Assumpta Serna Movies

Captain Luis Dantas (Patrick Bauchau) is the escaped military officer found murdered in this often surrealistic crime drama. Inspector Elias (Raul Solnado) is called on to investigate the man's death, and the story is told by the sleuth in narrative form with the help of flashbacks. The inquiry leads to Mena (Assumpta Serna), the sexually vibrant daughter of a wealthy countess who was romantically involved with Dantas. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Temistocles Lopez's Chain of Desire, based on Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde, plays like an AIDS-era version of The Yellow Rolls Royce, in which a series of unrelated amorous lovers are connected by a "chain of desire." The film begins as Alma D'Angeli (Linda Fiorentino) flees from a lover and runs into a church, where she finds solace and a young Latino worker, Jesus (Elias Koteas). They make love. Then Jesus comes home to his wife Isa (Angel Aviles) and gets intimate with her. The next morning, Isa goes off to see Dr. Jerald Buckley (Patrick Bauchau), with whom she is having an affair. After seeing Isa, Jerald heads off to visit Linda (Grace Zabriskie), a sexy dominatrix. Linda returns home to her husband, Hubert (Malcolm MacDowell), a harried television commentator. After an unsatisfactory interview with women who claim to have had affairs with John F. Kennedy, he relieves his tensions by seeking the arms of Keith (Jamie Harrold), a teenage hustler. And the trail continues on as gay social worker Ken (Tim Guinee) offers Ken a place for the night, followed by Ken's lover David Bango (Dewey Martin) and hot dancer Diana (Holly Marie Combs), who wants David to deflower her. Coming on the scene after that is famed artist Mel (Seymour Cassel), who has a tryst with Diana, but he finds that he has to answer to his vindictive wife, Cleo (Assumpta Serna). At the end, all the characters arrive at a hip nightclub, where Alma, the singer at the club, has learned that the lover she had spurned at the beginning of the film has been diagnosed with AIDS. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Kissing seems to be a popular activity in this Swiss epic costume drama based on an 1880 novel. The story begins in Munich with lots of people vigorously kissing in the midst of a bacchanalia carnival. Two men, Lys and Henry are even going at it. Henry, a sensitive artist, is wearing a green suit which symbolizes his jealousy and immaturity. He, angry at Lys for cheating on his fiancee, challenges Lys to a duel upon the morrow. What Henry is really angry at is his own failure to marry his true love. The movie jumps back to Switzerland during Henry's childhood soon after he lost his father. He wants his mother's love, but she remains strict and aloof. At school Henry is picked on and it is only when he finds the theater that he meets the beautiful actress Judith. He becomes enamored and forgets all about his love affair with cousin Anna. Time passes quickly and an older Henry returns home to find dear Anna. His attentions are again diverted when the ageless Judith again appears. He does not realize that beloved but unappreciated Anna is soon to die of tuberculosis. Tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Meticulously researched and elaborately produced, the two-part TV movie Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel is based on a true story. In addition, to quote the original print ads, "This is the one we won!" Incorruptible agents of the DEA declare war against Colombia's Medelin drug lords. To undermine the enemy, the Feds launch an undercover operation, targeted at the cartel's refineries. Alex Farina, Dennis Farina and John Glover head the enormous cast, which includes Julie Carmen in a standout performance as a Colombian judge. Filmed in Spain and Florida, part one of Drug Wars debuted January 19, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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

Behind the peaceful walls of an impoverished medieval Spanish convent lies a teeming hotbed of ambition, lies and double-crossing as can be seen in this powerful, thought-provoking drama that is based upon Jesus Fernandez Santos' novel. The convent is set in an arid area and sole support comes from the local duke. The plague has been ravaging the surrounding town and panicky residents who are not yet afflicted flee. Sister Angela becomes ill and is nursed by her devoted friend Sister Ana. Angela slowly gets stronger and as she does, she begins reading about the lives of the saints. She begins to believe that the only way to save the decimated village from further chaos is to host a miracle. Sister Angela then has Sister Ana make deep slices into her palms to look like stigmata. The townsfolk believe that Angela's hands are bleeding spontaneously, but the mother superior isn't so sure and sets out to prove the miracle a fake. She can't and the villagers begin to revere Sister Angela as a saint. The mother superior can't bear this, and when Sister Angela is elected the new prioress, she goes over the edge with her desire for revenge. Things get even worse when the duke shows up and promises to give the convent enough support to make them one of the most powerful in Spain if they will host his daughter, who is thinking about joining the nunnery. Unfortunately, the haughty young woman is more interested in running things her own way. The deposed mother superior conspires with her at every opportunity, and when Sister Angela's palms suddenly becoming dangerously infected, the prioress finally gets her chance for revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This action-filled Spanish melodrama takes dramatic license with the facts surrounding the illegal slave trade in early nineteenth century Cuba. It is 1820 and Amelia has recently been wed to Ton, a Cuban plantation owner whom she barely knows as part of a business contract. With Ton's sinister best friend as her chaperone, Amelia reluctantly leaves Spain. During the long sea voyage, Alfons leads a mutiny and the ship detours to Africa where they fill up the hold with slaves. In Havana, Amelia is appalled to find her husband has been sleeping with slaves and colonial wives. For revenge, Amelia attempts to expose Alfons' and Ton's illegal activities to the authorities and to their families. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sister Juana (Assumpta Serna) is a gentle poet and a none-too-pious nun, living in seventeenth-century Mexico. She is protected by the Governor and his wife from a ferociously misogynistic Archbishop, who some believe is using his hatred of women to hide from his very powerful lust for them. Indeed, it is possible that he is the actual father of Sister Juana. Regardless of that, her life becomes extremely grim when her loving patrons return to Spain, leaving her to the not-so-tender mercies of this harsh man. This difficult story is based on a novel by the award-winning poet and writer Octavio Paz. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Not so many Spanish films originate in Cataluna and feature dialogue in Catalan. This thriller follows the story of David (Feodor Atkine), a Barcelona man who lives just at the edge of poverty, in a violent and crime-ridden neighborhood. Despite that, he enjoys his lively city existence. Between his job repairing neon signs on top of high-rise buildings, and his hobby of videotaping the everyday lives of the people around him, he stays busy and cheerful. Intrigued by the blandishments of Lynda (Assumpta Serna), a lovely female radio reporter, he accepts an assignment from her to take a mysterious package to be picked up at a seaside hotel. As he waits for someone to pick it up, he is shot. Though he survives, he loses the use of one of his arms, and only with incredible effort is able to retain his arduous job. Despite his previous experience, when the lady reporter returns to him with yet another adventure on offer, he listens to her and accepts it. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Obvious and cliched, this erotic tale of a professor and his friend's daughter who engage in an active sexual education is not exactly a tale of high drama. After the professor arrives at his friend's house in Spain, the two of them go through some of the sexually explicit literature in the house's library. The teen daughter asks the professor for more intimate readings and instruction, and he not only obliges her but also his friend's neglected wife. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi