Carmen Maura Movies
Carmen Maura is a giant of Spanish cinema, a woman who has won numerous international awards for her work. Once the celebrated host of a Spanish television show, El Noche, and cabaret artist, Carmen Maura's star as a queen of cinema rose with that of Pedro Almodóvar.Maura began her film career in 1970, turning in great performances in films such as The Man in Hiding (1970); Fernando Colomo's Paper Tigers (1977); and Carlos Saura's 1978 film Blindfolded Eyes. The actress appeared in Almodóvar's very first film, Pepi, Luci, Bom, in 1980. Their collaboration lasted through seven films, including What Have I Done to Deserve This? and Dark Habits, both made in 1984, and The Law of Desire (1986). In the process, Maura showed the range of her abilities, as she portrayed the unusual characters that Almodóvar favors, such as a lesbian nun and a transsexual actress involved in a love triangle with her brother, played by Antonio Banderas. The two worked again in an Almodóvar vehicle that was destined to catapult them all to international stardom. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was released in 1988. The film won numerous awards, launched Banderos' career in America, and led Carmen Maura to the winners' circle for the European Film Award for Best Actress.
Her starring role as Pepa contains all the classic elements of an Almodóvar film. She is a strong and capable woman, in distress at her lover's impersonal bet, as he breaks up with her via a note and her answering machine. Her current condition of pregnancy makes his sudden departure all the more upsetting. As she teeters on the brink of insanity, her world is invaded by others vying for her time and attention at a most inopportune time: she is preparing to take her own life. Maura's gifts for comedy and pathos are evident in the hilarious scene in her apartment in which she tends to the needs of others, notably played by Banderos, Rossy de Palma, and Maria Barranco, while coming to terms with her own predicament. Almodóvar, always the admirer of the strength of women, has Pepa discovering that very fact for herself. By giving her compassion generously to others, she saves herself and is ready to face life once more.
Maura won the European Film Festival Best Actress award again in 1990 for her title role in Saura's Ay, Carmela!, with her riveting performance as an entertainer during the Spanish Civil War. Among her noteworthy contributions to cinema in the '90s were her characterizations in Happiness Is in the Field, directed by Etienne Chatiliez, in 1995; Téchiné's Alice and Martin (1998); and Common Wealth (2000), the latest film from Alex de la Eglesia. The luminous Carmen Maura is still going strong in the 21st century, having completed work in Eva Lesmes' The Hold-Up in 2001. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- R
On the heels of the self-financed, modestly budgeted 2007 drama Youth Without Youth -- his first directorial outing after a ten-year hiatus -- filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola remains situated in the director's chair for this semi-autobiographical family drama concerning an artistic family of immigrants whose fierce rivalries span several generations. Vincent Gallo stars with newcomer Alden Ehrenreich, with Carmen Maura, Maribel Verdú, and Alden Ehrenreich rounding out the cast. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, (more)
Two sisters learn that the bonds of family don't always end after death in this gentle observational comedy drama that marks celebrated Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's 16th feature. The story explores the interactions between three generations of women in a Spanish family. Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) was born and raised in the apocryphal village of Alcanfor de las Infantas, in La Mancha, Spain. However, she now resides in Madrid, where she works as a janitor. She is married to Paco (Antonio de la Torre), an unemployed layabout, and looks after her daughter, Paula (Yohana Cobo). Raimunda's mother, Irene (Carmen Maura), died several years back (along with her father) in a house fire. Raimunda's younger sister, Sole (Lola Dueñas), also lives in Madrid and works as a hair stylist, while their aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave) still makes her home in La Mancha, with occasional help from neighbor Agustina (Blanca Portillo). The story takes an unusual and mystical twist when Agustina mentions that Irene has begun reappearing in ghostly form -- a fact questioned by Raimunda and Sole. After a murder and an unexpected family tragedy, Paula's story is indeed corroborated by the appearance of Irene's spirit (who has come to comfort her family), and Sole must decide how to respond to the long-dead mother's strange, enchanting presence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, (more)
A Jewish-American woman still reeling from her breakup with her Spanish-Israeli fiancée hits the road with a middle-aged Israeli woman, who is looking to collect the 30,000-dollar debt owed to her by her husband's former business partner, and a Palestinian woman, who claims to know the elusive moneyman's whereabouts, in this road-trip drama from Kippur director Amos Gitai. In her efforts to escape the painful memory of her breakup with former fiancée Julio (Aki Avni), Rebecca (Natalie Portman) agrees to accompany Hanna (Hanna Laslo) on her arduous journey through Israel to the Free Zone -- a tax- and customs-free region where those from countries at war with one another amiably buy and sell cars -- in hopes of collecting a large debt owed to her by her ailing husband's business partner known only as "The American." When Hanna and Rebecca finally arrive in the Free Zone only to discover that Hanna's contact and money have mysteriously gone missing, a Palestinian woman named Leila (Hiam Abbass) agrees to lead the skeptical Hanna to both "The American" and Hanna's rightly due cash. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natalie Portman, Hanna Laslo, (more)
Writer and director Manuel Gómez Pereira takes a look at the funny side of same-sex marriage in this farcical comedy. Magda (Carmen Maura) is the manager of a posh resort hotel that is to be the site of a marriage ceremony bringing three gay couples together at once. One of the husbands-to-be is Magda's son Miguel (Unax Ugalde), who will exchange vows with Óscar (Daniel Hendler). However, while things are harmonious between Miguel and Óscar, Óscar's meddling mother, Ofelia (Betiana Blum), is making life miserable for everyone. Narciso (Paco Léon) will be tying the knot with his lover, Hugo (Gustavo Salmerón), but both are having family problems -- Hugo's uptight parents, Helena (Mercedes Sampietro) and Hector (Tito Valverde), aren't sure if they're willing to attend, while Narciso's man-hungry mom, Nuria (Verónica Forqué), threatens to make a spectacle of the ceremony. And actress Reyes (Marisa Paredes) will be on hand to see her son Rafa (Raul Jimenez) marry Jonas (Hugo Silva), who happens to be the son of her gardener Jacinto (Lluís Homar). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2004
One man finds himself pulled in three directions at once by his family and a chance acquaintance in this breakneck comedy. Miguel (Jacques Gamblin) is a single parent and Spanish expatriate living in Belgium who has to deal with a young daughter, Laura (Raphaelle Molinier), his busybody mother, Abuelita (Carmen Maura), and his pushy brother, Juan (Pedro Romero). Miguel works for Juan's travel agency as a courier and errand boy. Shortly after sending Laura off to school, Juan gets an urgent call from Miguel and he has to head to the airport. En route, Miguel gets caught in a traffic jam and encounters Sonia (Ingeborga Dapkunaite), an illegal alien from the Ukraine who is on the run from police after being freed from custody by a group of activists. Sonia has been searching for her boyfriend who disappeared in Belgium a year ago, and after much haranguing Miguel agrees to help her, but that's before he gets word from Abuelita that an accident has sent his daughter to the hospital. Fortunately Laura's injuries are minor, but once Laura and Abuelita hear Sonia's story, they decide to drop everything to help her find her man with Miguel along for the ride, regardless of Juan's feelings about the matter (or Miguel's, for that matter). 25 Degres en Hiver was the first feature film from writer and director Stéphane Vuillet. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Jacques Gamblin, (more)
Hector Carre's psychological thriller The Promise concerns a woman who liberates herself from a destructive marriage and becomes nanny to a boy. The boy's family lives in an ornate mansion, but the nanny becomes convinced that the house is haunted, and she goes to frightening lengths to protect the boy. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Ana Fernandez, (more)
Sarah (Élodie Bouchez) a young Carmelite nun, collapses in pain, dazed and spouting a nonsense phrase. Concurrently, a great distance away, her identical twin sister, Gaëlle (also Bouchez), in prison, wakes up to find her cell in flames. While Gaëlle, the victim of an attack by her fellow prisoners, is transferred to a different prison, Joachim (Gérard Depardieu), a Cecilian (both a doctor and a priest) visits with Sarah. He's perplexed by her case because her tests all came back normal, and he deducts that her spells must have a psychological source. But Sarah isn't forthcoming about her past, and Mother Emmanuelle (Carmen Maura), who runs the convent, doesn't even want Joachim to treat the young woman. Through his investigations, Joachim learns that Sarah has a twin sister, to whom she may have some kind of psychic connection. Delving deeper into the past, he discovers that Gaëlle went to prison for a horrible crime at around the same time Sarah entered the convent. Joachim is dealing with the violence of his own past, and cannot let go of his prying, despite the advice of his colleagues. He finds Gaëlle after she is released on parole, and takes her in. Their relationship becomes more complicated, and they are threatened by others who would prefer that the past stay buried. The Pact of Silence was based on a novel by Marcelle Bernstein. It was adapted for the screen by Roselyne Bosch (1492: Conquest of Paradise) and directed by Graham Guit. The film had a theatrical release in France, but was released straight-to-video in the U.S. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Élodie Bouchez, (more)
A hyperstylized tribute to spaghetti westerns courtesy of fearless Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia, 800 Bullets finds young Carlos (Luis Castro) striking out on his own in search of his long-lost father. Swiping his shrewish businesswoman mother's (Carmen Maura) credit card and setting his sights on Almeria, Carlos begins his quest to learn the truth about his father after his curiosity is sparked while thumbing through old photographs. Carlos comes into contact with his alcoholic grandfather Julian (Sancho Gracia) shortly after arriving in Almeria, where the one-time Clint Eastwood stunt double is still chasing his dreams of stardom. Rumored to have caused Carlos' father's death years earlier when a dangerous stunt went horribly awry, Julian now spends his days staging elaborate Western shows for tourists on the abandoned film sets. As the young boy quickly wins the affections of the rough and tumble stunt crew, the arrival of his mother begins to threaten his newfound happiness when she reveals plans of turning the location into an amusement park. As the hapless crew faces the prospect of being displaced by the greed of modern society, they are forced to defend thier territory by replacing their blanks with 800 real bullets. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sancho Gracia, Ángel de Andrés Lopez, (more)
Venerable Argentinian filmmaker Alejandro Agresti turns his lens to his own childhood in this nostalgic coming-of-age tale. Set in the director's hometown of Buenos Aires circa 1964, Valentin centers around its title character (and ostensible stand-in for the director), a nine-year-old boy (Rodrigo Noya) whose feuding parents have left him to be raised by his sage, eccentric grandmother (Carmen Maura). With his father (Agresti) visiting only occasionally, Valentin is left to look to the other men in the neighborhood for father figures, and to replace his absent mother, he warms to Leticia (Julieta Cardinali), one of his father's many short-term girlfriends. When he tells her personal secrets about his father, however, Valentin jeopardizes their relationship. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodrigo Noya, Carmen Maura, (more)
A pair of pink-collar workers short on cash decide to try a new part-time job -- bank robbery -- in this comedy. Lola (Ariana Ozores) and Silvia (Maribel Verdu) are two working-class women who are also best friends. Lola works on the cleaning crew at a bank and sometimes does odd jobs for her friend Maite (Carmen Maura), while Silvia is a beautician who is expecting a baby. Lola was once married to Gustavo (Jaime Pujol), a policeman, and while he wants to give their relationship another try, Lola isn't interested. His family hasn't been on good terms with Lola since the divorce, and one day they decide to evict her from the house she's been renting from Gustavo. Short on money and with few options, Lola and Silvia get the idea to rob the bank where Lola works. While Lola has access to the keys, she discovers the bank's funds aren't where she thought they were; determined to find out where the money is hidden, Silvia helps groom Lola into a sexy temptress so she can lure information from the bank's manager (Juan Gea) and give the robbery another try. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriana Ozores, Carmen Maura, (more)
The fifth feature of noted Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia, La Comunidad is a frenetic black comedy set in a decrepit old house in the center of Madrid. One of the house's new residents is Julia Garcia (Carmen Maura, whose performance won her a best actress award at the 2000 San Sebastian Film Festival), a real estate agent who has taken an apartment to revive her sagging marriage. One day, while engaging in some bedroom bliss, Julia and her unemployed husband Ricardo (Jesus Bonilla) are attacked by cockroaches that rain down on them through a crack in the ceiling. During a subsequent investigation of the upstairs apartment, firemen discover a man's rotting corpse. Julia later conducts her own investigation of the apartment and discovers almost 15 million dollars hidden away under the floor boards -- the result of a soccer-pool win by the apartment's dead owner. She decides to take the winnings and run, but while removing the cash, meets her neighbor Ramona (Terele Pavez), who quickly becomes suspicious of Julia's activities. It turns out that everyone in the building knew about the money and agreed to share it amongst themselves, a plan severely compromised by Julia's desire to keep the money for herself. After inviting Julia to a welcome party held by the residents' association, her neighbors go to extreme lengths to get the money, and plenty of cartoon-colored murder and mayhem ensues. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Eduardo Antuna, (more)
- 2000
An off-beat comedy that takes an unconventional look at the problems of contemporary Algeria, writer-director Nadir Mokneche's debut feature is set in 1993 Algiers. As the country veers toward civil war, Madame Osmane (Spanish actress and former Almodóvar mainstay Carmen Maura) exercises a casual dictatorship over the tenants of her apartment building. A former freedom fighter whose husband -- also an ex-freedom fighter -- is living in France with another woman, Madame Osmane is determined to control the lives of her daughter Sakina (Linda Slimani), her batty maid, Meriem (Biyouna), young, French-born wife Yasmine (Myriam Amarouchene), and various other tenants. Over the course of the film, Madame Osmane manages to ruin Sakina's engagement to her biology teacher, Yasmine discovers that her husband has a second wife, and the women do their best to exist against a backdrop of political and cultural instability. Due to the dangerous political situation in Algeria, Le Harem de Mme Osmane was filmed in Morocco. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nadia Kaci
- 1999
- NR
Set in Chile in the early 1990s, when the brutal oppression of the Pinochet regime had given way to a democratic government (and a capitalist economy that proved to have flaws of its own), El Entusiasmo/Enthusiasm begins in 1984, when Guillermo (Alvaro Rudolphi) introduces two of his friends to each other -- Fernando (Alvaro Escobar) and Isabel (Maribel Verdu). A decade later, Fernando and Isabel have a son, and they join forces with Guillermo to start a business offering sightseeing expeditions for tourists visiting the newly-democratic nation. Fernando gets an idea for a special multi-media presentation that would educate viewers on Chile's history, culture and political legacy, and it proves to be a major success -- enough so that he's roped by a group of less-than-trustworthy developers who want his help with a project building luxury housing in the desert. However, this is the opposite of the utopian collective that Guillermo had dreamed of years ago; Fernando's new ideals and associates alienate both Guillermo and Isabel, who turn against Fernando and into each others arms. El Entusiasmo/Enthusiasm was shown as part of the "Directors Fortnight" program at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maribel Verdú, Carmen Maura, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Can a gay man find happiness with the mother of Jesus Christ? Mario $Gregoire Colin) is a openly homosexual hairdresser who one day meets Marie-Helene (Isabelle Carre) when he sees her singing beside a tree in a park. They get to know each other and Mario discovers Marie-Helene believes she is the Virgin Mary; though obviously pregnant, she says no man had anything to do with her unborn child. Marie-Helene also needs a place to live, so Mario brings her home, which comes as a shock to his step-mother (Carmen Maura) and half-sister, who aren't used to seeing Mario socializing with women, let along pregnant virgins. However, Marie-Helene's kindness and grace soon wins everyone over, even if her story is less than convincing. This surreal fable was the directorial debut for filmmaker Jean-Claude Janer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Carré, Carmen Maura, (more)
A salesman offers a ride to a sexy woman and soon finds himself deep in trouble in the thriller Lisboa. Joao (Segi Lopez) is a traveling salesman from Portugal who is somewhere outside of Madrid when he stops to offer a lift to Berta (Carmen Maura), an attractive hitch-hiker. Sparks soon fly between them, and moments later they're having sex in a public restroom. Joao starts to wonder what he's gotten himself into when he discovers Berta is carrying a gun, but despite this he agrees to drive her to Lisbon. She claims to be going there to clear up some financial misdoings committed by her husband; however, Joao soon finds Berta's son, daughter and father are all following their trail, and the situation becomes all the more complicated when Berta's husband (Federico Luppi) shows up. This (along with Las Huellas Borradas) was one of two films featuring Federico Luppi to be shown at the 1999 Malaga Film Festival in Spain. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Federico Luppi, (more)
A period piece that blends first love, the power of the cinema and the Mexican Revolution, El Cometa is set in 1910, as Medero's factions were organizing against the Profirio Diaz regime. Romualdo (Gabriel Retes) owns a traveling vaudeville show and has just lost his star attraction when his son Victor (Diego Luna) meets Guy (Patrick LeMauff), a French cinematographer who has worked for Lumiere. Victor is fascinated by the possibilities of the movies, and when Guy discovers Romualdo needs a new drawing card, he offers him a deal -- a movie set-up at a bargain price in exchange for helping to hide Valentina (Ana Claudia Talancon), a girl whose father was arrested for working with Medero's rebels. Valentina is also carrying a fortune in gold which she hopes to smuggle to Medero, who is hiding in Texas, but in the meantime she and Victor begin a romance and Valentina becomes the new star of the show while trying to elude the police. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diego Luna, Ana Claudia Talancón, (more)
- 1998
In this romantic French drama, auteur Andre Techine offers an intense, intimate look inside the complex relationship between two emotionally dysfunctional people. Neither Alice (Juliette Binoche) nor Martin (Alexis Loret) seem emotionally healthy enough to sustain a relationship, but somehow they manage to stay together amidst their many personal problems. The two met in Paris, where Martin fled after escaping the oppression of his recently deceased tyrannical father. Once in the City of Light, the depressed Martin attempts suicide and later accepts an offer to stay with his half-brother Benjamin (Mathieu Amalric) and his roommate Alice, a violinist, in their ramshackle garret. Shortly thereafter, Martin is spotted by a modeling agent and finds steady work on the city's catwalks. At first, Martin and Alice do not get along. He is brutish and incapable of expressing emotion. He pursues her, but Alice is not terribly interested, until her sexual frustration and need to be loved gets the better of her, and she succumbs to his advances. She then decides to leave Benjamin and travel with Martin to a modelling assignment in Granada, Spain. There the two are briefly happy, but as time passes, Martin's self-absorption increases. Alice's announcement that she is pregnant precipitates a crisis in which Martin reveals that he caused his father's death. Unable to bear the guilt and pain any longer, he commits himself to a mental institution and then requests he be given his day in court. Alice is convinced that Martin is innocent of the crime with which he has charged himself. When he insists on going to court, she goes there to save him from himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliette Binoche, Alexis Loret, (more)
Shot in Lisbon, this drama examines the issue of aging as seen from the viewpoints of five women facing middle age -- self-destructive actress-singer Branca (Guesch Patti), losing the respect of her daughter; single literature professor Eva (Miou-Miou), attracted to the son of her friend Barbara (Marthe Keller), who's in the middle of a divorce; top TV journalist Linda (Carmen Maura), who has a lover but can't commit; and beauty-salon owner Chloe (Marisa Berenson). Shown at the 1998 Palm Springs Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Carmen Maura, (more)
- 1997
Director Jean-Pierre Mocky has gone too far past the limits of bad taste, disgusting sex, and pastiche sequencing to attract many viewers to this release. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Morel, Guillaume Depardieu, (more)
