Spanish Cinema Now!--1996 december 6 - 21, 1996
		photo: a scene from DAY OF THE BEAST

Now in its fifth year, Spanish Cinema Now offers New Yorkers an annual window onto one of Europe's most consistently exciting national cinemas. Like other European cinemas, the Spanish cinema has been confronted with diminishing domestic audiences for its films, owing at least partly to the increasing competition from Hollywood as well as the expansion of television and other alternative outlets. Yet in the past two or three years, a new generation of directors--supported by several distinguished members of the "old school"--has helped to re-establish Spanish films with Spanish as well as with international audiences. Several of the films included in this year's selections--The Day of the Beast, Thesis, Libertarians--were major successes at the box office. NYU-educated Daniel Calparsoro--whose Jump into the Void was well-received in last year's program--returns with Passages, a very contemporary crime film that again follows a small group through its rituals of loyalty and betrayal. The Spanish Civil War reappears in Spanish cinema with Libertarians, Vicente Aranda's fascinating look at the role of women during that conflict. more on Spanish Cinema Now! Opening the series is Mariano Barroso's Extasy, a provocative psychological thriller starring rising Spanish star Javier Bardem--one of the stand-out performers in films included in previous Spanish Cinema Now programs. And we are very pleased to premiere Taxi, longtime Spanish lion Carlos Saura's latest potent excursion into a world where contemporary social and sexual fascism intertwine in a killing embrace. At presstime, we expect several of the artists featured in this series--including Javier Bardem--to be on hand to present their work. Presented in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers (SGAE) and the Spanish Ministry of Culture (ICAA). program notes and times EARTH / TIERRA Julio Medem, 1996; 125 minutes "His films ask us to think; they are like beautifully colored question marks.... Medem is a meticulous framer of scenes, and is as good at catching a fleeting expression as he is at providing a sense of the curvature of the earth, or indeed the curvature of Silke Klein's bottom. Though the pace is leisurely...subtle accumulation of dramatic detail and entirely convincing character portrayals mean that by the time the last reel rolls around, the tension is humming." -- Jonathan Holland, Moving Pictures International Read the following slowly--it's a delightfully convoluted existential mystery story: Angel believes himself to be half man, half angel, half alive, half dead. In the landscape of his imagination, he comes to a remote and windswept valley to rid its vineyards of an epidemic of woodlice. Seems the bugs have been giving the wine produced here a strange earthy taste. Struck by two lightning bolts of love, Angel must resolve his split personality by choosing between two women: His angel side prefers timid, blonde Angela, who is married to Patricio, a coarse boar-hunter. But as a man he's seduced by red-haired Mari, a 19-year-old sexual adventuress. With Patricio--Angela's husband and Mari's lover-- at his throat, Angel has a life-and-death philosophical choice to make. Friday, December 6: 2 and 6 pm Saturday, December 7: 6 pm HI, ARE YOU ALONE? / HOLA ESTAS SOLA? Icíar Bollaín, 1995; 90 minutes Bollaín follows two 20-year-olds, Trini and "La Niña," on their journeys into experience. Both are motherless children who share a common philosophy of life, as well as whatever comes during their travels, including Olaf, a Russian who does not speak a word of Spanish. With Olaf, "La Niña" enjoys her first love affair. Love is lost, as is a rediscovered mother, but these friends go on forever, a family of their own. The logic and pacing of Bollaín's film is that of a certain wonderful age, that of 20-year-old Candides. Friday, December 6: 4:15 pm Sunday, December 8: 8 pm ECSTASY / EXTASIS Mariano Barroso, 1995; 93 minutes Rober is a 25-year-old rebel who hates authority and refuses to make any sort of commitment except to the principal of noncom-mitment. He and his friends Max and Ona dream up a scam to raise money so that they can fund their idleness. The idea is that Rober will impersonate Max in order to coerce money from Daniel, the father who abandoned Max when he was just a baby. Daniel, a prominent stage director, not only gives Rober money but also a job--and it's not long before the false son has been corrupted by luxury and glamour, the very world he once professed to despise. That's when Max and Ona come calling.... Saturday, December 7: 8:30 pm Sunday, December 8: 6 pm AMONG THE REDS / ENTRE ROJAS Azucena Rodríguez, 1994; 93 minutes The time is 1974, the place Yeserías, an old prison for women in Madrid. A young girl has been jailed for ten years for her relationship with a young political militant, enemy of the regime. During her sentence, Lucía comes to know and understand a rich cross section of Spanish womanhood--from juvenile delinquents to political prisoners. A strong community is forged out of the mutual suffering and shared experiences of these "marked" women. Wednesday, December 11: 2 pm Thursday, December 12: 4 pm Spanish Cinema Now! Continues More Program Notes and Times