Icíar Bollaín Movies

The Spanish-language psychodrama La Noche del Hermano (AKA The Night of the Brother, 2005) concerns two boys. Caught up in the throes of late adolescence and teetering on the cusp of adulthood, Jaime is still reeling from the malfeasance of his older sibling, Alex - a crime that promptly landed the young man behind bars. Meanwhile, on the outside, Jaime moves into the home of his grandfather and finds himself torn between two options: either taking responsibility for maintaining a vast (and productive) tract of land he has inherited, or selling the property to land developers. Naturally, when Alex learns of the inheritance, he demands a piece of it and begins to wield a deadly and disturbing level of control over Jaime's feelings and actions. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Five strangers from various parts of the Iberian Peninsula experience an outbreak of seemingly unrelated supernatural phenomena that only later take on greater significance in veteran director George Sluizer's 2002 seriocomic fantasy The Stoneraft. Joana (Ana Padrao), Jose (Gabino Diego), Maria (Iciar Bollain), and Joaquim (Diogo Infante) are all experiencing events they cannot logically explain: A flock of starlings follows Jose everywhere he goes, while Joana creates small fault lines with her walking stick; Joaquim not only raises an impossibly large stone with only his hands but also throws it out to sea; while unraveling one sock, Maria discovers the thread has no end. Pedro's (Federico Luppi) -- the fifth stranger -- experience is the most significant, as he alone feels a bizarre tremor that eventually leads to the entirety of Iberia dislodging itself from the rest of the European continent. As the new island begins to drift toward North America and a catastrophic collision appears imminent, the majority of the Spanish and Portuguese populations begin to abandon the renegade land mass. The five prophets, however, seek an answer to all of these puzzling events and are thus drawn together on their mutual quest for truth while preparing for what seems to be an approaching apocalypse. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Spanish director Chus Gutierrez draws attention to illegal immigrants and the racism they are forced to endure in her 2002 social issue drama Poniente. Madrid-based schoolteacher Lucía (Cuca Escribano) returns to her birthplace in Southern Spain after her father passes away. Upon her arrival, Lucía reconnects with her hometown and decides to assume leadership of her father's greenhouse business -- a development that draws the ire of her cousin Miguel (Antonio Dechent), who would have taken over if Lucía hadn't. In due time, Lucía meets her father's business accountant, Curro (Jose Coronado), and promptly takes a keen personal interest in the attractive, sensitive man. As Curro and Lucía share a compassionate regard for the illegal immigrants they employ, both are forced to confront the outright racism coming from the surrounding community, as well as from some of their other non-immigrant employees. As tensions come to a head, Lucía is forced to make some business decisions that will have long lasting -- and quite disparate -- effects on her relationships with her employees and the surrounding community. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Veteran filmmaker Josep Maria Forn directed this Spanish thriller about sexual harassment. When feminist attorney Elena (Silvia Munt) tells stockbroker Sergi (Abel Folk) she's wants a child, he responds by informing her that he had a vasectomy. With the support of her friend Cati (Pepa Lopez), Elena takes on the case of Paula (Iciar Bollain), a woman who says she was sexually harassed by her ex-boss. As the case becomes a major news story, Sergi discovers that the accused is one of his biggest clients, mayoral candidate Andreu (Jordi Dauder), who is advised by his lawyer Pau (Josep Maria Pou). A knotty twist develops when it becomes evident to Elena that she will be put in the awkward position of cross-examining her own lover about his affair with Paula. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A reflective look at an idealistic young man's involvement in the Spanish Civil War, Land and Freedom combines wartime drama with impassioned political debate. Director Ken Loach, better known for his intimate portraits of working-class British life, begins on familiar turf in the present day, with a teenage girl sorting through the belongings of her recently deceased grandfather. She soon discovers her grandfather's involvement in the Spanish Civil War, and the film then flashes back to the 1930s to tell the story of young Dave Carr, intensely portrayed by Ian Hart. A dedicated young communist, Carr joins an international group of freedom fighters in order to wage the good war against fascism. The experience proves far less heroic than expected, however, as the fighters struggle with poor supplies, a lack of training, and internal discord. The traditional battles and romances of war drama follow, as Carr becomes involved in a tumultuous affair with a fellow fighter, but Loach and screenwriter Jim Allen give equal weight to more philosophical discussions about the nature and fate of socialism. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

In this surreal, minimalist fairy tale for adults, a leather-working tailor (Luis Flete) has traveled to the warehouse of a very sinister and macho man (Feodor Atkine) who seemingly owns a good part of the town he lives in, to purchase some more leather for his business. The warehouse owner and the tailor both have eyes on one of the cool, beautiful girls who is a tenant in an apartment house the wearhouse owner lives in (as well as owning it). In order to be near the woman, the tailor agrees to an unusual deal with the warehouse owner. He will make a special leather garment designed to make him irresistable to the girl (Iciar Bollain), and in return the owner will give him the use of an apartment in his building. That done, the tailor soon realizes that he has done his work too well, and violence soon results. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Laura is a Spanish girl who has moved to New York city with the hope of making a new life for herself there. She lives in a junky building in a dangerous neighborhood, and is being hounded by her truly weird landlord to pay the rent of a neighbor of hers, for no discernible reason. Meanwhile, she is attempting to get to know and understand this fabled city, her new home. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Sometimes people know so thoroughly what they meant to say that they lose all objectivity about whether they have actually communicated what they intended to. Reviewers suspected that this might be the case with this film. Three separate but (possibly) related situations take place in it. In the first, Daniel (Jorge de Juan) arrives in town carrying a briefcase which he is meant to deliver to someone. He is prevented from doing so by a police raid. In the second situation, Daniel follows Maria (Iciar Bollain) around, attempting to charm her. Despite her protests, she does succumb to his blandishments. Finally, Maria is working for a greenhouse which uses potentially dangerous chemicals to preserve the fruit it ships out. She and her boss connive to sabotage the operation and spare the workers from further exposure to the chemicals. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Two gunmen chase after an anthropologist on the run in this convoluted, low-budget drama. In spite of several technical flaws in production and amateurish performances, the film shared prize money given by the CIGA hotel chain at the 1987 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide