At the onset of the Spanish Civil War, a sheltered boy (Manuel Lozano) in rural northern Spain forms an indelible bond with his kindly leftist teacher (Fernando Fernán Gómez), who imparts his love for nature to the young student. Director Jose Luis Cuerda gentle and nostalgic drama, based on the short stories of Manuel Rivas, was nominated for 13 Goya Awards (the Spanish Oscar), winning for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Beautiful, sad story of friendship between young boy and devoted teacher at time of Spanish civil war. Inspired by a book called “La Lengua de las Mariposas” (Butterfly’s Tongue). Shows the destructive split in Spanish society during the Spanish Civil War. The ending could be hard to take. But I call this a “feel good” because the interplay between the boy and the teacher is beautiful. Really a masterpiece.
A pair of reformed crooks team up to pull one more heist. Their target? Master con artist Moctezuma Valdez (Saúl Lisazo), a popular television infomercial pitchman who’s gotten rich by swindling countless unsuspecting immigrants. The former thieves attempt to recruit some of their criminal cohorts to help pull off the plan, but when they refuse, the two turn to day laborers to participate in the elaborate robbery scheme
(Thieves robbing thieves). This is a C-film. When I was first learning
Spanish I watched telenovelas (Spanish soap operas) on Spanish TV.
Every different series featured the same set of actors and actresses
but in permutated roles. Here I am years later watching a film from CD
which again features many of those same actors (in more “mature”
roles). It is a Robin-Hood story in which a gang of people cooperate
to steal from a TV snake-oil saleman who deceives poor immigrants.
Bad robber keeps his cash in a vault in his palace. Good robbers
concoct an elaborate scheme (think “Oceans 17”) to tunnel into
his house, etc. But what is different is the Latino philosophy and
moralizing. It’s only C but I got a kick out of it. There are plot
twists, even in this wannabe.
Writer-director Robert Rodriguez’s indie debut and his big-budget follow-up are both featured on this disc. Sundance Film Festival winner El Mariachi chronicles the travails of a traveling musician (Carlos Gallardo) who’s been mistaken for an assassin who carries his weapons in a guitar case — and whom the local crime lord wants dead. In Desperado, the mariachi (Antonio Banderas) returns — this time seeking revenge. Salma Hayek co-stars.
Robert Rodriguez made this film in Mexico for $9000 which is,
of course, absurdly low. He could shoot each scene only once.
For a beginner in Spanish, this is the perfect film because the
Spanish is terse and very easy. This is a violent film.
Once CD contains both “El Mariachi” and “Desperado”. Try to see “El Mariachi”
before watching “Desperado”.
In this fairy tale for adults, 10-year-old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) stumbles on a decaying labyrinth guarded by Pan (Doug Jones), an ancient satyr who claims to know her destiny. With a new home, a new stepfather (Sergi Lopez) — a Fascist officer in the pro-Franco army — and a new sibling on the way, nothing is familiar to Ofelia in this multiple Oscar-winning tale set in 1944 Spain from director Guillermo del Toro.
In “1001 Films to See Before You Die”, this film is recommended as probably the best film by Mexican directory Guillermo del Toro. The film has a split personality: half is the suffering and torture due to Ofilia’s stepfather who is a bitter and twisted member of General Franco’s fascist army; the other half is the fantasy world to which Ofilia escapes in order to get away from the ugly realities. So, yes, there is violence and some torture. And also there are some memorable fantastic special effects scenes. Not for children.
