Yo soy ésa

Fame has two faces. For the husband of Carmen Torres (Isabel Pantoja) , a famous singer, one of those faces is the game. The story of a celebrity couple, Jorge (Jose Coronado) and Carmen, and of how each of them deals with their fame during a trip to Seville to attend a premiere and she to be hired by the powerful cinematic company : CIFESA to shot three films . She is a folklore Spanish singer , he's a tarnished actor .She is a woman aware of who she is. In love with Jorge Olmedo, her husband, she experiences her success in a different way ; seeing how her husband falls into a dark world where drugs and poker games rule . Now, currently and being spectators of what their romance was and the scope of their passions , the two do not love each other in the same way.

An ordinary drama musical , in which husband and wife travel to Seville to see the premiere of their film, "Yo soy ésa", as a tribute to the Spanish of the 50s , starring the two of them and where their lives are captured long ago. Resulting to be a typical vehicle to the succesful singer Isabel Pantoja , but especially surprising is the game of illusion and reality with which the director plays , a cinema within the cinema, since the film takes place in a theater during the premiere of the new film by two actors , who turn out to be Pantoja and José Coronado themselves . The film will tell us two stories the first one will be the premiere film and where Pantoja's musical numbers appear wrapped in a story like the "Last cuplé", and the second one in the poker-themed theater building , drugs and deaths . Isabel Pantoja's starters was acting with her cousin Antonio Cortés "Chiquetete", earning 500 pesetas a day in a "tablao" (flamenco bar) . She sang themes from Juanita Reina, Marifé de Triana and Rocío Jurado (her favourite singers) . In 1974, she recorded her first album alone, where her preceptor Juan Solano prepared all the songs for her . She followed with songs made up of lyrics by Rafael de León and music by Juan Solano, and with previous hits sung by Concha Márquez Piquer . Later on , she presented her song "Marinero de luces", composed by José Luis Perales . Her new album was made of songs which reflected her state of mind. In 1990, the cinematographic production company of the singer Víctor Manuel suggested her to be the main actress in ¨Yo soy ésa¨ (1990) . This film was a big success , with more than 1,500,000,000 pesetas at the box office. At the same time, a double album appeared with 20 songs, although not all of the songs appeared in the film. The album was titled "La Canción Española", and the recording was made together with the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra, conducted by Luis Cobos. She was the first star of her second film, ¨El Día que nací yo, (1991), where there was less singing and more acting for her . Although she has announced plans to retire soon to spend more time with her family, Isabel has continued her triumphant career. In Yo soy ésa(1990) there are several catching songs for Copla lovers , such as : ¨Se me enamora el alma¨ written by José Luis Perales performed by Isabel Pantoja; ¨Yo soy ésa¨ written by Antonio Quintero, Rafael de León and Manuel L. Quiroga performed by Isabel Pantoja and ¨Soy un pobre presidiario¨ written by Torres Larrode , Rafael de León, and Daniel Montorio performed by Jose Coronado. Along with the two popular protagonists : Isabel Pantoja, José Coronado , appearing here and there a lot of familar faces and guest stars , such as : Juan Echanove , Elisa Matilla , Aurora Redondo , Loles León , Luis Barbero , Carmen Bernardos , Matías Prats , Antonio Gamero , Pedro Díez del Corral , Juan Jesús Valverde , Magüi Mira , Carlos Herrera , Juan Luis Galiardo , María Asquerino , among others.

The motion picture was regularly directed by Luis Sanz who replaced José Luis García Sánchez at the very last minute . Luis was a discoverer of stars and expert on the Andalusian song. Sanz was a notorious producer , financing important films , such as : Las cosas del querer , Las cosas del querer 2ª parte , Hay que deshacer la casa , La corte de Faraón , Chispita y sus gorilas , Mi hija Hildegart , Al fin solos, pero.. , Nosotros que fuimos tan felices , Emilia, parada y fonda , La adúltera , Una mujer prohibida , Cristina Guzmán , Más bonita que ninguna. He only directed this ¨Yo soy esa¨and a TV Mini Series documentary : ¨El coraje de vivir¨ . This ¨Yo soy esa¨is only for fan of ¨flamenco¨ and "coplas".

Argghhhhh, every time I think in this absolutely piece of excrement movie, my ulcer bleed again, oh my god, there must be a reason for let the folklore Spanish singers acting but I really don't know what it is....... The acting is one of the worst thing I have ever seen in my life, even the songs (supposed to be the best of this movie) are horrible and make me feel ashamed of being Spanish, the plot is absurd and extremely boring, and the dialogs......... no comments, one 3 years old baby can write more intelligent things. Maybe the producers or the director think that casting a famous singer in a movie is a good idea, but I prefer to be buried alive with hungry rats than watching one movie of this horrible singer again. In a scale from 0 to 10 i give this movie a -12321372189398321 and in IMDb a 1 because is the lowest note I can cast. AVOID THIS MOVIE IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR MENTAL STABILITY!!!!!!!

Maybe I was expecting more from director Sanz and from star Pantoja. Maybe I was not in the "right mood" when I saw it the first time AROUND and went ahead a second and third time. The fact is that I tried really hard to like this film and ended up detesting it. You see, I'm a big fan of flamenco and "coplas" and it kills me when I see the genre manipulated and misrepresented.

Producer Luis Sanz was the inspiring force behind "Las Cosas del Querer" (1989) and did a hell of a good job with director Jaime Chaverri turning the pseudo biopic of singer Miguel De Molina into a moving tribute to the "copla" genre and its most famous authors. And they did it in spite of the limited vocal range of its stars Angela Molina and Manuel Bandera by highlighting the singers personal charms, their excellent on camera chemistry, their authentic bravado singing "coplas" and a down-to-earth approach. In "Yo Soy Esa" (1990) Sanz takes over the direction and tries to revive his previous hit film using this time popular "copla"/pop singer Isabel Pantoja. Unfortunately, although she has a powerful voice and a dramatic style, she uses them here as...how can I best describe it? ...as bulls running the streets of Pamplona during the San Fermin fiestas. Quite overwhelming to say the least. I found myself praying: Oh great Concha Piquer who art in heaven... Forgive this bitch because she doesn't know what she's doing...

The only good thing I can say about Miss Pantoja is that she is indeed a good looking woman and has the contagious grace of her Seville countrymen. I can't write anything about her acting and the acting of her handsome leading man Jose Coronado because they are non-existent which becomes more painfully obvious by the performances of a great supporting cast which includes Maria Asquerino, Juan Luis Galiardo, Carmen Bernardos and Loles Leon. The script of a film within a film is confusing and predictable at the same time and the only redeeming quality for this atrocious excuse for a movie is the crisp color photography.