Filmax has acquired international rights to Spanish thriller “Nina,” the new feature written and directed by Andrea Jaurrieta (“Ana by Day”) that bows at this week’s Málaga Film Festival as one of its higher profile titles in main competition.
Loosely based on the play of the same name by José Ramón Fernández, which borrows elements of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” “Nina” tells the story of a woman, an actress, who returns to her home town on Spain’s rugged northern coast seeking to take revenge on a celebrated writer. As she encounters past acquaintances, including a once close childhood friend, and faces dark memories, she begins to question whether vengeance is the only way forward.
“Nina” stars Goya-winning actress Patricia López Arnaiz (“Ane is Missing”) as the titular character and San Sebastián Silver Shell winner Darío Grandinetti, famed for his performance in Pedro Almodovar’s “Talk to Her,...
Loosely based on the play of the same name by José Ramón Fernández, which borrows elements of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” “Nina” tells the story of a woman, an actress, who returns to her home town on Spain’s rugged northern coast seeking to take revenge on a celebrated writer. As she encounters past acquaintances, including a once close childhood friend, and faces dark memories, she begins to question whether vengeance is the only way forward.
“Nina” stars Goya-winning actress Patricia López Arnaiz (“Ane is Missing”) as the titular character and San Sebastián Silver Shell winner Darío Grandinetti, famed for his performance in Pedro Almodovar’s “Talk to Her,...
- 3/4/2024
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The Lumière Festival’s International Classic Film Market (Mifc) in Lyon, France, is highlighting heritage documentaries, examining Cuban and Swedish cinema and showcasing the work of the Wim Wenders Foundation as part of a newly revamped program.
In overhauling the Mifc, organizers are seeking to position the event closer to industry needs, offer improved services and offer a clearer picture of the ever evolving heritage content market.
The change will “modify the market to be less institutional and more business oriented,” says Gérald Duchaussoy, who oversees programming and coordination for the Mifc.
The market, which runs Oct. 17-20, kicks off with a keynote by Claire Brunel and Hella Wenders, the managing director of the Wim Wenders Foundation.
The Düsseldorf-based organization, created for the purpose of preserving, maintaining and disseminating Wenders’ works, is very unique and its presentation will be a very interesting opportunity for Mifc participants to learn how it...
In overhauling the Mifc, organizers are seeking to position the event closer to industry needs, offer improved services and offer a clearer picture of the ever evolving heritage content market.
The change will “modify the market to be less institutional and more business oriented,” says Gérald Duchaussoy, who oversees programming and coordination for the Mifc.
The market, which runs Oct. 17-20, kicks off with a keynote by Claire Brunel and Hella Wenders, the managing director of the Wim Wenders Foundation.
The Düsseldorf-based organization, created for the purpose of preserving, maintaining and disseminating Wenders’ works, is very unique and its presentation will be a very interesting opportunity for Mifc participants to learn how it...
- 10/15/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Carmen Sevilla, the Spanish-born actor who starred in the Oscar-nominated 1958 film Vengeance and played Mary Magdalene in Nicholas Ray’s 1961 Biblical epic King of Kings, died Tuesday of Alzheimer’s disease and pneumonia at a hospital in Madrid. She was 92.
Her death was reported by her son to the Europa Press new agency.
Born in Seville, Spain, Sevilla launched her show business career as a dancer in the 1940s but had pivoted to film acting by the end of the decade. During the 1950s she became one of Spanish cinema’s most popular stars.
Her starring role in writer-director Juan Antonio Bardem’s 1958 La Venganza (Vengeance) made her an international star as the film became the first Spanish film nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Sevilla became more widely known in the U.S. with King of Kings, in which she played a beautiful Mary Magdalene opposite Jeffrey Hunter’s equally attractive Jesus.
Her death was reported by her son to the Europa Press new agency.
Born in Seville, Spain, Sevilla launched her show business career as a dancer in the 1940s but had pivoted to film acting by the end of the decade. During the 1950s she became one of Spanish cinema’s most popular stars.
Her starring role in writer-director Juan Antonio Bardem’s 1958 La Venganza (Vengeance) made her an international star as the film became the first Spanish film nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Sevilla became more widely known in the U.S. with King of Kings, in which she played a beautiful Mary Magdalene opposite Jeffrey Hunter’s equally attractive Jesus.
- 6/28/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Javier Bardem is the first recipient of San Sebastian’s prestigious Donostia Award for this year’s 71st edition.
He will accept the prize, San Sebastian’s highest accolade, granted for career achievement, at the festival’s opening gala on September 22. His image will also feature on the poster of this year’s edition, unveiled today in San Sebastian.
The only surprise about Bardem’s Donostia Award is that it hasn’t come earlier. A rugby player for Spain’s national team, Bardem first came to fame as a local village hulk playing opposite his now spouse Penélope Cruz in Bigas Luna’s 1992 flamboyant social critique “Jamón, Jamón.”
Bardem wanted, however, to be an actor, not a sex symbol. Refusing to be typecast, his full international breakthrough came in 2000 thanks to a tearaway performance as gay Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas in Julian Schnabel’s “Before Night Falls,” and in Spain,...
He will accept the prize, San Sebastian’s highest accolade, granted for career achievement, at the festival’s opening gala on September 22. His image will also feature on the poster of this year’s edition, unveiled today in San Sebastian.
The only surprise about Bardem’s Donostia Award is that it hasn’t come earlier. A rugby player for Spain’s national team, Bardem first came to fame as a local village hulk playing opposite his now spouse Penélope Cruz in Bigas Luna’s 1992 flamboyant social critique “Jamón, Jamón.”
Bardem wanted, however, to be an actor, not a sex symbol. Refusing to be typecast, his full international breakthrough came in 2000 thanks to a tearaway performance as gay Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas in Julian Schnabel’s “Before Night Falls,” and in Spain,...
- 5/12/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Standing in a secluded lane just off Madrid’s main motorway to North-West Spain, the chalet, with its well-trimmed garden, black slate roof and tall, spiked-fence wall, looks as if it would be more in place in a rural estate rather than in a metropolitan city. It also instantly signals a home of the very well-heeled establishment under dictator Francisco Franco.
It now serves as a key set on Paramount Plus’ “Bose,” a six-part series that follows the impressive decades-long career of barrier-breaking Spanish singer-songwriter Miguel Bosé, produced by Vis, Banijay Iberia subsidiary Shine Iberia, Pepe Baston’s Elefantec Global and Legacy Rock.
One of the first – and biggest – barriers that Bosé had to break was his own upbringing, showrunner Nacho Faerna (“La Fuga”) explained on a set-visit to this highly anticipated Spanish-language series, which wrapped production mid-April.
Growing up in the Somosaguas neighborhood, a suburban bastion of the Francoist upper-middle class outside Madrid,...
It now serves as a key set on Paramount Plus’ “Bose,” a six-part series that follows the impressive decades-long career of barrier-breaking Spanish singer-songwriter Miguel Bosé, produced by Vis, Banijay Iberia subsidiary Shine Iberia, Pepe Baston’s Elefantec Global and Legacy Rock.
One of the first – and biggest – barriers that Bosé had to break was his own upbringing, showrunner Nacho Faerna (“La Fuga”) explained on a set-visit to this highly anticipated Spanish-language series, which wrapped production mid-April.
Growing up in the Somosaguas neighborhood, a suburban bastion of the Francoist upper-middle class outside Madrid,...
- 5/4/2022
- by Justin Morgan
- Variety Film + TV
“Bosé,” the highly anticipated Paramount Plus Original, has wrapped production. The announcement comes as Paramount Plus has also confirmed the remainder of the internationally recognised cast of the six-part series, a biopic of Spanish singer-songwriter Miguel Bosé.
Two behind-the-scenes images, shared in exclusivity with Variety, also hint at the production ambitions of the series, one of the biggest Spanish-language series to date at Paramount Plus, which turns on one of the most resonant figures in recent times in Spain. Resonant for his hits, which span a remarkably long six-decade career, and for his life story, which charts Spain’s emergence from more oppressive times to hard-won freedoms in democracy.
Produced by Vis, a division of Paramount, in collaboration with Shine Iberia, part of Banijay Iberia, Pepe Baston’s Elefantec Global and Legacy Rock, “Bosé” will premiere exclusively on the Paramount Plus International streaming service in the coming months, Paramount Plus also confirmed Tuesday.
Two behind-the-scenes images, shared in exclusivity with Variety, also hint at the production ambitions of the series, one of the biggest Spanish-language series to date at Paramount Plus, which turns on one of the most resonant figures in recent times in Spain. Resonant for his hits, which span a remarkably long six-decade career, and for his life story, which charts Spain’s emergence from more oppressive times to hard-won freedoms in democracy.
Produced by Vis, a division of Paramount, in collaboration with Shine Iberia, part of Banijay Iberia, Pepe Baston’s Elefantec Global and Legacy Rock, “Bosé” will premiere exclusively on the Paramount Plus International streaming service in the coming months, Paramount Plus also confirmed Tuesday.
- 4/19/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
A striking number of Oscar-nominated acting talent from 2021 got their start at a young age, with the power and excitement of performing for the screen grabbing them early and never letting go. Kristen Stewart began acting at age 8, and just received her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Princess Diana in “Spencer.” She recently spoke to Nicole Kidman, who landed her fifth nomination with her portrayal of Lucille Ball in “Being the Ricardos” for Variety’s “Actors on Actors,” about their youthful careers. Stewart spoke of discovering fame with “Twilight.” “When I started doing that movie, I was 17 and I was just a little inside-out person,” Stewart said. “I was walking around with all my blood on the outside of my body.”
Kidman replied: “I was 14. I remember Anthony Minghella saying to me, ‘You are skinless.’ I think that’s what you’re describing. Vulnerable, exposed, everything you are going through is for consumption.
Kidman replied: “I was 14. I remember Anthony Minghella saying to me, ‘You are skinless.’ I think that’s what you’re describing. Vulnerable, exposed, everything you are going through is for consumption.
- 3/11/2022
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
In one of its biggest premium plays to date in an already strong line in Spanish-language series, ViacomCBS International Studios (Vis) has greenlit “Bosé,” a new Paramount Plus original recounting the life story of international actor, Latin Grammy and Billboard winning recording artist Miguel Bosé.
Produced in collaboration with Shine Iberia, part of Banijay Iberia, Elefantec Global and Legacy Rock, the series will go into production in early 2022 in Spain.
Developed in co-operation with Bosé, the six-episode series will portray the extraordinary life of Bosé, son of two icons of cosmopolitan Spain under dictator Francisco Franco: Luis Miguel Dominguín, one of Spain’s most famous bullfighters, and Lucía Bosé, star of Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Story of a Love Affair” and Juan Antonio Bardem’s “Death of a Cyclist.”
Bosé grew up among family friendships which shaped European culture in the 195os and beyond. His first battle, however, was to...
Produced in collaboration with Shine Iberia, part of Banijay Iberia, Elefantec Global and Legacy Rock, the series will go into production in early 2022 in Spain.
Developed in co-operation with Bosé, the six-episode series will portray the extraordinary life of Bosé, son of two icons of cosmopolitan Spain under dictator Francisco Franco: Luis Miguel Dominguín, one of Spain’s most famous bullfighters, and Lucía Bosé, star of Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Story of a Love Affair” and Juan Antonio Bardem’s “Death of a Cyclist.”
Bosé grew up among family friendships which shaped European culture in the 195os and beyond. His first battle, however, was to...
- 10/14/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The Hollywood community continues to be upended by the coronavirus pandemic, with more people contracting Covid-19 as the days pass. While many have recovered, some have died from complications of the illness. These are the names of those we’ve lost.
Terrence McNally, a four-time Tony Award-winning playwright, died on March 24 at the age of 81 of complications from the coronavirus. His works included “Master Class,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” which later became a film with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino.
Italian actress Lucia Bosè, who starred in such films as Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Story of a Love Affair” (1950) and Juan Antonio Bardem’s “Death of a Cyclist” (1955), died on March 23 of pneumonia after contracting Covid-19, according to the Guardian. She was 89.
Read original story Celebrities Who Have Died From the Coronavirus (Photos) At TheWrap...
Terrence McNally, a four-time Tony Award-winning playwright, died on March 24 at the age of 81 of complications from the coronavirus. His works included “Master Class,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” which later became a film with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino.
Italian actress Lucia Bosè, who starred in such films as Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Story of a Love Affair” (1950) and Juan Antonio Bardem’s “Death of a Cyclist” (1955), died on March 23 of pneumonia after contracting Covid-19, according to the Guardian. She was 89.
Read original story Celebrities Who Have Died From the Coronavirus (Photos) At TheWrap...
- 7/7/2020
- by Liz Lane
- The Wrap
Before we bid the month of April farewell, we still have one final batch of Blu-ray and DVD releases coming our way this Tuesday to look forward to. Scream Factory is set to release a double dose of classic horror with The Brain and Tarantula, and Vinegar Syndrome is keeping busy with their terror-inducing trio of titles: The Corruption of Chris Miller, Grandmother’s House, and Darkroom.
Kino Lorber is also giving Hannibal (2001) the 4K treatment this week, and if you happened to miss them during their limited releases, both The Hole in the Ground and Level 16 are very much worth your time.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for April 30th include City of the Vampires, Deadly Crush, Emanuelle and Francoise, Death Warmed Up, and Motel Mist.
The Brain
Imagine a pulsating mass of gray matter, expanding in size and strength as it takes control of human minds and devours human bodies.
Kino Lorber is also giving Hannibal (2001) the 4K treatment this week, and if you happened to miss them during their limited releases, both The Hole in the Ground and Level 16 are very much worth your time.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for April 30th include City of the Vampires, Deadly Crush, Emanuelle and Francoise, Death Warmed Up, and Motel Mist.
The Brain
Imagine a pulsating mass of gray matter, expanding in size and strength as it takes control of human minds and devours human bodies.
- 4/30/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The WestgateGallery.com movie poster site has extended their Christmas sale for another two weeks. The site offers some truly beautiful vintage film posters for sale, most remarkably in the area of giallo and horror films from directors Dario Argento, Sergio Martino, Albert DeMartino, Juan Antonio Bardem, Maurizio Lucidi, and Mario Bava. There are also some phenomenal …
The post Westgate Gallery Movie Poster Sale – 50% Off!! appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.
The post Westgate Gallery Movie Poster Sale – 50% Off!! appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.
- 1/13/2019
- by Jonathan Stryker
- Horror News
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 855
1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 89 min. / Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 39.95
Starring Carmen Maura, Fernando Guillén, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, María Barranco, Kiti Manver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, Yayo Calvo, Loles León, Ángel de Andrés López, José Antonio Navarro.
Cinematography: José Luis Alcaine
Film Editor: José Salcedo
Original Music: Bernardo Bonezzi
Produced by: Augustin Almodóvar
Written and Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Connected film festival attendees learned about Pedro Almodóvar before everybody else, especially if they had an understanding of new developments in Spanish cinema. Film school had shown us nothing but the very exceptional work of Luis Buñuel, most of which is really from Mexico and France. In the 1980s we Angelenos were just getting access to films by the old-school ‘traditional’ rebel Spaniards Carlos Saura and Juan Antonio Bardem.
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 855
1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 89 min. / Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 39.95
Starring Carmen Maura, Fernando Guillén, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, María Barranco, Kiti Manver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, Yayo Calvo, Loles León, Ángel de Andrés López, José Antonio Navarro.
Cinematography: José Luis Alcaine
Film Editor: José Salcedo
Original Music: Bernardo Bonezzi
Produced by: Augustin Almodóvar
Written and Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Connected film festival attendees learned about Pedro Almodóvar before everybody else, especially if they had an understanding of new developments in Spanish cinema. Film school had shown us nothing but the very exceptional work of Luis Buñuel, most of which is really from Mexico and France. In the 1980s we Angelenos were just getting access to films by the old-school ‘traditional’ rebel Spaniards Carlos Saura and Juan Antonio Bardem.
- 1/31/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Now for something truly remarkable from the neglected Spanish cinema. Luis García Berlanga's wicked satire is a humanistic black comedy, free of cynicism. The borderline Kafkaesque situation of an everyman forced into a profession that horrifies him is funny and warm hearted - but with a ruthless logic that points to universal issues beyond Franco Fascism. The Executioner Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 840 1963 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / El Verdugo / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 25, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Nino Manfredi, Emma Penella, José Isbert . Cinematography Tonino Delli Colli Film Editor Afonso Santacana Original Music Miguel Asins Arbó Written by Luis García Berlanga, Rafael Azcona, Ennio Flaiano Produced by Nazario Belmar Directed by Luis García Berlanga
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Criterion brings us 1963's The Executioner (El Verdugo), a major discovery for film fans that thought Spanish cinema began and ended with Luis Buñuel. I've seen politically-charged Spanish films from...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Criterion brings us 1963's The Executioner (El Verdugo), a major discovery for film fans that thought Spanish cinema began and ended with Luis Buñuel. I've seen politically-charged Spanish films from...
- 10/25/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
WestgateGallery.com is a terrific movie poster site that offers some truly beautiful vintage film posters for sale, most remarkably in the area of giallo and horror films from directors Dario Argento, Sergio Martino, Albert DeMartino, Juan Antonio Bardem, Maurizio Lucidi, and Mario Bava. There are also some phenomenal adult film posters from the 1970’s and …
The post Westgate Gallery Offers Beautiful Vintage Genre Movie Posters at 45% Discount first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net - Official News Site...
The post Westgate Gallery Offers Beautiful Vintage Genre Movie Posters at 45% Discount first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net - Official News Site...
- 9/14/2016
- by Jonathan Stryker
- Horror News
The film starring Michael Keaton to receive a simultaneous UK premiere with the Brighton Film Festival.
The 28th Leeds International Film Festival (Nov 5-20) is to close with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as a unique joint UK premiere with Brighton’s CineCity film festival, which will open with the film on the same date, Nov 20.
The black comedy, which debuted at Venice in August, stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor who once played an iconic superhero and must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory. Co-stars include Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis and Andrea Riseborough
Speaking of the joint premiere, Liff director Chris Fell said: “Regional film festivals like Liff and Cinecity are working together increasingly to grow the UK audience for films, both with and without distribution, and the joint...
The 28th Leeds International Film Festival (Nov 5-20) is to close with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as a unique joint UK premiere with Brighton’s CineCity film festival, which will open with the film on the same date, Nov 20.
The black comedy, which debuted at Venice in August, stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor who once played an iconic superhero and must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory. Co-stars include Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis and Andrea Riseborough
Speaking of the joint premiere, Liff director Chris Fell said: “Regional film festivals like Liff and Cinecity are working together increasingly to grow the UK audience for films, both with and without distribution, and the joint...
- 10/3/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Most recent film appearances, plus concert and television work Please check out our previous post: "Montiel La Violetera and Pedro Almodóvar Icon." Her last star vehicle of note was Juan Antonio Bardem's Varietés (1971), a melodrama about an aging actress who continues to dream of becoming a bona fide star. [Please scroll down to listen to Montiel's husky rendition of "Amado mío."] The forty-something hopeful eventually gets her chance at stardom, but it all turns out to be a flash in the pan. By then, following a whole array of formulaic romantic musical melodramas, Montiel's box-office allure had waned rather radically. She turned down roles in Spain's cine del destape -- post-Franco softcore comedies -- which eventually meant the demise of her movie career. Her last official star vehicle was Pedro Lazaga's comedy Cinco almohadas para una noche ("Five Cushions for One Night," 1974) -- though she would be seen in Eduardo Manzanos Brochero's That's Entertainment-like compilation feature Canciones de nuestra...
- 4/10/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Prolific Spanish film-maker who specialised in psychedelic gothic horror – often laced with sex and violence
According to the Internet Movie Database, the Spanish film-maker Jesús Franco, who has died aged 82, directed 199 films, from El árbol de España in 1957 to Al Pereira vs the Alligator Ladies in 2012, a record few can match in the era of talking pictures. Given that many Franco films exist in three or four variant versions, sometimes so radically different that alternative cuts qualify as separate movies, his overall tally might be considerably higher.
Born Jesús Franco Manera, he was most often credited – at least on international release prints – as Jess Frank or Jess Franco, though he used a host of pseudonyms, writing scripts as David Khune, composing music as Pablo Villa and co-directing pornographic films (with his long-term muse Lina Romay) as Rosa Almirall. He was a true man of the cinema, whose CV ranged from...
According to the Internet Movie Database, the Spanish film-maker Jesús Franco, who has died aged 82, directed 199 films, from El árbol de España in 1957 to Al Pereira vs the Alligator Ladies in 2012, a record few can match in the era of talking pictures. Given that many Franco films exist in three or four variant versions, sometimes so radically different that alternative cuts qualify as separate movies, his overall tally might be considerably higher.
Born Jesús Franco Manera, he was most often credited – at least on international release prints – as Jess Frank or Jess Franco, though he used a host of pseudonyms, writing scripts as David Khune, composing music as Pablo Villa and co-directing pornographic films (with his long-term muse Lina Romay) as Rosa Almirall. He was a true man of the cinema, whose CV ranged from...
- 4/5/2013
- by Kim Newman
- The Guardian - Film News
Spanish director dies following a stroke: Best known for his nearly two hundred underground, "exploitation" films "I think I was born because my father and my mother had sex ... ." Nope, that has nothing to do with the anti-censorship lectured delivered by Oz the Great and Powerful and Interior. Leather Bar's James Franco online. The words above were uttered by another Franco, a Spaniard. No, not the foaming-at-the-mouth right-wing military ruler Francisco Franco, but multitasking filmmaker Jesús Franco, aka Jess Franco aka dozens of other aliases, including those in honor of jazz performers Clifford Brown and James P. Johnson. His oeuvre included about 200 films, among them The White Slave, The Sexual History of O, Macumba Sexual, , Emmanuelle Exposed, Vampyros Lesbos, The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll, and White Cannibal Queen. The director died today in Malaga, a city in southern Spain, after suffering a stroke. According to reports, he had never truly...
- 4/3/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Sad news from Spain. Legendary director Jesús Franco Manera, aka Jess Franco, aka Clifford Brown and a couple dozen more pseudonyms, often took from the names of the American jazz musicians he so admired, has died at the age of 82. Franco suffered a stroke last week from which he couldn’t recover.
His Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein featured a shrieking, silver-skinned Frankenstein’s monster relentlessly whipping a man and a woman tied together over a bed of spikes. It was but one of countless sublime images from the output of the most prolific Exploitation director of all-time (yes, that includes Corman). With a repertoire of over 200 titles, Franco enriched the world of Eurohorror/Exploitation by writing, directing, and scoring a vast variety of films, including masterpieces such as Female Vampire, Count Dracula, Faceless, Night Of The Bloody Judge, Eugenie De Sade, and Venus In Furs, an epic amount of art,...
His Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein featured a shrieking, silver-skinned Frankenstein’s monster relentlessly whipping a man and a woman tied together over a bed of spikes. It was but one of countless sublime images from the output of the most prolific Exploitation director of all-time (yes, that includes Corman). With a repertoire of over 200 titles, Franco enriched the world of Eurohorror/Exploitation by writing, directing, and scoring a vast variety of films, including masterpieces such as Female Vampire, Count Dracula, Faceless, Night Of The Bloody Judge, Eugenie De Sade, and Venus In Furs, an epic amount of art,...
- 4/2/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Director Berlanga Dies
Influential Spanish filmmaker Luis Garcia Berlanga has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
The 79 year old passed away on Saturday in Madrid.
Berlanga made his directorial debut in 1951, teaming up with late moviemaker/screenwriter Juan Antonio Bardem for That Happy Couple.
He was an outspoken critic of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, the former Spanish head of state, and managed to find ways around strict censorship laws to make movies like 1959's Miracles on Thursdays.
He was also the man behind Welcome Mr. Marshall! and The Executioner, both of which have gone down as classics in the history of Spanish film. He also received high praise for Everyone to Jail! - the 1993 comedy which won him the Goya Award for Best Director.
Berlanga was also recognised by the Academy Awards, landing a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film for Placido in 1961.
He is survived by his wife, Maria, and three sons.
The 79 year old passed away on Saturday in Madrid.
Berlanga made his directorial debut in 1951, teaming up with late moviemaker/screenwriter Juan Antonio Bardem for That Happy Couple.
He was an outspoken critic of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, the former Spanish head of state, and managed to find ways around strict censorship laws to make movies like 1959's Miracles on Thursdays.
He was also the man behind Welcome Mr. Marshall! and The Executioner, both of which have gone down as classics in the history of Spanish film. He also received high praise for Everyone to Jail! - the 1993 comedy which won him the Goya Award for Best Director.
Berlanga was also recognised by the Academy Awards, landing a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film for Placido in 1961.
He is survived by his wife, Maria, and three sons.
- 11/16/2010
- WENN
Spanish film-maker best known for his satire Bienvenido, Mister Marshall!
During the Franco years, the survival of independent cinema in Spain was thanks to the "Three Bs" — Luis Buñuel, Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga. The last of these irreverent, original film-makers, who has died aged 89, Berlanga was pivotal in reviving the Spanish film industry after the end of the civil war, despite his many tussles with Franco's censors.
In 1953 he established himself with ¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall! (Welcome, Mr Marshall!), a masterful comedy about the hopes of Spanish villagers that the Marshall Plan will make them rich. In 1961 Plácido, a satire about a poor man invited to dinner in a wealthy household on Christmas Eve, was nominated for the Oscar for best foreign-language film. But his caustic brand of comedy probably reached its apogee in 1963's El Verdugo (The Executioner) about a young man desperate to get a job...
During the Franco years, the survival of independent cinema in Spain was thanks to the "Three Bs" — Luis Buñuel, Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga. The last of these irreverent, original film-makers, who has died aged 89, Berlanga was pivotal in reviving the Spanish film industry after the end of the civil war, despite his many tussles with Franco's censors.
In 1953 he established himself with ¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall! (Welcome, Mr Marshall!), a masterful comedy about the hopes of Spanish villagers that the Marshall Plan will make them rich. In 1961 Plácido, a satire about a poor man invited to dinner in a wealthy household on Christmas Eve, was nominated for the Oscar for best foreign-language film. But his caustic brand of comedy probably reached its apogee in 1963's El Verdugo (The Executioner) about a young man desperate to get a job...
- 11/14/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
Spanish everyman actor who flourished in the country's post-Franco renaissance
The Spanish actor José Luis López Vázquez, who has died aged 87, was so much a part of Spanish cinema for six decades, appearing in almost 250 films between 1948 and 2007, that it seems inconceivable without him. Short and bald, with a little moustache, bearing a certain resemblance to Groucho Marx, he often embodied the average Spaniard. "I was an insignificant person, and I stayed that way," López explained.
As most of López's career was synchronous with Francisco Franco's 36-year repressive regime, when it was almost impossible for Spain to create a vibrant film industry and for talented film-makers to express themselves freely, the majority of his films were conveyor-belt comedies and melodramas, strictly for home consumption. Nevertheless, in the 1950s and 60s, despite restrictions, a distinctive Spanish art cinema managed to emerge, led primarily by the directors Juan Antonio Bardem, Luis García Berlanga and Carlos Saura,...
The Spanish actor José Luis López Vázquez, who has died aged 87, was so much a part of Spanish cinema for six decades, appearing in almost 250 films between 1948 and 2007, that it seems inconceivable without him. Short and bald, with a little moustache, bearing a certain resemblance to Groucho Marx, he often embodied the average Spaniard. "I was an insignificant person, and I stayed that way," López explained.
As most of López's career was synchronous with Francisco Franco's 36-year repressive regime, when it was almost impossible for Spain to create a vibrant film industry and for talented film-makers to express themselves freely, the majority of his films were conveyor-belt comedies and melodramas, strictly for home consumption. Nevertheless, in the 1950s and 60s, despite restrictions, a distinctive Spanish art cinema managed to emerge, led primarily by the directors Juan Antonio Bardem, Luis García Berlanga and Carlos Saura,...
- 11/12/2009
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Film Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Cannes, Out Of Competition
If Woody Allen's geographical shift from Manhattan to London caused some to see a more serious and philosophical side to him, his progression to Barcelona for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" may, for others, represent a welcome return to the neurotic, impetuous romances of his "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" and even his "Husbands and Wives" periods. Not that "Vicky" is in the category of those Allen classics. But he is not taking himself too seriously here and he is not imposing a story on a foreign city with scant regard for its culture. Boxoffice results should follow the usual pattern with Allen's more successful comedies.
Barcelona and Spanish culture is integral to the storytelling in "Vicky". Which is not to say Allen isn't functioning as a well-informed tourist. The two most hilarious characters, played by Spain's two most famous actors, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, are nothing if not cliches about tempestuous Latin lovers. But, boy, does Allen have fun with those cliches.
Two young American women friends -- no innocents abroad these -- fall into a heady whirlwind of romance, lust and partner variations during a sultry summer in the Catalonian capital. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is the sensible and structured one, already engaged to an equally sensible businessman. Cristina (Allen's current muse, Scarlett Johansson) is fleeing yet another doomed romance in her perpetual search for a happiness she cannot define.
Each falls under the romantic sway of "intense" painter Juan Antonio Bardem). At first glance the epitome of "Eurotrash", it is to Allen's credit that, over the course of the movie, he deepens this character, giving Juan Antonio a dignity and integrity absent in his initial well-oiled moves on the young women.
Juan Antonio and Cristina appear made for each other, but a surprising and unplanned encounter between Juan Antonio and Vicky devastates her life trajectory. Suddenly, all that sense and structure tumbles into a puddle of liquid desire.
Juan Antonio and Cristina do settle into a live-in relationship, but this romance stumbles when his mercurial ex-wife, Maria Elena (Cruz), re-enters his life following a failed suicide attempt.
But strange is the magic that happens next: The couple that could never work as a duo suddenly blossoms as a menage-a-trois!
Allen's love for Barcelona shines in every immaculate image, stunning vista, tender glance down an expansive boulevard or tiny street, reverential gaze at buildings by Gaudi and quick dives into picturesque taverns. Allen imagines a Bohemian subculture of artists and poets, like Paris after World War I or Greenwich Village after World War II, wherein its denizens drink wine and make love into the intoxicating night.
Does Allen in his advancing years see in Barcelona a chance to re-create his Manhattan of old, a city not of Gershwin but of Spanish melodies and guitar music, where once again young neurotics can experiment with lifestyles and embrace art?
Whatever, the film belongs to Bardem and Cruz. This is a Spanish version of "Private Lives", a couple that cannot live apart or together, whose love will always burst into fiery combat. Their scenes are some of the funniest Allen has ever put on film, and the culmination of this love/hate tango is not to be missed.
A voice-over narration for once actually works, urging the story on and slipping us past talk of art and poetry. Javier Auirresarobe's cinematography and Alisa Lepselter's editing are unusually sharp, even by Allen's high standards.
Cast: Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson. Writer-director: Woody Allen. Producers: Letty Aronson, Gareth Wiley, Stephen Tenenbaum. Executive producers: Jaume Roures, Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe, Javier Mendez. Director of photography: Javier Auirresarobe. Production designer: Alain Bainee. Costume designer: Sonia Grande. Editor: Alisa Lepselter.
Production companies: Weinstein Co., Mediapro & Gravier Production in association with Antena 3 Films & Antena 3 TV present a Dumaine production
Sales: Wild Bunch.
No MPAA rating, 96 minutes.
If Woody Allen's geographical shift from Manhattan to London caused some to see a more serious and philosophical side to him, his progression to Barcelona for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" may, for others, represent a welcome return to the neurotic, impetuous romances of his "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" and even his "Husbands and Wives" periods. Not that "Vicky" is in the category of those Allen classics. But he is not taking himself too seriously here and he is not imposing a story on a foreign city with scant regard for its culture. Boxoffice results should follow the usual pattern with Allen's more successful comedies.
Barcelona and Spanish culture is integral to the storytelling in "Vicky". Which is not to say Allen isn't functioning as a well-informed tourist. The two most hilarious characters, played by Spain's two most famous actors, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, are nothing if not cliches about tempestuous Latin lovers. But, boy, does Allen have fun with those cliches.
Two young American women friends -- no innocents abroad these -- fall into a heady whirlwind of romance, lust and partner variations during a sultry summer in the Catalonian capital. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is the sensible and structured one, already engaged to an equally sensible businessman. Cristina (Allen's current muse, Scarlett Johansson) is fleeing yet another doomed romance in her perpetual search for a happiness she cannot define.
Each falls under the romantic sway of "intense" painter Juan Antonio Bardem). At first glance the epitome of "Eurotrash", it is to Allen's credit that, over the course of the movie, he deepens this character, giving Juan Antonio a dignity and integrity absent in his initial well-oiled moves on the young women.
Juan Antonio and Cristina appear made for each other, but a surprising and unplanned encounter between Juan Antonio and Vicky devastates her life trajectory. Suddenly, all that sense and structure tumbles into a puddle of liquid desire.
Juan Antonio and Cristina do settle into a live-in relationship, but this romance stumbles when his mercurial ex-wife, Maria Elena (Cruz), re-enters his life following a failed suicide attempt.
But strange is the magic that happens next: The couple that could never work as a duo suddenly blossoms as a menage-a-trois!
Allen's love for Barcelona shines in every immaculate image, stunning vista, tender glance down an expansive boulevard or tiny street, reverential gaze at buildings by Gaudi and quick dives into picturesque taverns. Allen imagines a Bohemian subculture of artists and poets, like Paris after World War I or Greenwich Village after World War II, wherein its denizens drink wine and make love into the intoxicating night.
Does Allen in his advancing years see in Barcelona a chance to re-create his Manhattan of old, a city not of Gershwin but of Spanish melodies and guitar music, where once again young neurotics can experiment with lifestyles and embrace art?
Whatever, the film belongs to Bardem and Cruz. This is a Spanish version of "Private Lives", a couple that cannot live apart or together, whose love will always burst into fiery combat. Their scenes are some of the funniest Allen has ever put on film, and the culmination of this love/hate tango is not to be missed.
A voice-over narration for once actually works, urging the story on and slipping us past talk of art and poetry. Javier Auirresarobe's cinematography and Alisa Lepselter's editing are unusually sharp, even by Allen's high standards.
Cast: Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson. Writer-director: Woody Allen. Producers: Letty Aronson, Gareth Wiley, Stephen Tenenbaum. Executive producers: Jaume Roures, Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe, Javier Mendez. Director of photography: Javier Auirresarobe. Production designer: Alain Bainee. Costume designer: Sonia Grande. Editor: Alisa Lepselter.
Production companies: Weinstein Co., Mediapro & Gravier Production in association with Antena 3 Films & Antena 3 TV present a Dumaine production
Sales: Wild Bunch.
No MPAA rating, 96 minutes.
- 5/17/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In 1955, director Juan Antonio Bardem attended a symposium called the Salamanca Congress that gathered filmmakers from varied political persuasions to discuss the pitiful state of Spanish cinema under the Franco regime. His statement didn't mince words: "After 60 years of filmmaking, Spanish cinema is politically ineffective, socially false, intellectually worthless, aesthetically nonexistent, and industrially crippled." His solution was to lead by example. Bardem's loaded melodrama Death Of A Cyclist closely resembles Luchino Visconti's neo-realist Ossessione in that it imports the language and genre from another country—in Visconti's case, James M. Cain's classic noir The Postman Always Rings Twice—and uses it to nudge its national cinema in a different direction. For his part, Bardem combines Alfred Hitchcock's visual elegance and suspense with the class-consciousness of neo-realism, and the new equation lets him smuggle across some subversive ideas. Death Of A Cyclist opens with the eponymous incident, as a.
- 4/30/2008
- by Scott Tobias
- avclub.com
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