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, Rovi
- 1992
Ana Luz's husband has gone away for a little while. While he's away, she experiences every possible irruption into her house, from a troupe of actors to a woman claiming to be her husband's lover. She seems to kill a plumber with her screwdriver, and her neighbor apparently kills a policeman. Just when she "wakes up" and decides she may be dreaming, it begins to seem as though she isn't, in this directionless would-be comedy. Many aspire to avant-garde and radical humor, including the seasoned pros who made this film, but even hardened reviewers were embarrassed for the makers of this movie. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Marisa Paredes, (more)
- 1992
Maria Garcia (Carmen Maura) is a television journalist and she's about to be a single mother. Her career foremost in her mind, she doesn't slow down even for a minute, despite her pregnancy. She is, however, taking Lamaze classes and is quite competently coping with the romantic attentions of a man she's not very interested in. It's not at all irrelevant that her news beat includes stories on terrorism, the greenhouse effect, pollution and genetic engineering, because when her baby's due date comes and goes, she starts hearing from her infant from in the womb. It is telling her that it and many other babies are refusing to be born into such a horrible world. She learns that this is true, and that the children born through induced labor are dying. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Didier Bezace, (more)
- 1993
History buffs will glory in the riches of Louis, Enfant Roi, others will perhaps find this complex story of intrigues and betrayals in the court of the young king tough sledding. When Louis the Fourteenth (1638-1715) was born, the power of government was shared between the monarchy, the church, the nobility, and the Parlement. His predecessor had greatly centralized the powers of government following the advice of Cardinal Richelieu. Louis XIV (often called "The Sun King" for the brilliance of his rule) followed the advice of Richelieu's successor, Cardinal Mazarin (Paolo Graziosi), and brought the powers of government under the sole sway of the monarch. He expanded the territory and influence of France in a series of wars throughout his reign. How he came to be so autocratic and ruthless both personally and politically is the subject of this biographical drama. When Louis (Maxime Mansion) was just ten years old, the Parlement of France refused to ratify a tax measure, and the disagreements between the various powers ruling the country came to a head in a long civil war known as "The Fronde," which lasted from 1648 to 1653. This movie tells how the intrigues and battles of this period appeared from the perspective of the young monarch. At first they are highly confusing for him, but gradually they become clearer, and he begins to emerge from the regency of his mother, Anne of Austria (Carmen Maura), to assert some of his own authority, making some grim and unpleasant decisions in the process. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maxime Mansion, Carmen Maura, (more)
Ana (Carmen Maura) is a veterinarian living in the country with her daughter. She has a comfortable, settled life. From time to time, Dario (Fernando Valverde), one of her co-workers, stops by her farmhouse for a meal, but otherwise her life seems placid and timeless. This all changes when she meets Jose (Joaquim de Almeida), a handsome young man who becomes her lover. Not until she is thoroughly involved with him does she discover that he is an ex-convict and an arms smuggler. Inevitably, she is drawn into some shady business. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Joaquim de Almeida, (more)
- 1994
A middle-aged woman comes into her own in this Spanish comedy. Carmen liked to have affairs. After one typically hot night playing poker and messing around with her male friends, she returns home in the morning to face her husband's jealous rage which causes him to die of a massive coronary. This leaves the newly widowed Carmen in a transitional state. On one hand, she misses her husband and her former life, on the other, she is now seen as available by her boss and co-workers at the newspaper she works at. When her daughter, Marta, a ballet student in Paris, announces her pregnancy, Carmens' life becomes even more complex. After coping with sexual harassment and several lousy dates, Carmen finds her dreamboat, a dashing businessman who appreciates her for herself. She also comes to look forward to becoming a grandmother. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Antonio Resines, (more)
Pareja de Tres concerns two best friends, Ana and Marta, who decide to share a man as well. When he leaves both of them for a different woman altogether, the two friends strengthen their bond by setting out together to seek revenge. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- 1995
Little Felipe has been sick for a long time. To hasten his recovery, his parents send him to spend the summer of 1958 in the villa of his grandparents, located in the wealthy quarter of Cadiz. The warm climate of southern Spain is good for the boy, but the inhabitants of the great home may be a different story as all the relatives within are a tad strange. There Felipe meets his great-grandmother and her tough nurse Adoracion who patiently listens to grandmama's reminiscence's of the bandoleros who died for her. Felipe is not allowed to leave his bed, but his hours pass pleasantly thanks to the ministrations of the sexy Mari, a virgin, who loves to tease her four strapping aspiring lovers. As the summer progresses, Felipe interacts with all of his relatives and from their strange behavior finds himself learning an awful lot about life and love. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1995
Lots of people wish they could be someone else, but a French businessman decides to do something about it in this satirical comedy. Francis Bergeade (Michel Serrault) runs a factory in a small town that makes toilet seats. With his employees on strike and his wife plundering his bank account as she plans their daughter's wedding, Francis's life isn't much fun; his one real pleasure is eating and drinking well, in the company of his friend Gerard (Eddy Mitchell). One evening, Francis is watching a television show about people who've gone missing, and he sees the sad story of Dolores (Carmen Maura), a woman living on a beautiful farm in the South of France who has no idea where her husband has gone. When a picture of Dolores's husband is shown, Francis is amazed to discover that it looks just like him. He soon steps forward and poses as Dolores's husband, leaving his wife to wonder where he is. However, she doesn't seem all that worried, since before long she's having an affair with Gerard. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Eddy Mitchell, (more)
- 1996
Set in the suburbs, this tale of seduction, philandering, vengeance and murder is told with an airy, comical twist. The tale begins in summer on the day in which jealous husband Marco chokes his wife to death and then buries her in his backyard. He killed her because he discovered that she was planning to leave him for their neighbor, Andre. Because Andre is away on business, Marco tries to get more vengeance by seducing Consuelo, Andre's wife, but the relationship goes awry and once again Marco's thoughts turn to murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Jean-Pierre Cassel, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- François Morel, Guillaume Depardieu, (more)
- 1997
Benjamin Ballon wants to be a filmmaker, and has devoted a large part of his life for the past few years to getting to the point of filming an independent movie. He has been encouraged by Carmen Maura (playing herself), an established star, who has agreed to appear in his first film, and it is her level-headedness, calmness, and general good sense that keeps the project moving along, despite Benjamin's inexperience and a very temperamental male lead. On one occasion when the male lead is hours late for a shoot, her calm is the only thing which keeps the crew from walking out. The title comes from Maura's habit of bringing homemade tortillas to meetings, and using them to get her way. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Marc Duret, (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, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Carmen Maura, (more)
- 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, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Diego Luna, Ana Claudia Talancón, (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, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nadia Kaci
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adriana Ozores, Carmen Maura, (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, Rovi
- 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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rodrigo Noya, Carmen Maura, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Élodie Bouchez, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.