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.
