Cecilia Roth Movies
An Argentine native who spent her formative years exiled to Spain, Cecilia Roth was a regular in Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's early films and a star in Argentina long before she became an international critics' darling as the title character in Almodóvar's Oscar-winner All About My Mother (1999). Born in Buenos Aires, Roth lived in Spain during Argentina's 1970s-early-'80s repressive military regime. Roth began acting during her years as an expatriate, earning her first major film role in Ivan Zuleta's cult film Arrebato (1979). After playing a bit part in Almodóvar's outrageous, if unpolished, Pepi, Lucy, Bom (1980), Roth starred as the unsubtly named Sexilia in the director's sex farce Labyrinth of Passion (1982). Roth also played small roles in Almodóvar's Dark Habits (1984) and What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984), and co-starred with a young Antonio Banderas in expat Argentine director Rodolfo Kuhn's El Senor Galindez (1984). An established actress, Roth returned to Argentina in the mid-'80s and became a national star of TV, stage, and film. Though she appeared in director Adolfo Aristarain's Argentine-U.S. thriller The Stranger (1987), Roth eschewed an English-language career, instead starring in a range of Argentine films during the 1980s and 1990s. Further revealing the depth of her talent, Roth played Franz Kafka's sister in Los Amores de Kafka (1989); starred in Aristarain's South American version of a Western A Place in the World (1992); and played a judge/investigator in the hit detective drama Cenizas del Paraiso (1997). Roth subsequently won Spain's Best Actress award for her performance in Aristarain's challenging family drama Hache (1997). Reuniting with Almodóvar and Dark Habits cohort Marisa Paredes, Roth gained even more attention for her lead role in the director's multiple award-winning comic drama All About My Mother (1999). As Manuela, the mother of a deceased teen son, Roth's restrained yet palpable grief infused Manuela's strange search for the birth father with emotional resonance, anchoring Almodóvar's story of redefined families and female resilience. After All About My Mother's international success, Roth co-starred with Javier Bardem in the Spanish romantic drama Segunda Piel (2000). ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi- 2008
An empty house gives a woman a new lease on life but leaves her husband with a midlife crisis in this comedy from writer and director Daniel Burman. Leonardo (Oscar Martinez) is a successful playwright in his mid-fifties who has been married to Martha (Cecilia Roth) for most of his adult life. While Leonardo is still writing new work and in good health, he and Martha are both reacting in very different ways to the fact their youngest daughter, Julia (Inés Efron), is engaged to be married and soon to move out of the house. Martha returns to college to complete her studies and begins moving in a new social circle, while also looking for new ways to enliven her relationship with her husband, including psychotherapy and freely expressing her feelings. Leonardo, on the other hand, is too caught up in his anxieties about growing older to go along with Martha's new program; however, he does find himself newly interested in other women, but he goes a good deal further in his imagination than he can in real life. Also starring Arturo Goetz, Eugenia Capizzano, and Jean Pierre Noher, El Nido Vacío (aka Empty Nest) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Oscar Martinez, Cecilia Roth, (more)
- 2005
A divorced schoolteacher's life begins to unravel as her young daughter watches in horror. Alicia (Cecilia Roth) lives with her daughter Vega (Nadia de Santiago), and just can't seem to get her act together. Not only is she drinking too much, but her insomnia often finds her up at night and browsing internet chatrooms, where she strikes up a sexually charged relationship with seventeen year old Zak (Nacho Aldeguer). On the internet Alicia is uninhibited, but upon meeting Zak in person she immediately calls their relationship off. Later, Zak bursts into Alicia's classroom and threatens to kill himself unless she agrees to see him again. Meanwhile, Alicia's relationship with her Alzheimer's-stricken father is slowly deteriorating, and Vega does her best to console a close friend who has recently been disgnosed with cancer. Later, after Zak makes good on his grim promise, his grieving father Luis (Antonio Resines) struggles for answers. But fate works in mysterious ways, and before long Alicia and Luis' paths will cross under the most unusual of circumstances. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cecilia Roth, Antonio Resines, (more)
Filmmaker Antonio Serrano, who made a splash with his first film Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas, returns to the screen with this thriller from Mexico. Lucia (Cecilia Roth) is a woman whose life is thrown into chaos when her husband suddenly disappears without a trace. As Lucia searches for a clue to his whereabouts, she discovers evidence that suggests her husband had a dangerous secret life he never shared with her, and she finds she isn't the only person with an interest in finding him. Lucia, Lucia (originally released under the title La Hija del Canibal) also features Carlos Alvarez-Novoa and Kuno Becker. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cecilia Roth, Carlos Alvarez-Novoa, (more)
Madrid in the wake of the Spanish Civil War serves as the setting for this epic period romance, starring Leonor Watling of Talk to Her fame. Watling is cast as Elvira, a young woman still reeling from the execution of her father and the imprisonment of her politically outspoken husband, Julio (Ernesto Alterio). Desperate to make ends meet, Elvira takes a position as a maid with the mysterious Pablo (Leonardo Sbaraglia), about whom Elvira's mother-in-law (Norma Aleandro) has serious doubts. It turns out that the half-German Pablo is aiding the escape of several prominent members of the Nazi party, a fact to which Elvira is oblivious when she begins an illicit affair with him. When Julio is released from prison, tensions come to the fore for the extended family and the mysterious outsider among them. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leonor Watling, Leonardo Sbaraglia, (more)
- 2002
Directed by Hector Olivera, Antigua, Vida Mia ("Antigua, My Life") explores concepts ranging from the pursuit of contentment among a spiritually bereft middle-class, the role of women in Argentinean society, and spousal abuse. The film begins with the arrest of Violeta Dasinski (Cecilia Roth), an Argentinean woman who has recently been arrested for murdering her husband Eduardo (Juan Leyrado). The sequence of events leading to the crime are revealed in flashback. Antigua, Vida Mia also features Ana Belen and Jorge Marrale.
~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ana Belén, Cecilia Roth, (more)
- 2002
Marcelo Piñeyro's emotional drama Kamchatka is set in Argentina just after the 1976 revolution. A lawyer (Ricardo Darín) takes his wife (Cecilia Roth) and children (Matías del Pozo and Milton de la Canal) to the country after the coup, and they adopt new identities. Their new life is difficult, but a visit with grandma and grandpa (Fernanda Mistral and Héctor Alterio) shows that these people are still a close-knit unit. Eventually the older son makes friends with a fellow teenager named Lucas (Tomás Fonzi). ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ricardo Darín, Cecilia Roth, (more)
A teenager hits the road for a crash course in the ways of the world in this amiable comedy-drama. Daniel (Tomas Fonzi) is a 17-year-old orphan growing up in a sleepy village in rural Argentina. Daniel feels trapped in his town, has grown tired of living with his grandparents, and hates his job; one of his few pleasures in life is sneaking into a local movie house to watch the latest picture from blue movie star Sabrina Love (Cecilia Roth). Daniel enters a contest in which some lucky man will win a date with the sultry actress, and his heartfelt letter earns him the grand prize; now Daniel has to get to Buenos Aires for his moment of glory. As Daniel hitchhikes from one side of the country to the other, he has a number of remarkable experiences and encounters a handful of unusual people, including his brother (Fabian Vena), who hasn't yet accepted his parents' death; a free-thinking writer (Mario Paolucci); and a reporter (Julieta Cardinali) with amour on her mind. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cecilia Roth, Fabián Vena, (more)
When the father of a young woman with a dark past falls ill and needs her help to survive, she must learn to let go of the pain and forge on into the future in this harrowing and affecting drama from filmmaker Fito Paez. For years Carmen Uranga (Celia Roth) had suffered the torture inflicted upon her under the Argentinean dictatorship. Later moving to Madrid and making ends meet by offering her body for sale, Carmen soon receives word that her father has suffered a stroke and quickly returns to Argentina to be close to her family. As the past continues to haunt her and she attempts to learn how to love again, a shocking revelation threatens to consume everything that she has ever dreamed of and send her into an irreversible spiral of despair. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Gerardo Vera directs this romantic drama about self-destructive love and sexual confusion. Alberto (Jordi Molla) is a respected aeronautical engineer married to artist Elena (Ariadna Gil) and has a son. Yet Alberto soon finds himself seduced by the wiles of hunky orthopedic surgeon Diego (Javier Bardem). Alberto admits to being unfaithful to his wife -- after she confronts him with incriminating evidence -- but he does not reveal that he cheated on her with a man. Seeking revenge, Elena goes out and sleeps with her co-worker Rafa (Javier Albala). Later, though Elena tries to welcome her errant husband back, he continues to shuttle between her and his gay lover. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Javier Bardem, Jordi Mollà, (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)
This Argentine drama begins with the suicide of respected judge Costa Makantasis (Hector Alterio). Each of his three adult sons confess to the murder of Ana (Leticia Bredice), and it's learned that her businessman father (Jorge Marrale) was being investigated by the judge. All three brothers and their father had an interest in Ana, whose story is revealed in flashbacks. An investigating judge, Dr. Beatriz Teller (Cecilia Roth) searches for the connection between the two deaths. Shown at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival, the alternate English title is Paradise Ashes. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Héctor Alterio, Cecilia Roth, (more)
Upon learning that his estranged son in Buenos Aires may have attempted suicide by mixing dog tranquilizers with booze, expatriate Argentine film director Martin immediately leaves Madrid. Upon his arrival in Argentina, he learns that his ex-wife has given up on the aimless, depressive 19-year-old and wants him to contend with the youth back in Spain. Martin agrees, and his son, who is also named Martin, returns with him. Martin, Sr. lives with his cocaine-addicted, much-younger girlfriend Alicia and their mutual friend Dante, a homosexual actor. Though at some level, he cares for both, he is just too emotionally removed to ever show it. It is the same with his son, whom he calls H (pronounced "hache"), meaning hijo or son. Still, each member in the strange family attempts to reach the zombie-like boy, whose only interests seem to be the pursuit of sex and drugs. Essentially an internal drama centered around numerous intense and challenging conversations, this entry from Argentine filmmaker Adolfo Aristarain will most likely appeal to those who love intellectual cinema. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Federico Luppi, Juan Diego Botto, (more)
- 1994
Adolfo Aristarain and Alberto Lecchi wrote this South American western in which sheep-herders battle a ruthless landowner. ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi
- Starring:
- José M. Sacristán, Federico Luppi, (more)
- 1989
Love of great literature is one of the outstanding features of South American culture. This Argentine drama, mixes imagination and "reality" and includes a film-within-a-film story about making a film about Kafka. The writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born to a German Jewish family in Czechoslovakia. In an uncanny way which prefigured the Holocaust, Kafka wrote about absurd, terrifying situations taking place in a nihilistic universe in which almost everyone can be considered a victim. The movie explores his romantic and intellectual life before he died at age 41 of tuberculosis. Sigmund Freud, whom Kafka never actually met, makes an appearance in the story. The film-within-a-film has an Argentine movie director travel to Prague to try and produce a film there about Kafka's loves, only to discover that the studio there is busy filming Amadeus. Though these elements are confusing to read about, some reviewers felt that the director somehow made a coherent and enjoyable film out of them. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jorge Marrale, Susú Pecoraro, (more)
- 1987
- R
After witnessing a murder, Alice Kildee (Bonnie Bedelia) is involved in a car accident. She wakes up in a hospital with no memory of who she is, but has total recall concerning the murder. The problem is, no such killing has been reported. So the authorities, assuming that Alice is merely fantasizing, release her picture to the papers in hopes of identifying her. Through the help of psychiatrist Harris Kite (Peter Riegert), Alice comes to realize that the murder she has described in such vivid detail actually took place in a movie she saw just before her accident. But if this is the case, why is a hitman (David Spielberg) determined to rub out poor Alice? There's a plot twist a second in the U.S./Argentine co-production The Stranger, which manages to emulate Alfred Hitchcock without ever imitating The Master outright. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bonnie Bedelia, Peter Riegert, (more)
- 1985
This is an off-beat, fast-paced, and well-wrought love story involving two very different people: Lucia (Assumpta Serna) is a computer operator whose sexual inclinations are alternately normal and kinky, and Arturo (Xabier Elorriaga) is a company representative from another town, with a wife and young child. After Lucia and Arturo meet, they start an affair that eventually takes on enough meaning for Arturo to split from his wife. In the meantime, Lucia is indulging her sado-masochistic tendencies on the side with at least one other partner -- knowing that if Arturo finds out, their relationship may be over. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Assumpta Serna, Xavier Elorriaga, (more)
In this Pedro Almodóvar film, a singer at a low-end nightclub hides out at a convent after her lover dies of a bad dose of drugs, and she meets a group of off-the-wall nuns while in hiding. The nuns range from one who writes sensationalist pulp fiction under a pseudonym to another who takes drugs, and another hooked on masochism. But their private lives and perverse foibles may be in jeopardy when a new mother superior arrives to take charge of the convent. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julieta Serrano, Marisa Paredes, (more)
- 1984
Expatriate Argentine Rodolfo Kuhn directed this chilling drama about two fascistic thugs who torture victims sent to them by an anonymous, unseen "Señor Galindez." One of the two is a family man, settled in with his wife and daughter to a typical homey lifestyle, and the other man lives alone and is decidedly vicious by inclination. The two men are sent to the building where they torture -- in order to wait for someone they have to train (played by Antonio Banderas). The banality of evil is nowhere more apparent than in this story of inhuman behavior and empty minds. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Héctor Alterio, Joaquin Hinojosa, (more)
- 1982
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's films are colorful, sexy, and very funny, and this one is a perfect introduction to his work. An emperor's son, Reza Niro (Imanol Arias), comes to Madrid in disguise and sleeps with Sadeq (Antonio Banderas), an Islamic terrorist with a highly developed sense of smell. Sadeq's group wants to kidnap Reza, who disguises himself as a punk rock singer and falls in love with Sexilia (Cecilia Roth), a nymphomaniac singer for a rival band. There's also a wealthy woman (Helga Line) who wants Reza's sperm for an artificial insemination, a delirious dry-cleaner who sleeps with his own daughter, and other bizarre characters. Almodovar takes delight in intersecting lives, chance meetings, and humor that springs from the strangest of situations. He also has the rare talent of presenting potentially offensive material in such a whimsical and affectionate fashion that no matter what his characters do, the audience loves them as much as he does. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cecilia Roth, Imanol Arias, (more)
- 1980
A college student in the late 1950s has a huge crush on movie star Kim Novak in this sentimental drama. Pictures of the actress are hung everywhere in his room at the local boarding house. When he sees a young woman at a party who looks like Novak, the young man is too shy and must overcome his reticence to approach her. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kiti Manver
- 1980
An outrageous comedy that throws viewers into a culture shock. A suggestive satire about women who ignore society's rules. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Eva Siva, (more)
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