Fascinating though overlong tale plenty of good feeling , haunting mood-pieces , enticing images and attractive ending . This weird flick contains symbolism , emotion , drama and an almost diabolic spell . Well directed film by Carlos Saura , including his own story and screenplay , who tried to create a charming flick plenty of symbolist scenes , flashbacks and metaphors by tackling a description about a particular father-daughter relation . The picture is set in a village called Melque De Cercas , Segovia . Elisa has not seen her father Luis for long time ago , but she receives a message from her sister Isabel (Isabel Mestres) telling their dad is ill and wants to visit him for his birthday . The daddy called Luis (Fernando Rey) is an old retired teacher who occasionally teaches at a girls school , and lives at a rural mansion in Segovia countryside . Elisa , then decides to travel from Madrid , along with Isabel , her brother-in-law Julián (Joaquin Hinojosa) and their two children to visit Luis . There Elisa gets closer to Luis , her estranged daddy , understanding why he abandoned her mummy years ago . Elisa tells Luis that her relation to husband (Norman Briski) has terminated because she was deceived . When Antonio unexpectedly arrives at home , things go awry .
Agreeable film filled with excessive dialogue , haunting mood-pieces , marvelous frames , and portentous interpretations . However , it turns out to be slow-moving , dull and little bit boring ; being mostly filmed in Segovia . This extraordinary flick spells through intricate patterns of frames , sets , sound and color . This film along with others as ¨Cria Cuervos¨ , ¨Peppermint Frappé¨ were notorious in the years of the Franco's downfall dictatorship including provoking and polemic issues and played by known and prestigious actors as Geraldine Chaplin , Fernando Rey , Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez , Monica Randall and Hector Alterio . ¨Elisa Vida Mia¨ stars Geraldine Chaplin who displays a nice acting as a woman in a moment of crisis of her marriage and decides to stay with his father , taking place a complex relationship . Fernando Rey also gives an awesome interpretation as an old teacher with dark secrets . And Norman Briski as her hubby Antonio who cheated her with her best friend as well as Isabel Mestres as her sister . His style is pretty much dry in the atmosphere as in the fresh dialog , as well as realistic , and including fantastic elements as when appears some strange images , dreams and nightmares . ¨Elisa Vida Mia¨ is one of Saura's and fundamental in his filmography where shows efficiently some peculiar characters and shot at the height of his creativity, in a period cultural difficult, where the enormous censorship of the political regime exacerbated the ingenuity and imagination of the scriptwriters . Splendid , luxurious photography with juicy atmosphere by Teo Escamilla who along with Luis Cuadrado are considered to be two of the best Spanish cameramen , both of whom worked for Saura . Interesting screenplay by the same director based on a original story . Moving and emotive musical score composed by piano . This touching picture will appeal to Spanish films buffs .
The motion picture perfectly produced by magnificent producer Elias Querejeta was compellingly directed by Carlos Saura , a good Spanish movies director . He began working in cinema in 1959 when he filmed ¨Los Golfos ¨(1962) dealing with juvenile delinquency from a sociological point of view . He subsequently made LLanto Por Un Bandido (1964) starred by an European all-star-cast . Saura is a well recognized filmmaker both nationally and internationally, and in proof of it he won many prizes among which there are the following ones: Silver Bear in Festival of Berlin for Peppermint Frappé (1967) and the successful La Caza (1966) , considered to be his undisputed masterpiece , that also won numerous prizes in International Festivals and in which four characters facing each other and terminating into a jarring burst of violence . Saura achieved Special Jury Awards in Cannes for La Prima Angélica (1974), in 1973, and for Cría Cuervos (1976), in 1975. Also, the film Mamá Cumple Cien Años (1979) got an Oscar nomination in 1979 as the best foreign film, and it also won the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastian Festival. He subsequently made ¨Deprisa , Deprisa¨ based on facts about juvenile delinquency in Spain since the 80s , as he tried to take a position in favour of outcast people and he got to make a both lyric and documentary-style cinema . In 1990, he won two Goya , The Spanish Oscar , as best adapted screenplay writer and best director . Saura became an expert on Iberian musical adaptations as ¨Carmen , Amor Brujo , Bodas De Sangre , Sevillanas , Iberia , Salome , Fado, Flamenco ¨ and even recently Opera as ¨Io , Don Giovanni
