Marisa Paredes Movies
Artistically adventurous Spanish actress Marisa Paredes has worked with a number of renowned international directors during her career, but she is most famous for her work with Spain's flamboyant Pedro Almodóvar. Madrid native Paredes was studying acting at the city's Dramatic Arts Conservatory when she began her professional career in the 1960s. Making her name as an actress in Spanish TV, stage, and film work during the 1960s and '70s, Paredes began to attract more international attention in the 1980s. After appearing in Sus Anos Dorados (1980) and Fernando Trueba's comedy Opera Prima (1980), Paredes starred in her first Almodóvar film, the ribald comedy Dark Habits (1984). Among her other 1980s work, Paredes earned the Onda Madrid Prize for her performance as the wife of a Nazi concentration camp doctor in Tras El Cristal (1985). Paredes earned more acting laurels as the unbalanced actress and potential murderess Becky in Almodóvar's High Heels (1991). Solidifying her international prominence, Paredes worked in French, Mexican, and Italian productions, as well as Spanish, throughout the 1990s. After acting with Philippe Loiret in Tombes du Ciel (1993), Paredes starred as a troubled pulp romance writer in Almodóvar's The Flower of My Secret (1995). Paredes starred as Marcello Mastroianni's ex-wife in innovative Chilean expat Raoul Ruiz's comedy Three Lives and Only One Death (1996); appeared in Mexican director Arturo Ripstein's florid crime drama Deep Crimson (1996), based on the same story as The Honeymoon Killers (1969); and played Roberto Benigni's mother-in-law in the Oscar winning Holocaust dramedy Life is Beautiful (1997). After adding a U.S. production to her credits with Talk of Angels (1998), Paredes once again made a colorful role even more so with her passionate turn as diva actress Huma Rojo in Almodóvar's critically hailed, award-winning drama All About My Mother (1999). Though it did not draw as much attention, Paredes also won kudos that same year in Arturo Ripstein's No One Writes to the Colonel (1999). Paredes' consistent excellence earned her Spain's National Film Award in 1996. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In finds him joining forces with Antonio Banderas for the first time in over 20 years. Banderas plays Dr. Robert Ledgard, a plastic surgeon who has invented a type of fake skin that is more durable than real skin. But he achieves this breakthrough with the assistance of Vera (Elena Anaya), a young woman he's keeping locked up in his mansion. The only person who knows about this unusual arrangement is his maid, Marilia (Marisa Paredes). But his secret, as well as additional sins of the past he's desperate to keep hidden, bubble to the surface when Marila's criminal son shows up with a gun, forces his way into Vera's room, and attempts to rape her. The Skin I Live In played at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, (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, Rovi
Guillermo del Toro, who quickly became one of the most talked-about directors in contemporary horror films with his first two features, Chronos and Mimic, takes on a more subtle tale of terror with this psychological suspense piece. Casares (Federico Luppi) and Carmen (Marisa Paredes) operate a small home for orphans in a remote part of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Helping the couple mind the orphanage are Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), the groundskeeper, and Conchita (Irene Visedo), a teacher who is also involved with Jacinto. Casares and Carmen are aligned with the Republican loyalists, and are hiding a large cache of gold that's used to back the Republican treasury; perhaps not coincidentally, the orphanage has also been subject to attacks from Franco's troops, and an unexploded bomb waits to be defused in the home's courtyard. One day, a boy named Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at the home, looking for a place to stay after being left behind by his parents. Casares and Carmen take him in, and the boy soon strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jaime (Inigo Garces), a boy with a reputation for tormenting other kids. But Carlos soon begins having visions of a mysterious apparition he can't identify, and hears strange stories about a child named Santi who went missing the day the bomb appeared near the orphanage. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, (more)
Pedro Almodóvar directed this story of a woman and her circle of friends who find themselves suffering a variety of emotional crises. Manuela (Cecilia Roth) is a single mother who has raised her son, Esteban (Eloy Azorín), to adulthood on her own and has come to emotionally depend on him. One night, Manuela and Esteban take in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire; after the show, Esteban is struck and killed by a passing motorist as he dashes into the street to get an autograph from Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes), who played Blanche. Emotionally devastated, Manuela relocates to Barcelona in hopes of finding her ex-husband (and Esteban's father), who is now working as a female impersonator. Manuela becomes reacquainted with old friend La Agrado (Antonia San Juan), a transsexual, and is introduced to Sister Rosa (Penélope Cruz), a good-hearted nun who has to contend with her considerably more cynical mother (Rosa María Sardà). While looking for work, Manuela becomes acquainted with Huma Rojo. Huma, on the other hand, has troubles of her own, most involving her drug-addicted significant other, Nina (Candela Peña). Displaying Almodóvar's trademark visual style and a unusually strong sense of character-driven drama, Todo Sobre Mi Madre/All About My Mother received a highly anticipated theatrical run in Spain before winning the Best Director award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival; in 2000, Almodóvar would receive the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, (more)
From Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar (Live Flesh, All About My Mother) comes this offbeat drama about Leo Macías (Marisa Paredes), a romance novelist who writes her trashy tomes under the pseudonym Amanda Gris. When her marriage begins to dissolve, Leo finds herself falling into despair, leading her to drink and lose her knack for writing her tawdry tales. Out of her turmoil, she writes a bleak novel that garners no attention. To make matters worse, Ángel (Juan Echanove), a newspaper editor with a romantic interest in Leo, hires her to write a scathing review of Amanda Gris, not realizing Gris is Leo's nom de plume. Nominated for several Goya awards, La Flor de Mi Secreto also stars Carmen Elías and Rossy de Palma. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marisa Paredes, Juan Echanove, (more)
- 1991
- R
Written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almódovar, Tacones Lejanos is a murder mystery centering on flamboyant actress Becky del Paramo (Marisa Paredes) and her daughter Rebecca (Victoria Abril), a television anchorwoman. After being estranged for 15 years, Becky re-enters Rebecca's life when she comes to perform a concert. Rebecca, she finds, is now married to one of Becky's ex-lovers, Manuel (Feodor Atkine). As the mother and daughter begin making up for lost time, Manuel is suddenly murdered at his home. Unfortunately, which of the ladies is responsible for the homicide remains unclear, even after one of them confesses. Released in the U.S. under the title High Heels, Tacones Lejanos was nominated for several Goya Awards as well as the Best Foreign Language Film at the 1992 Golden Globes. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Marisa Paredes, (more)
- 1986
- R
Antonio (Jose M. Sacristan) is a vagabond traveler who hitches a ride into a small town. He takes a job in a restaurant before landing a better job in the local movie theater. Antonio remembers the owner as the woman who employed his acting troupe years before when he was a young child. He later gets mixed up in a plot to steal a valuable painting from a convent. The English title of Cara de Acelga is Spinach Face. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- José M. Sacristán, Fernando Fernán Gómez, (more)
The period prior to the Spanish Civil War provides the background setting for Nick Hamm's historical romantic drama. Young Irish governess Mary Lavelle (Polly Walker) arrives in Spain and begins a year of employment with the wealthy Areavaga family. Under the romantic spell of Spain, Mary develops a fascination for handsome Francisco (Vincent Perez), the Areavago family's married son. Francisco is attracted to Mary, and their doomed love affair is conducted amid skirmishes and street riots as war clouds gather. The Ann Guedes/Frank McGuinness screenplay is adapted from the 1937 novel, Mary Lavelle by Kate O'Brien (1897-1974). The book was reprinted in 1984 by Virago. This film was actually made in 1996 and then bumped by Miramax through numerous release dates over a two-year span before finally surfacing in theaters in 1998. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Polly Walker, Vincent Perez, (more)
In this WW II tragicomedy, famed Italian funnyman Roberto Benigni (The Monster) portrays Guido, who moves during the '30s from the country to a Tuscan town, where he is entranced by schoolteacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's real-life wife). Dora likes Guido, but she remains faithful to her pompous fiancé, so Guido has an uphill struggle. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic attitudes lead to attacks against Guido's Jewish uncle (Giustino Durano). Leaping ahead to five years later, during WW II, Guido and Dora are married and have a son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). After they are imprisoned in a concentration camp, Guido goes to elaborate lengths to keep his son from understanding the truth of their situation. He tells the boy that they are competing with others to win an armored tank -- so everything from food shortages to tattoos is explained as necessary for participation in the contest. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, (more)
- 1999
- NR
- Add El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba to Queue Add El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba to top of Queue
Based on the novel of Gabriel Garcia Marquez by the same name, but set in the forties, the film is a reflection on life and its illusions by the Mexican master Arturo Ripstein. In a small coastal town in Mexico in the late 1940's, an obstinate colonel of the anticlerical Cristeros War keeps waiting for the pension that has been promised to him but never delivered. Every Friday, he goes down to the docks, dressed in his best suit in anticipation of the arrival of the letter announcing his pension. Everyone knows that he is waiting in vain, but he refuses to face reality, even though, deep in his heart, he knows that the letter will never arrive. His wife is suffering from asthma; their son Agustin was killed by the fascists; and the roof over their head will soon be taken away because of the unpaid mortgage. Yet the Colonel stands by his dream, refusing to give up despite poverty and hunger. He knows that if he lets go, there is nothing else left. His wife Lola proposes to sell the cock, which is the only thing left behind from their son. But the Colonel does not want to give up the fighting cock, which he believes will win one day. The story is rendered in a simple and straightforward narrative style unlike Ripstein's earlier work, which is more baroque, or Marquez's magical realist style. Repeated close-ups accentuate the damages of a long and hopeless wait on a person's inner strength. Veteran Fernando Lujan is remarkable as the Colonel, but Spanish Marisa Paredes shines as the wife who suffers in dignity. Salma Hayek has a brief appearance as the prostitute who had a relationship with Agustin. In competition at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fernando Luján, Marisa Paredes, (more)
Noted Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein directed this darkly comic drama of love and murder. Coral Fabre (Regina Orozco) is an overweight, emotionally unstable nurse raising two children on her own. Coral is desperately lonely, and through a "Lonely Hearts" club, she begins corresponding with Nicolas Estrella (Daniel Gimenez Cacho). When Coral finally meets Nicolas, she decides that he resembles her favorite actor, Charles Boyer (at least when he wears his toupee) -- and is convinced that they were destined to be together. The fact that Nicolas stole Coral's money after spending the night together does nothing to dissuade her; she learns that Nicolas makes his living by finding rich women and, using his charm, taking their savings before abandoning them. Leaving her children with an orphanage, Coral joins Nicolas as his lover and partner in crime, posing as his sister as he continues his work. Nicolas finds Coral's passion for him exciting, but their amour fou turns deadly when Coral's all-consuming jealousy leads her to murder Nicolas' victims. Profundo Carmesi was based on the true story of American multiple murderers Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, which also inspired the film The Honeymoon Killers (1969). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Regina Orozco, Daniel Jiménez Cacho, (more)
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