The Things of Love

Decent though uneven movie about theatrical spectacles during post-Civil War (1936-1939) . 1939's Madrid , during Civil War , Pepita (Angela Molina) , a Coplas singer meets Juan (Angel De Andres Lopez) and both of them fall in love , but they follow different paths . One time finished ¨Civil War¨ Juan and his gay friend Mario (Manuel Bandera) spend time in cheap shows but their ways cross with Pepita . Once again they meet and work in same musical spectacle , getting a considerable success . As during the General Franco years of dictatorship acting in several musical spectacles , Juan plays piano for Pepita and her on-stage partner Mario playing catching folk songs . Although Mario really loves to Juan for himself , however Juan is not interested in him . Then Mario resorts to a string of lovers and when he leaves a wealthy man (Juan Gea) things go wrong .

Typical Spanish post-war drama with good actors , spectacular musical numbers singing attractive Coplas , and nice direction . This is an agreeable as well as uneven drama in less than 120 minutes of length and yet with an air of naturalness and credibility rarely match . This is an enjoyable post-Civil drama including a love story , Flamenco shows and the ordinary Spanish clichés . It has some moments of enjoyment as well as amusement and others quite a few embarrassing . Colorful story of love and jealousy in which a gorgeous singer and her homosexual friend seduce several men and women , being partially based on facts , as the character played by Manuel Bandera seems to be the singer Miguel De Molina . It tends to glamorize the forties with its music , parties , dances and popular shows . There are brief moments of drama , but predominates Copla songs and musical spectacle . Angela Molina and Manuel Banderas steal the show , interpreters who provided a considerable boost to the result , both of whom play wonderful and classic Spanish songs such as ¨¨La Bien paga¨ , ¨Hijo De Espartero Quieren Meterle a Fraile¨ and ¨Cosas del Querer¨ . The main cast is pretty well and support cast is frankly good such as María Barranco , Amparo Baró , Mary Carmen Ramírez , Diana Peñalver , Juan Gea , Rafael Alonso , Eva León , Ricardo Palacios , Francis Lorenzo , Luis Barbero and Manuel Gallardo . Colorful and glowing cinematography by Hans Burmann which heightens the ambiance, being shot in Madrd and Andalucia location . Burmann is deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman ; Hans has photographed notorious films such as Tesis , Abre Los Ojos , Guantanamera , Paris Tombuctu , and several others . Evocative musical score by Gregorio Garcia Segura and with plenty of known songs from the 40s . It was followed by ¨Cosas Del Querer¨ 2 (1995) including similar artistic and technician team with Ángela Molina , Manuel Bandera , Susú Pecoraro , Darío Grandinetti , Amparo Baró , Anabel Alonso and Antonio Valero .

This motion picture "The Things of Love" or ¨Las Cosas Del Querer¨ lavishly produced Luis Sanz was decently directed Jaime Chavarri . His first professional movie was ¨Los Viajes Escolares¨ (1974), with an autobiographical touch but it was misunderstood by most critics . Later he worked with the producers 'Elías Querejeta' in prestigious documentary titled ¨El Desencanto¨ (1976)) and Alfredo Matas in a successful costumer titled ¨Bearn¨ (1983), adapted from the novel by Llorenç Vilallong a. With the last mentioned film he also had success in terms of the numbers who saw the film . He also directed intense dramas such as ¨Dedicatoria¨ and ¨A un Dios Desconocido¨ . To change the genre he also filmed the musical, ¨Las Cosas del Querer¨ (1989) , being followed by ¨Cosas Del Querer 2¨ (1995) , along with a Tango film as ¨Tangos Are for Two¨ . And adapted from the theatre play by Fernando Fernán Gómez in his most popular film titled ¨Bicicletas Son Para Verano¨ . His last picture was a biography about ¨Camarón¨ (2005) .