Asuncion Balaguer Movies
- 2009
This zany, Spanish-language teen sex comedy concerns a group of young social outcasts and misfits, including a blind boy, a wheelchair-confined metalhead and a shy, backward type who decide to "crash" Oxford University in England to win over a gorgeous girl. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mario Casas, Alberto Amarilla, (more)
A man struggles with family, money and the law in this multi-layered drama from Spanish filmmaker J.A. Salgot. Marc (Ariel Casas) dabbles in the real estate market, but he earns most of his money dealing drugs, while his wife Tes (Silvia Marso) has a job with a successful advertising and marketing firm. When Marc's mother dies suddenly, he opens his doors to his father Alberto (Joan Dalmau), who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. As Marc tries to come to terms with his father's mortality and deteriorating mental state, he has troubles of his own; he's deep in debt to drug wholesaler Rosario (Ana Fibla), who has sent his henchman Rafa (Jordi Sanchez) to collect. Also, Marc's relationship with his teenage daughter Carla (Susana Fawaz) has become distant, and the girl longs for guidance after watching a handful of her friends set fire to a homeless man while they were high on drugs. Myway received its American premiere at the 2008 Santa Barbara Film Festival as part of a program of new Latin cinema. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jordi Sanchez, Joan Dalmau, (more)
Javier Domingo's dark comedy Mala Uva tells the tale of a retired professional killer who must come out of retirement, but attempts to keep his real profession hidden from his loved ones. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sancho Gracia, Agata Lys, (more)
When an ambitious and promiscuous writer willing to go to any length to further his career becomes engaged to the beautiful daughter of a prolific editor, her dreams of the perfect wedding day are shattered by the selfish motivations of her future husband in this drama that proves all is not fair in love and marriage. It seems that everyone except for the bride is well aware of her driven fiancée's unscrupulous methods of career advancement, but will the humiliation of realizing the truth behind her marriage be enough to end the relationship, or has the couples bond actually grown strong enough to weather the storm of a rocky start? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A thief discovers that crime runs in the family in this playfully dark comedy from Mexico. Inaki (Daniel Guzman) is a petty thief who makes his way pulling stickups with an elderly partner in crime (Francisco Rabal). The old man dies in the midst of a robbery, which attracts more police attention than Inaki is used to, and he flees to Mexico until things cool down. In Guadalajara, Inaki finds himself crossing paths with Patxi (Kandido Uranga), his father, with whom Inaki hasn't always been on good terms. Patxi and his brother, El Caiman (Rafael Velasco), live in a rooming house run by a cheerful drag queen, Aunt Carmen (Roberto Espejo). Inaki soon moves in as well, and begins dating Aunt Carmen's niece, Anita (Sara Ruiz), which pleases Carmen as he's certain Inaki is going to be a doctor some day. Patxi and El Caiman, however, have a different estimation of Inaki's talents; Caiman knows about his nephew's criminal career, and he'd like Inaki and Patxi to help with a bank robbery he wants to pull, in order to finance the upscale nightclub he's long dreamed of opening. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Guzman, Kandido Uranga, (more)
The feature debut of writer/director Javier Balaguer, Sólo Mía opens on a scene of a relationship gone terribly awry. Some type of violence is occurring off-camera. Soon we see that Angela (Paz Vega of Sex and Lucia) has Joaquín (Sergi López of Dirty Pretty Things) bound and gagged. "Have you ever tried, just once, to see my side?" she asks him. The film jumps back in time, showing us the history of their tumultuous relationship. On the first day of her job as a receptionist at an ad agency, Angela meets Joaquín, who turns out to be her boss. He charms her, and after a whirlwind courtship, they get married. Angela quickly gets pregnant, and Joaquín insists that she quit smoking and quit her job. He wants to control her; she will not be controlled. Their arguments grow more heated. One day, when he finds a pack of cigarettes she's hidden away, he smacks her. He quickly apologizes, and she eventually forgives him, but things just get worse. He gets a promotion at work, where he works with Alejandro (Alberto Jiménez of El Bola). Joaquín gets more and more stressed out about what's going on at the office. One night, after their anniversary party, while their baby girl is at Angela's mother's (María José Alfonso), Joaquín drunkenly assaults Angela. Andrea (Elvira Mínguez), Alejandro's wife, eventually persuades Angela to leave Joaquín, but Joaquín is not ready to give up on their relationship, or give up his daughter. With the legal system unresponsive to her concerns, Angela is forced to take bold action to protect herself. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergi López, Paz Vega, (more)
- 2000
Two weeks before her wedding, Maria Joao (Beatriz Batarda) is spoiled, hung over, possibly pregnant, and unwilling to exchange her party girl ways for her impending marriage. So, with the objections of her father (Luis Miguel Cintra) and the encouragement of her idiosyncratic Uncle Nini (Francisco Rabal), she leaves her family's estate, on a mission to return a large boat and trailer to her fiancé, who lives in Spain. With the help of Gabriel (Marcello Urgeghe), her father's godson, she drives a large rig across the Iberian plains, visiting her estranged brother Ze Maria (Ricardo Aibeo) in Cordoba along the way and dallying in sexual hijinks to boot. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beatriz Batarda, Marcello Urgeghe, (more)
- 1999
A man tries to reconcile with his past before it disappears in the allegorical drama Las Huellas Borradas. Manuel (Federico Luppi) is a writer who journeys from Argentina, where he lives, to the Spanish village where he was born; word has reached him that the town will soon literally vanish, as the area is being turned into a giant reservoir. Manuel hopes to tie up some loose ends from his past, and hopes to rekindle his relationship with Virginia (Mercedes Sampietro), whom he loved as a young man. With the village's days numbered, many long-dormant rivalries have been brought back to life, as a number of people hope to settle old scores before progress eliminates their home town. Virginia also has to deal with her daughter Rosa (Elena Anaya) and her sudden rebellious streak -- she's now pregnant, and has decided to move in with her boyfriend Delfin (Sergi Calleja). Meanwhile, Manuel spends some time with his old friend Don Jose (Hector Alterio), with whom he discusses philosophy and the secrets of a town that will soon cease to exist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Federico Luppi, Mercedes Sampietro, (more)
Mexican director Arturo Ripstein helmed this Mexican-Argentine-Spanish religious drama with Buñuelian overtones. Based on true events that took place in Mexico during the '70s, the film is updated to the present. Mama Dorita (Katy Jurado) leads the New Jerusalem cult with film-buff Papa Basilio (Francisco Rabal). Basilio's worship of movies explains the cult's costumes, imitative of Hollywood Biblical epics. When Dorita dies, she chooses teen Tomasa (Edwarda Gurrola) to give birth to the New Messiah. Unable to handle this sudden power, Tomasa instead proclaims herself to be the Whore of Babylon, forcing male cultists to have sex with her. Shown in the Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francisco Rabal, Katy Jurado, (more)
- 1995
Little Felipe has been sick for a long time. To hasten his recovery, his parents send him to spend the summer of 1958 in the villa of his grandparents, located in the wealthy quarter of Cadiz. The warm climate of southern Spain is good for the boy, but the inhabitants of the great home may be a different story as all the relatives within are a tad strange. There Felipe meets his great-grandmother and her tough nurse Adoracion who patiently listens to grandmama's reminiscence's of the bandoleros who died for her. Felipe is not allowed to leave his bed, but his hours pass pleasantly thanks to the ministrations of the sexy Mari, a virgin, who loves to tease her four strapping aspiring lovers. As the summer progresses, Felipe interacts with all of his relatives and from their strange behavior finds himself learning an awful lot about life and love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Carmen (Mercedes Sampietro) is a puzzle to all the people who surround her: her parents, her grown son, and a charming literature professor. They cannot understand how she can prefer solitude to being in their company. Her work certainly thrives in solitude, as she is a restorer of old paintings. She is content to care for one of her infant grandchildren and a new puppy in splendid isolation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mercedes Sampietro, José M. Sacristán, (more)
- 1992
In 1939, Ramon (Jacques Penot) was a young man, caught up in his Barcelona family's involvement on the Republic side in the brutal Spanish Civil War. He and his family fled into exile ahead of Franco's troops. Now it is many years later, and he has come back to see how his old homestead fared in the intervening years. The only person he can find who is able to remember those years clearly is his family's old butler Claudio (Vittorio Gassman). This film is a sequel to the 1975 film by director Jaime Camino, Largas Vacaciones del 36. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Jacques Penot, (more)
- 1990
- NR
In this comedy from Spain, Carmen (Carmen Maura) is a woman in her early 40s who is nearing the end of her rope juggling a career as a reporter, taking care of her two children, minding the house, and dealing with a husband (her third) who thinks that she doesn't pay enough attention to him, and doesn't mind telling her so. The myriad pressures lead Carmen to consider a divorce, but eventually help comes along, though hardly in the form she expected. The cast also includes Antonio Resines, Juanajo Puigcorbe, and Carmen Conesa. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Antonio Resines, (more)
- 1989
- R
When a screenwriter gets involved on a film project with his producer friend, he is seduced by the director's adolescent sister--even though his agent has repeatedly warned him to try to keep a distance from the two. Soon he finds that the girl has been manipulating everyone around her and when she winds up missing, the writer is left to try to figure out what has happened. This psychological/sexual drama features actors Jeff Goldblum, Daniel Ceccaldi, Dexter Fletcher, Liza Walker and Miranda Richardson. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Miranda Richardson, (more)
- 1986
This drama concerns a seven-year-old boy, Pepe Luis (Lucas Martin, as the younger Pepe and Paco Rabal Cerezales as Pepe at ten) who lives through the rise of Franco and the ensuing years under the fascist dictator. Presented from the perspective of the young Pepe, the Civil War and Franco are irrelevant to his own concerns: daydreaming about a pretty girl he likes, fighting with other boys, helping the priest at a funeral service, and similar activities. Pepe lives with his uncle and grandparents, and whether he is aware of it or not, the war impinges on their lives in several ways. The title of the film derives from little Pepe's contention that God is not responsible for the war, just some "bastard brother" of the Creator. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucas Martin, Paco Rabal Cerezales, (more)
- 1986
Film noir and comedy are successfully thrown together in this off-beat story about Germain (Antonio Resines), a stage producer trying to put together the two leads and backing for his next drama. Germain is looking for a man to play a psychotic obsessed with his mother and a woman to play a seductress. For the male lead he finds Rufo (Imanol Arias) who depends on robbery for a living, takes care of his drug-addict mother, and has hallucinatory visions about the Pope. The female lead has three contenders: Germain's ex-girlfriend Nena (Amparo Munoz), his ex-wife Amelia (Assumpta Serna), and Lola (Patricia Adriani) a beguiling vamp he met in a taxi one day. Germain soon finds that casting can be a nightmare when Nena's husband (his potential backer) lusts after Lola, Nena has her amorous sights set on Rufo, and Germain's ex-wife Amelia runs after a soccer player. Add in a murder, and absurdity rules the day. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Imanol Arias, Amparo Muñoz, (more)
- 1985
An accomplished and "enchanting" fantasy-romance, this story of a couple's love for each other and a pixie's benevolent intervention in their lives is entertaining from beginning to end. Cesar (Francisco Rabal) is a fake sorcerer and travels with his wife Pilar (Concha Velasco) in a combination bus and house, performing magic shows for the public. One time when they are stuck in a ditch in the middle of nowhere, a young woman named Saga (Victoria Abril) helps them get out and back on the road again. It soon becomes clear by her actions that Saga is a friendly pixie-witch. She and her warlock cohort cause Cesar's fake magic to really work -- and that is just the beginning. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francisco Rabal, Concha Velasco, (more)
- 1970
Dean Selmier plays an expatriate American in each story of this trilogy. Francisco Rabal and his family star in the first feature filmed at the Rabal family home in Madrid. An over aggressive American soldier tries to put the moves on his wife and daughter before he is clubbed and thrown into the swimming pool. Part two finds a hippie couple slain at the country home of a wealthy local (Alfredo Mayo) after the young woman is offered to him for money and the boy makes love to the man's wife. In part three, an American man, a Cuban girl, two Spanish students and a chimpanzee throw a dance party before the American plants a bomb that destroys everyone. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francisco Rabal, Dean Selmier, (more)
