María Botto Movies
Directed by veteran Spanish helmer Vicente Aranda, Carmen revolves around a complex cast of characters, including Merimee (Jay Benedict), a writer and archeologist whose research in southern Spain circa 1830 brings him into contact with Jose (Leonardo Sbaraglia), a bandit. When Merimee meets the beautiful Carmen (Paz Vega) in a cathedral, Jose bursts in and orders Merimee to leave unless he wanted to be killed. Eventually, Jose reveals how he had met Carmen -- breaking up a fight between her and a co-worker who believed her to be a witch, and subsequently letting her off the hook rather than taking her to prison. When they next met, Carmen was working as a prostitute, which made Jose jealous enough to murder one of her clients. Afterwards, he dedicated his entire life to being with her, not caring who he killed along the way. The film also features Antonio Dechent, Joan Crosas, and Joe Mackay. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paz Vega, Leonardo Sbaraglia, (more)
- 1999
Noted Spanish director Vicente Aranda explores female sensuality and male vanity in this slick erotic thriller. Stunningly beautiful Carmen (Aitana Sanchez Gijon) works at an orange packing factory and is engaged to be married to Antonio (Daniel Gimenez Cacho), a long-distance trucker who works for the same company. One day during a freak rainstorm, Antonio happens upon an accident involving one of his plant's fellow truck drivers. When he helps sift through the debris, he discovers a photograph of some guy cozying up to his bikini-clad fiancée. Confronted with the incriminating picture, she admits to having dated the man a long time ago, but this does little to assuage Antonio's mounting jealousy. When he interrogates Carmen's best friend, he learns little more than that the man's name is Jose. Antonio's quiet stewing over his girlfriend's romantic history suddenly explodes into violence, threatening their impeding marriage. Carmen maintains that she only wants to get pregnant and be a good wife for him. Antonio eventually calms down, apologizes profusely, and the two get married. Yet in spite of numerous lovingly photographed rounds of post-marital sex, Antonio's jealousy over Jose continues to torment him. He ultimately finds Jose and forces his wife to meet her ex-flame. The emotional fallout from the encounter shocks all involved. Celos was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Daniel Jiménez Cacho, (more)
This complex and confusing Spanish feature intercuts stories from 1936, 1940, 1970 and 1988, and has Victoria Abril play three different parts in them. The lives of many people are shown to be tangled together in nearly incomprehensible ways, and many of the characters are prone to engage in unsavory sexual acts involving fetishism and sadomasochism. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Jorge Sanz, (more)
Georgia (Nia Vardalos) came to Greece to follow a man. A few years later, she's been cast aside -- alone and adrift in a foreign land. Eventually, her passion for history leads her to a job as a tour guide. But Georgia is bored, and has lost her "kefi" (Greek for mojo) to boot. When taciturn sasquatch Poupi (Alexis Georgoulis) replaces the regular driver at the last minute, the frazzled tour guide thinks that her luck has just hit rock bottom. Thankfully, Georgia's latest batch of tourists is a more lively bunch than she's anticipated, and in between bouts with rival tour guide Nico (Alistair McGowan), she manages to form a genuine connection with wisecracking widower Irv (Richard Dreyfuss), a solo vacationer who maintains a jovial facade despite the fact that he misses his late wife dearly. With a little help from Irv, Georgia comes to realize that true love may be closer than she thinks -- if she could just recapture her kefi and open her eyes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, (more)
A mismatched couple discovers that whatever can go wrong will go wrong during a family visit in this comedy. Leni (Marian Aguilera) is a television reporter from a Jewish family in Spain. One weekend, Leni drops by her family's home for a visit, with her new boyfriend, college professor Rafi (Guillermo Toledo), in tow. Rafi is more than a bit nervous about meeting Leni's family -- chronically nervous mother Gloria (Norma Aleandro), blustery father Ernesto (Mario Martin), dance-student sister Tania (María Botto), straight-laced bother David (Fernando Ramallo), and addled grandfather Dudu (Max Berliner). But Leni quickly makes matters worse when she announces to her family, who are waiting for Ernesto to return from work, that Rafi just happens to be Palestinian. Matters become a bit tense after that, and while joking with Leni with a block of frozen soup in the kitchen, Rafi accidentally drops the package out the window -- hitting a man on the head who might be Ernesto. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Aleandro, Guillermo Toledo, (more)
- 2008
Two young people learn about love as politics turn their world upside down in this drama from director Ana Diez. After a long and successful career as a soccer player, Xavi (Nicolas Pauls) retires from the game and moves to Spain, where one day to his surprise he happens upon Rosana (Maria Botto), a friend from his childhood in Uruguay. As Xavi and Rosana catch up on what has happened to them over the past thirty years, they flash back to 1973, when young Xavi (Pablo Arnoletti) and his father Manuel (Emilio Gutierrez Caba), a shoemaker, lived down the street from Rosana (Pia Rodriguez). Rosana's father Severgnini (Mauricio Davub) was the local chief of police, and found himself frequently dealing with military authorities as Marxist rebels began plotting an overthrow of Uruguay's leadership. While Manuel is largely apolitical, he has friends who are fighting with the rebels, and when he's warned of an upcoming action at a soccer match, he packs Xavi off to a cabin in the country, and as word is leaked to Severgnini, he sends Rosana off with him. The two youngsters soon find themselves caught in the web of first love, but as a coup throws all of Uruguay into chaos, the simplicity of their stay in the country proves short lived. Paisito (aka Small Country) was an official selection at the 2008 Malaga Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mauricio Dayub, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, (more)
In the wake of the Spanish Civil War, a number of the Republican guerillas who fought against Franco's fascist army went into hiding and continued their battle as resistance fighters hiding out in the mountain ranges of Spain; this drama offers a glimpse of life in a rural Spanish community under Franco's rule as the "Maquis" plot their next move in their battle against Franco. It's 1944, and Lucia (Lucia Jimenez) arrives in a small town to take a job at a tavern run by her aunt Teresa (Mercedes Sampietro). Politically, the community is torn between those who have retained their loyalty to the former Republican leadership and those who have embraced fascism under Franco. Lucia becomes fast friends with Lola (Maria Botto), a local girl whose brother Manuel (Juan Diego Botto) is a blacksmith with ties to the Maquis. As Lucia falls in love with Manuel, the Maquis come out of hiding and stage a raid on the town, freeing a number of Republicans who have been jailed for their support of the old regime; as one might expect, this attracts the attention of Franco's Civil Guard, which quickly sets out to neutralize Manuel and the rebels. Silencia Roto was directed by Montxo Armendariz, who previously made the international success Secretos Del Corazon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucia Jimenez, Juan Diego Botto, (more)
- 2003
A woman uncovers some unsettling truths about her country and its history in this drama from Spain. Lola (Ariadna Gil) is a writer who feels creatively stifled and hasn't been able to work out a new idea in months. Looking for something to clear her creative block, She takes an assignment to write a piece about Rafael Sanchez Mazas (Ramon Fontsere), a writer who sided with the fascists during the Spanish Civil War. While legend has it Mazas was killed by Republican troops, the truth is he was given protection and shelter by Friends of the Forest, a group of men who lived in the woods. As Lola tries to search out Joaquim Figueras, one of the last surviving Friends of the Forest, she discovers a soldier who captured Mazas and was prepared to shoot him, but opted to let him go at the last moment. As Lola's writer's block dissolves, she digs deeper in search of the truth about this elusive man and his mysterious actions during the war. Soldados de Salamina was based on a true story and the real-life Joaquim Figueras appears in the film, along with several other people who took part in the shelter and capture of Mazas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ariadna Gil, Ramon Fontsere, (more)
- 2005
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Spanish helmer Roberto Santiago burst onto the cinematic scene in 2000 with the acclaimed short piece Roulette. He follows it up five years later with the highly-anticipated debut feature The Longest Penalty in the World. This raucous comedy unfolds in a local soccer square-off between two Spanish teams. A goalkeeper is injured, another defense man is brought in as a substitute, and a last-minute crowd interference due to the player substitution causes a week-long delay in the wrap-up of the match. The gawky and geeky alternate player, Fernando (Fernando Tejero), finds himself riding the crest of popularity in his town over the course of that week, which includes dating Cecilia (Marta Larralde), the paramour of the injured defense man, and becomes the unlikeliest hero in the town while the game is suspended, with royal treatment from the rest of the locals. María Botto and Carlos Kaniowsky co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
