Lina Canalejas Movies
Taking its title from the dance craze of the era, this routine, 1920s romantic comedy stars Mexico's popular Silvia Pinal as Beatriz, a woman whose troubles are brought on by the fact that she has two wildly different suitors. Her fiancé (Pastor Serrador) is a well-placed, cultured though timid individual with an interest in modern abstract art. Her other boyfriend (Alberto Closas) is a macho playboy type and, needless to say, the two men do not appreciate each other's claims on Beatriz. This classic triangle leads to the expected confrontations, misunderstandings, and requisite moments of romance. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Silvia Pinal, Alberto Closas, (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)
- 1974
With a fairly repugnant basic premise, this Spanish comedy rollicks along to its melodramatic conclusion. In the story, a man who is married to an irritating and over-excited woman, decides that rather than either divorcing her or, possibly, killing her, he will simply feed her enough tranquilizers to keep her out of action most of the time. His reasons for this course of action are shown on the rare occasions when his wife is awake. The beleaguered husband seeks comfort in the arms of a nearby widow, and attempts to deal with his rich mother-in-law's wild "what the heck, I'm going to die soon anyway" hedonistic abandon. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rafaela Aparicio
- 1970
- PG
Jose Luis Lopez Vasquez stars as a millionaire industrialist who is involved in an auto accident. When he comes to, Vasquez has completely forgotten who he is and how much money he has. His greedy relatives would love to put Vasquez away and claim his fortune. But there's a fly in the ointment: the money is in a secret Swiss bank account, and the only one who knows (or who knew) the account number is the amnesiac Vasquez. Those familiar with the work of Spanish director Carlos Saura know for darn sure that he's not about to go the expected route with this surefire material: Garden of Delights, is just that, a bountiful garden of the surreal, the symbolic, the illusory, and at times the hilarious. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Francisco Pierra, Luchy Soto, (more)
- 1973
While traveling from Barcelona to recover his mother's remains, Luis (Juan Luis Lopez Vazquez) suffers an incredibly vivid flashback to 1936 Segovia as it was on the eve of the Spanish Civil War. In this Spanish film, everything but Luis repeatedly reverts to its 1936 condition. Again and again, things remind him of his stay there, and each time the movie returns him to the '30s. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1960
Christina (Isana Medel) and Lola (Ana Castor) are pretty female detectives who run the Red Lips Agency in this stylish crime film from director Jesus Franco. A man claiming to be a renowned diamond collector hires the women to get back a valuable gem stolen by Radeck (Felix Dafauce). After knocking him unconscious and retrieving the diamond -- which turns out to be a replica -- Lola is framed for Radeck's murder. In a typical Franco development, the sexy detectives must go undercover as go-go dancers to solve the case. Javier Armet, Antonio J. Escribano, and Venancio Muro co-star. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- 1979
Even though she has a loving husband and several lovers, Marian was so traumatized by the events of her late childhood that she is unable to relax and enjoy being loved. Her difficulties began when, shortly after her beloved father's death, she caught her mother in bed with the family doctor. Nearly everything she sees in this film seems to remind her of that incident, or of her relationship with her father. Nonetheless, when she finally meets someone whose appearance recapitulates that of her father, she begins to thaw out. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isabel Mestres, Javier Escriva, (more)
- 1984
Fernando Rey plays a Spanish cardinal who returns to his home town thirty years after leaving for Rome. Rey knew that he'd left an illegitimate daughter behind, but was unaware that he also has a granddaughter (Victoria Abril). The girl is embroiled in an affair with Rey's own brother (Francisco Rabal), a Marxist activist. The filmmakers' sympathies are more with Marxism than Catholicism, but politics are secondary to the kinky romantic intrigues. Evidently Fernando Rey didn't consider Our Father (original Spanish title: Padre Nuestro) significant enough to list on his official, published resume. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fernando Rey, Francisco Rabal, (more)
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