaps the most loyal of all domestic audiences for Spanish films. Established directors such as Carlos Saura and Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón continue to make fresh, provocative works, while several Spanish directors who debuted within the past few years - Iciar Bollain, Gracia Querejeta, Julio Medem - have shown that the promise of their first works has more than been fulfilled with each subsequent offering. The series also includes a number of impressive film debuts by Santi Amodeo, Pablo Carbonell and Xavier Bermudez.

As a special sidebar, we're pleased to be able to present a tribute to one of the great figures of Spanish stage and screen, Fernando Fernán-Goméz. Born in 1921 in Lima, Peru - where his actress mother was performing - Fernán-Goméz came into acting at a very early age, and by his early twenties was well established in Madrid. Always drawn to the cutting edge, he appeared in a number of important and daring Spanish films that often ran afoul of the strict censorship of the era - one of which, THAT HAPPY COUPLE, has often been cited as the template for so much of the best Spanish cinema to follow. By the mid-50s Fernán-Goméz had turned to directing for the screen, although he continued to act as well. After a few apprentice works, he found his stride with a terrific comedy, The Life Ahead, and for the next few years most of his work would be in that vein. But it was really with two extraordinary works from the mid-60s, LIFE GOES ON and THE STRANGE TRIP, that Fernán-Goméz became a major director. Both films ran into trouble with censors and subsequently received marginal distribution. By the early 70s, however, his work had been rediscovered by a new generation of Spanish critics and filmmakers, and they remain among the most-admired films of that era. Fernán-Goméz would continue to direct, but the financial failure of his two masterworks would force him into more mainstream work. As an actor he worked with many of the finest directors of the new Spanish cinema: Carlos Saura, Victor Erice, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, Jaime de Armiñan, Pedro Almodóvar. A noted novelist and playwright as well, Fernando Fernán-Goméz is a true "Renaissance Man," whose career is like a capsule history of modern Spanish culture. Join us to discover and celebrate the work of this most remarkable artist.

FERNANDO FERNÁN-GÓMEZ TRIBUTE: THAT HAPPY COUPLE / ESA PAREJA FELIZ
Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis G. Berlanga, 1951; 83m
Fernán-Gómez had already begun to make a name for himself on stage when he began working in cinema, often accepting roles from the most daring directors of the time: Edgar Neville, Lorenzo Llobet Gracia, and especially the team of Bardem and Berlanga, who together would announce the arrival of a "new Spanish cinema" with the extraordinary THAT HAPPY COUPLE. A response by the two young directors to Italian Neorealism, the film is the story of Juan (Fernán-Gómez), a worker at a film studio, and his wife Carmen (Elvira Quintillá), a devoted fan of radio soap operas. One day they learn that after years of trying, they've actually won the "Happy Couple" contest sponsored by Florit soap. It looks as if their luck is about to change - but can it really? Strongly disapproved by the authorities, the film was held up for release for over two years. It remains a landmark of Spanish cinema, one of the very first Spanish films at the time to take a hard look at the everyday life of Spain.
Wed Dec 8: 2; Thurs Dec 16: 2
Sat Dec 18: 4:20

TUNA AND CHOCOLATE / ATÚN Y CHOCOLATE
Pablo Carbonell, 2004; 93m
The big prize-winner at this year's Málaga Festival of Spanish Cinema, TUNA AND CHOCOLATE marks an impressive directorial debut for popular Spanish comedian Pablo Carbonell. The film begins with a delicate, evocative rendering of life and work in the southern fishing village of Barbate. Three old friends - Manuel (Carbonell), El Perra and El Cherif - eke out livings amid the dwindling catch and growing danger of drugs and illegal immigration. One day, Manuel's young son announces that he wants to make his first Holy Communion. The request comes as a shock to the atheist Manuel; he and the boy's mother aren't even married. Nevertheless, Manuel decides it's the right thing to do, and with the unavoidable help of his mates goes about figuring how to afford the party he'd like to celebrate the occasion. Carbonell works in the great tradition of social comedy; no matter how hilarious the antics of his characters, everything they do is well grounded in a closely observed social reality.
Wed Dec 8: 4:15; Sun Dec 12: 6:30
Mon Dec 13: 2 & 6:15

OPENING NIGHT FILM
TAKE MY EYES / TE DOY MIS OJOS
Iciar Bollain, 2003; 109m
Winner of several "Goyas" (the Spanish Oscar) at this year's awards ceremony, including Best Picture and Best Director, TAKE MY EYES is a searing look at the problem of domestic violence as well as an extraordinary confirmation of the directing talent of Iciar Bollain. One winter evening, Pilar (Laia Marull) escapes from her house with her son Juan, fleeing another brutal session with her husband Antonio (Luis Tosar). Antonio is soon on her trail, begging her to give their marriage yet another try - setting up yet another cycle of accommodation, tension and finally confrontation. Bollain , who co-wrote the screenplay with Alicia Luna, brilliantly shows the mechanisms by which spousal abuse is simply ignored or hushed up, seen as a private issue instead of a public crime. Perceptively, the film also shows the emergence of a new generation of women and men who are no longer willing to remain silent.
Wed Dec 8: 7; Sat Dec 11: 9

SUMMER CLOUDS / NUBES DE VERANO
Felipe Varga, 2004; 101m
Summer in a resort town on the Costa Brava. Ana, Daniel and their son Manuel, who live in Madrid, are there on vacation for a fourth year in a row. Ana's family lets them use a beautiful country home near the beach for a month. Marta works at the only stationery shop in town. Tomas, a baker, is her boyfriend, and Robert, who owns an antiques shop, her cousin. Soon the five of them will be caught up in a tangle of truths and lies, deceptions and confessions that will change all their lives forever. Director Felipe Vega, who also co-wrote the script, keeps his characters' intentions and motivations under wraps, allowing us to follow, as best we can, their decisions and impulses. With the great natural beauty of the Costa Brava as background, SUMMER CLOUDS explores some of the darker recesses of the human heart.
Thurs Dec 9: 1; Sat Dec 11: 4:15
Wed Dec 15: 4 & 8:15

FERNANDO FERNÁN-GÓMEZ TRIBUTE:
THE LIFE AHEAD (LA VIDA POR DELANTE)
Fernando Fernán-Gómez, 1958; 90m
(We apologize that LIFE GOES ON/ EL MUNDO SIGUE is not available for our program as originally scheduled, as there is still extensive restoration work which must be done to the negative before new copies can be struck. However, we're fortunate to be able to replace it with one the most popular of all Spanish comedies.)
Fernan-Gomez's first important film as a director, THE LIFE AHEAD could almost be seen as a kind of comic response to the portrait of the struggling couple in Bardem and Berlanga's THAT HAPPY COUPLE, in which Fernan-Gomez had starred a few years earlier. Told largely in first-person, THE LIFE AHEAD begins as Antonio (played by Fernan-Gomez himself) recounts the beginning of his love affair with Josefina (Analía Gadé). Ambitious, the couple continues with their studies, he becoming a lawyer, she getting a medical degree-but somehow even those impressive credentials are not enough to make it in a rapidly changing Spain, so the two are forced to improvise a wide variety of jobs calling on some unexpected skills. Like much of the very fine Spanish social comedy of the era, THE LIFE AHEAD asks whether it's the world or its protagonists who are acting crazy, since what passes for normalcy looks more and more suspicious. Fernan-Gomez's rock-solid composure works beautifully to underscore all the indignities his character must learn to suffer.
Thurs Dec 9: 3; Thurs Dec 16: 4
Sun Dec 19: 1:30

FERNANDO FERNÁN-GÓMEZ TRIBUTE:
THE STRANGE TRIP / EL EXTRAÑO VIAJE
Fernando Fernán-Gómez, 1964-69; 88m
Another of Fernán-Gómez's "condemned films," THE STRANGE TRIP was finally released almost six years after it was completed, less because of the censors than because of the timidity of the distributors. Based on a famous unsolved murder mystery, the film tells the story of three siblings - Ignacia, Venacio and Paquita - who live in a quiet provincial town whose only real distraction is the weekly visit by a band from Madrid for the Saturday night dance. One night Venacio and Paquita overhear Ignacia making a plan to kill her siblings so that she can run off with Fernando, the leader of the Saturday night band. Thus is set into motion a bizarre series of plots and counterplots that will encompass murder, jealousy, transvestism and escape from Spain. An extraordinary mixture of naturalism and absurdist comedy, with good doses of gothic melodrama thrown in for good measure, THE STRANGE TRIP has been frequently cited as a major influence on filmmakers ranging from Victor Erice to Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón to Pedro Almodóvar.
Fri Dec 10: 2 & 6:15

ASTRONAUTS / ASTRONAUTAS
Santi Amodeo, 2004; 86m
Thirty-something Daniel (Nacho Novo, in a winning performance) gets out of detox determined to put his life in order once and for all. Using the 10-step plan of a self-help guru, Daniel tries to live as "normally" as he can. All is going well, more or less, until one day 16-year-old Laura arrives from Andalusia. She's come looking for her brother Andres, Daniel's next-door neighbor, but since he's not around she starts to camp out at Daniel's, gradually taking over his self-improvement regime and giving him a different idea as to what might be normal. First-time director Santi Amodeo has created a witty, wry look at generational and culture clash, as Daniel gradually learns all the things he really needs to let him live in the world once again.
Fri Dec 10: 4 & 8:15; Sat Dec 11: 2:15
Sun Dec 12: 4:15 & 8:40

HÉCTOR
Gracia Querejeta, 2003; 107m
"Few recent Spanish films have achieved the poignancy of Gracia Querejeta's HÉCTOR, a wonderfully observed, intense family drama in which virtually every scene pulsates with warmth, compassion and intelligence." - Jonathan Holland, Variety
After his mother dies in a car accident, shy, bookish 16-year-old Héctor goes to live with his Aunt Tere and her family, attempting to fit in but basically trying to create his own space within a far more charged family environment than any he's ever experienced. All is proceeding smoothly, until the arrival of Martín, Héctor's Mexican father, whom he's never seen, who comes to try to claim the son he's never known. Aided by a first-rate cast - with stand-out performances by Adriana Ozores as Tere and Damián Alcázar as Martín - Gracia Querejeta has made her finest film to date, a complex, heart-felt drama that offers neither heroes nor villains, just people caught up in contradictory emotional entanglements.
Sat Dec 11: 6:30; Sun Dec 12: 2
Mon Dec 13: 4

BASQUE BALL / LA PELOTA VASCA: LA PIEL CONTRA LA PIEDRA
Julio Medem, 2004; 115m
"With over 100 interviews and reels upon reels of archive footage, BASQUE BALL is an incisive documentary on Spain, ETA, and the Basque region. Director Julio Medem is best known for his stylishly erotic love stories (Lovers of the Arctic Circle, Sex and Lucia), but in this exhaustive documentary, he delivers a fascinating overview of the torturous politics of the Basque area and the region's notorious terrorist separatist group. Controversial in the extreme, Medem's documentary has drawn sharp censure from the Spanish authorities, with Spain's Minister for Culture branding the film "suspicious." Such a response is typical of the passions that the Basque issue stirs up. Fortunately, Medem's even-handed approach straddles both sides of the political spectrum, treating the complex web of history, identity and politics surrounding his subject with great maturity." - Jamie Russell, BBC Radio
Mon Dec 13: 8:15; Tue Dec 14: 1
Sat Dec 18: 2; Sun Dec 19: 6:20

HOTEL DANUBIO
Antonio Giménez-Rico, 2003; 93m
Hugo is a failed novelist living in Franco's Spain; his stories, publishers tell him, seem too incredible to believe. For years he's maintained a relationship with Ivon, a chorus girl who wants nothing more than to quit the show and settle down. Into their orbit comes Carlos, Hugo's handsome son, who starts to develop his own interest in Ivon. All three will soon be enveloped in a deadly cat-and-mouse game, in which alliances, affection and intentions will constantly shift. Based on a 50s Spanish thriller - Red Fish, by J.A. Nieves Conde - HOTEL DANUBIO is part of a series of "classic remakes" of Spanish films produced by José Luis Garci.
Tue Dec 14: 3:20; Wed Dec 15: 2 & 6:15

THE 7TH DAY / EL 7° DÍA
Carlos Saura, 2004; 103m
"A potent, visually stunning combination of the explosive and the lyrical, Carlos Saura's THE 7TH DAY returns to the kind of dynamic social drama that made his name 40 years ago." - Jonathan Holland, Variety
In a hardscrabble region of central Spain, two families are locked in a seemingly interminable struggle. On the verge of adulthood, Isabel Fuentes wants to discover the origin of the conflict; all she's been told is that Jerónimo Fuentes had years before killed her uncle, and her family fears the consequences of his impending release. Isabel's search will finally reveal the amorous heart of darkness at the core of this increasingly violent feud. Carlos Saura has not made a film with this kind of intensity in many years; he powerfully creates portraits of lives ruled by hatreds, hatreds so encompassing you could almost touch them. Special mention also must be made of Victoria Abril, who gives one of her most extraordinary performances as the terrifying matriarch of the Fuentes clan.
Fri Dec 17: 2 & 6:15; Sun Dec 19: 8:45
Tue Dec 21: 1

THE ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE / EL PRINCIPIO DE ARQU ÍMEDES
Gerardo Herrero, 2004; 101m
Popular novelist Belen Gopegui supplied producer/director Gerardo Herrero (The Galindez File) with a terrific screenplay detailing workplace and emotional rivalries and tensions that eventually tear apart two couples. Sonia (Marta Balaustegui, in her finest work to date) is a successful junior fashion executive, married to Andrés, an architect going through a slow period. She arranges for her friend and neighbor, Rocio, to work in her company; suddenly Rocio, who had previously worked odd jobs, finds herself exactly where she wants to be, and is soon climbing up the corporate ladder past her friend. Herrero gives each character his or her space, allowing each to persist in the belief that they "have their reasons" for whatever harm they cause others. A bracingly contemporary tale about the place of work in today's world, and Herrero's best film to date.
Fri Dec 17: 4:15 & 8:20; Sat Dec 18: 6:15
Tue Dec 21: 9

SHORTMETRAJE, now in its third year, celebrates a tantalizing and vivid generation of filmmakers that have emerged with a unique take on modern Spain and its changing cultural landscape. Come and see the most recent short films produced in contemporary Spain, most of them never seen before in U.S. For more information visit www.shortmetraje.com

Ecosystem / Ecosistema
Tinieblas González, 2003; 9m
A fly, a spider, a rabbit and a girl are characters in an urban ecosystem, ruled by the same law that rules in any natural ecosystem: The strong beat the weak.
The Brave Little Girl / La valiente
Isabel Ayguavives, 2003; 6m
A little girl closes her eyes and tries not to think about anything for ten seconds.
With What Shall I Wash It? / ¿Con qué la lavaré?
María Trenor, 2003; 11m
Daybreak in the red-light district of a Spanish town. Someone who earns his living on the streets comes home, sits down, and begins to remove his make up. A celluloid tribute to the homosexual artistes of the late 70s, just after Franco's dictatorship.
Midnight Express / El expreso nocturno
Imanol Ortiz López, 2003, 8m
On a overnight express train, a patient man shares a sleeping car with a complete hypochondriac. Anxious for the man to reveal any habits that might disturb his delicate sleep, the neurotic man subjects the other to an absurd interrogation.
Unpremeditated / El despropósito
Zoe Berriatúa, 2004; 19m
A group of youngsters go out one weekend for a night of fun. But when the problems start, their friendship is pushed to the limit….
Disposable / Usar y tirar
Daniel García-Pablos, 2003; 10m
The paths of a Cuban athlete, a woman driving, and an immigrant selling disposable tissues meet at a traffic light.
Physics II / Física II
Daniel Sánchez-Arévalo, 2004; 20m
Jorge lives in a room without a window, without light, without air, without a way out and with little hope. His father, Andrés, is the doorman of the building. He is about to retire and wants him to keep the job. Jorge doesn't want to work as a doorman, he wants to go to university….
Sat Dec 18: 8:30; Sun Dec 19: 4

YOUR NEXT LIFE / LA VIDA QUE TE ESPERA
Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, 2003; 108m
In the world of Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, secrets fester as they're passed from one generation to the next, eventually poisoning those so intent on trying to keep them. Your Next Life begins as Val, a young woman who lives with her father Gildo and sister Genia in a remote farm, tries to deliver a baby calf to a neighbor. The man, Severo, flies into a rage, claiming he's been cheated by Val's father, and then imprisons Val; when Gildo comes to rescue his daughter, a fight ensues and Severo is killed. Covering up all traces of the incident, Gildo grows increasingly paranoid about his daughters' burgeoning independence, especially after the arrival back home of Rai, Severo's son, who's come to settle his father's estate. Well received at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival, the film is finally a stirring portrait of a world in transition, in which two ways of life struggle for supremacy.
Mon Dec 20: 1:45 & 6:15
Wed Dec 22: 4 & 8:30

LéON AND OLVIDO / LéON Y OLVIDO
Xavier Sánchez Bermúdez, 2004; 109m
León is a 20-year-old with Down's syndrome. After his mother dies, Olvido, his twin sister, places him in an institution…and then in another. In the two years since his mother's death, León has been rejected from four facilities because of his refusal to adapt. Wanting to lead her own life independently from her brother, Olvido wants León to reconcile himself to living under some kind of supervised care, but León won't hear of it. He'd rather scrape by with his sister in the most dismal of circumstances than leave her side. Sánchez Bermúdez effectively captures with his film a harrowing dilemma faced by many families: the care of psychologically impaired family members, and the effect that can have on the rest of one's life. The film offers an at times brutally honest look at this situation, looking not to assign praise or blame but instead to show characters caught up in a complex and painful reality.
Mon Dec 20: 4 & 8:30
Wed Dec 22: 1:45 & 6:15

FERNANDO FERNÁN-GÓMEZ TRIBUTE:
MAMBRÚ WENT TO WAR / MAMBRÚ SE FUE A LA GUERRA
Fernando Fernán-Goméz, 1985; 100m
In the mid-80s, after not having directed for about seven years, Fernán-Goméz returned with a series of provocative new works, led by the marvelous MAMBRÚ. After the death of Franco in 1975, a man who went into hiding in a cave during the Civil War finally emerges. No one knew what had happened to him; most assumed that he had been killed in the war; in fact, his wife has been receiving a pension. His wife isn't even sure it's him. For his part, he can't really believe that this is the same country he left so many years before. A slyly perceptive comedy about the mythologizing of the Civil War, MAMBRÚ found Fernán-Goméz once again working with screenwriter Pedro Beltrán, with whom he had worked earlier on THE STRANGE TRIP.
Thurs Dec 23: 1:30 & 6:15

FERNANDO FERNÁN-GÓMEZ TRIBUTE:
VOYAGE TO NOWHERE /
EL VIAJE A NINGUNA PARTE
Fernando Fernán-Gomez, 1986; 140m
In addition to his award-winning work in theater and cinema, Fernando Fernán-Gomez has also written prize-winning novels, one of which, VOYAGE TO NOWHERE, he later adapted to the screen and directed, and which later won the "Goya" (Spanish Oscar) for Best Film of the Year. Set in the 40s and 50s, the film follows a troupe of traveling actors, the Iniesta-Galván Company, as they make their way across Spain, performing anywhere they can find a stage or even an open space. These kinds of troupes used to attract good audiences, but increasingly it seems that their public is either going to the movies or staying at home and listening to the radio. In one stop, lead actor Carlos Galván (Jose Sacristan) discovers a son he had helped create on a tour many years before. The son, named Carlitos, joins the company, signaling that Iniesta-Galván may have a future; but increasingly it looks as if they days of these traveling theater companies are quickly coming to an end. VOYAGE TO NOWHERE is a heartfelt elegy to a vanishing way of life in a rapidly modernizing Spain.
Thurs Dec 23: 3:30 & 8:15

THINGS THAT MAKE LIFE WORTH LIVING / COSAS QUE HACEN QUE LA VIDA VALGA LA PENA
Manuel Gómez Pereira, 2004; 90m
One of Spain's best comic directors, Manuel Gómez Pereira offers a revealing and sobering look at the possibilities for love after 40. Abandoned by her husband for a younger woman, Hortensia (Ana Belen) works in an employment office and bemoans the fact that her love life seems an increasingly distant memory. But then, one day, Jorge (Eduard Fernandez) appears in her office. He's a nice and hopeful unemployed man who is convinced that destiny has chosen this very day to change his life - and he sees Hortensia as the key for starting from scratch again. Gómez Pereira brings in a terrific assortment of supporting characters and subplots that add just the right shadings to this wryly amusing romantic comedy.
Fri Dec 24: 2 & 6:15; Sun Dec 26: 4:15 & 8:30

VOICES IN THE NIGHT / LAS VOCES EN LA NOCHE
Salvador García Ruiz, 2004; 109m
A major leap for director García Ruiz, here with his third film, VOICES IN THE NIGHT adapts the homonymous novel by Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg to a 50s Spanish town built around a successful factory. Elisa lives at home with her family, enduring her mother's efforts to find her a husband. Jorge, son of the factory's owner, constantly navigates family and company politics. Two lonely, somewhat unfulfilled lives - except for the two times each week they secretly check into a hotel and create their own private world. Filled with wonderful period details and atmosphere, the film powerfully shows the end results of a society in which secrecy has become the order of the day.
Fri Dec 24: 4 & 8:15; Sun Dec 26: 2 & 6:15

FERNANDO FERNÁN-GÓMEZ TRIBUTE:
BELLE EPOQUE
Fernando Trueba, 1992; 108m
"Winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar, BELLE EPOQUE begins as Fernando, an army deserter, is being led to the brig. Through an amazing set of circumstances, he manages to go free, and soon finds himself on the farm of Manolo (Fernando Fernán-Goméz), an elderly anarchist and painter, who happens to have four beautiful daughters. Fernando soon realizes that he's going to have to choose from among the daughters - but not without conducting some auditions first. A warm and gentle comedy, BELLE EPOQUE captures that moment in Spain between the end of the monarchy and the outbreak of the Civil War, a time that seemed ripe with endless possibilities, despite the threats gathering on the horizon. Belle Epoque is further helped by the performance of Mr. Fernán-Gómez, who has some 150 screen roles to his credit and gives the role of Manolo a wry, amusing sophistication." - Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Mon Dec 27: 1 & 6; Tue Dec 28: 3:45 & 8:45

FERNANDO FERNÁN-GÓMEZ TRIBUTE:
THE GRANDFATHER / EL ABUELO
José Luis Garci, 1998; 145m
"There's more than a whiff of The Cherry Orchard permeating José Luis Garci's THE GRANDFATHER, a rueful, funny and deeply moving fable in which a curmudgeonly old aristocrat must chose between love and honor. An Oscar nominee for best foreign-language film of 1998, the period tale stars the formidable veteran Fernando Fernán-Gómez in a great role that crowns a long and distinguished career. After a lengthy and foolish sojourn in Peru in a fruitless search for gold, Don Rodrigo, the count of Albrit (Mr. Fernán-Gómez), returns penniless to his magnificent ancestral lands in the province of Asturias…. With an eloquent command of language, the don is given to denunciations so withering as to be awe-inspiring. During his absence, his son has died. The don turns a verbal blowtorch on his beautiful and assured daughter-in-law Lucrecia (Cayetana Guillén Cuervo)…. By contrast, it's mutual love at first sight between Don Rodrigo and his granddaughters Dolly (Cristina Cruz) and her younger sister, Nelly (Alicia Rozas). Quite quickly, too, Don Rodrigo forms a fast friendship with the girls' elderly tutor, Don Pio Coronado (Rafael Alonso), a woebegone intellectual weighed down by six unmarried daughters.... The Grandfather is a wise and beautiful film that, while acknowledging the inevitability of loss and change, bids a heartfelt and bemused farewell to the ancient regime." - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Mon Dec 27: 3:15 & 8:15; Tue Dec 28: 1 & 6

WALTER READE HOME