Yelena Samarina Movies
- 1978
This allegorical drama is said to depict the state of Spanish society under Franco's dictatorship, and the film won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1978. In the story, nothing can possibly go wrong at the annual dinner of the fishing club. Nothing will go wrong. The members are determined to see it just that way, despite evidence to the contrary. A mob of outsiders just tried to crash the party. The cooks briefly went on strike but were persuaded to serve up the members' catch of trout anyway. The fish is liberally dosed with good-tasting sauces. Despite the awful taste, the fish cannot possibly be rotten -- after all, the loyal members of the club just caught them. Nothing is wrong with the members either, although they appear to be dying. The party will go on, the usual self-congratulatory speeches will be made, and the awards will be given. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Héctor Alterio, Ofelia Angelica, (more)
- 1978
In this non-narrative film by first-time director Rafael Gordon, a young limousine driver and his friends discuss their qualms about the society they live in, while they drift from situation to situation. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Verónica Forqué, Héctor Alterio, (more)
- 1977
In this film, the arrival of some unwanted visitors interrupts the peaceful Cuban home life of sisters Dolores (Valentine Cortese), Carmen (Jadwiga Branska), and Elvira (Yvonne Mitchell) when their presence stirs up unwelcome memories. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patricia Neal, Valentina Cortese, (more)
- 1976
On long summer weekends, Juan (Alfredo Landa) is in the habit of hopping on his motorcycle in Madrid and driving for many hours to Torremolinos, a popular hangout for foreign tourists. There, he indulges in his fondness for romancing foreign girls. In this movie, which won a Gold Prize at the 1977 Moscow Film Festival, the people he meets on his journey form a microcosm of modern Spain. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alfredo Landa, Paco Algora, (more)
- 1975
A man's failure to help auto accident victims, due to his fastidiousness about getting his brand-new car bloodstained, haunts him. Because of that prissiness he didn't move swiftly enough, and the victim's car blew up before he could bring himself to help whoever was trapped inside. As time goes by, he obsesses about the accident and begins hallucinating non-existent blood stains in his car. Eventually he gets so distracted that he suffers a similar accident himself. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- José Luis Lopez Vasquez, Lucia Bosé, (more)
- 1972
Wim Wenders' The Scarlet Letter (German title: Der scharlachrote Buchstabe) may well be the most fascinating of the many screen versions of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 19th-century novel. Though the story is set in 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, the film was lensed in Spain. Senta Berger is surprisingly well cast as Hester Prynne, whose sexual indiscretions have compelled her to wear the letter "A" (for adultery) on blouse--a symbol of shame to her neighbors, but a strange source of pride for Hester. Lou Castel plays the tortured Reverend Dimmesdale, the man who impregnated Hester but whom has been sworn to secrecy by the self-sacrificing heroine for the "good of the community." Hans Christian Blech portrays Hester's long-lost husband, whose reappearance sets the stage for the wrenching climax. Wenders' interpretation of the customs, behavior and inbred bigotry of the early American immigrants is eye-opening, as only an "outsider's" perception of what we take for granted can be. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1971
This unwieldy Spanish drama tells the story of what happens in a conservative country region, sometime in the past, when the new director of a home for mentally deranged women attempts to bring more modern and humane methods to the management and treatment of his charges. The staff and the neighboring villagers and officials resist his changes, considering them no better than witchcraft. He has some success with his patients but cannot make headway with those who hired him. When he leads his charges through the village as a form of protest march, his days in charge are over. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1970
A man withdraws from society by staying in his attic for thirty years in this symbolic feature of isolation. His wife and daughter live in the house and remain his only contact to the outside world. He emerges after three decades to find himself completely incapable of acting or thinking as he did before his self imposed isolation ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yelena Samarina, Julieta Serrano, (more)
- 1967
Felix Manderville (Vincent Price) is a traveling magician who manages to make young women disappear in this exploitation thriller. The trouble is, Felix drugs the femmes and sells them to white slave traders with the help of his mind-reading assistant Rebecca (Martha Hyer). Marie Armstrong (Anne Smyrner) and her husband Stephen (George Nader) are American tourists who fall into the trap of the felonious flesh pedlars. Price plays the part with his usual suave and sinister manner in this routine production. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Martha Hyer, (more)
- 1964
Two lovers have an adulterous affair in this moral melodrama from Spain that carefully sidesteps condemnation of the church. Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Yelena Samarina star as the illicit lovers in this feature that is visually stunning but fails to go beyond the superficiality of the characters. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Yelena Samarina, (more)
- 1989
- R
The obsession of a man for a married woman leads to tragedy in this romantic melodrama. Juan Pablo Castel (Peter Weller) is an artist who sees a woman admiring one of his paintings at an art exhibit. When he goes to introduce himself, she quickly disappears. Castel follows her through the streets of the city and loses her twice before his successful meeting. He becomes obsessed with the beautiful Maria (Jane Seymour), who Castel learns is married to an older intellectual. Castel is not able to put the woman out of his mind, and his obsession proves fatal as the story unfolds in flashbacks. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
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