Luis Ciges Movies

Three college friends are reunited after 10 years in this routine drama. Told in a series of flashbacks, Tomas (Massimo Ghini) is a concert pianist who returns to Spain in hopes of looking up his two old friends. He finds one working in a recording studio, while the other has lost the use of his left arm after a series of setbacks that included time in prison and a suicide attempt. Juan Diego and Antonio Banderas co-star with Nina Van Pallandt and Anna Vasoni. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Sometimes its okay to judge a book by its cover and a film by its title. This blood-soaked cheapo Spanish horror film is a good example. Starring popular creepshow star Paul Naschy, it is the grim tale of three twisted sisters, a one-handed brunette, a wheel-chair bound blonde and a nymphomaniacal redhead who bedevil a handsome but hapless handyman whom they hire to fix up their decaying old house. Doffing his shirt to flash his muscular, hairy chest at every opportunity, Naschy soon finds himself encountering a bevy of beautiful, dead, eyeless (they were torn out by the killer) women laying about. When not sleeping with the redhead, Naschy attempts to solve the mystery and save his life. Actually, the literal translation of the Spanish title Los Ojos Azules de la Muñeca Rota, "The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll" is far more intriguing. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Spoofing local "true love confessions," this Spanish comic farce/melodrama tells the stories of a middle-aged resident of Madrid (Jacques Dufilho) and of a pregnant young woman from the countryside who longs for stardom. The man answers a personal ad in the newspaper, has a liaison with the already pregnant girl, and winds up raising her baby. She leaves him after the baby is born, and becomes a big star. The man sees her once more as she is performing as the headliner at a nightclub, but she dies onstage. The movie spoofs many aspects of Spanish society of the time, including the sappier forms of popular music. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A man withdraws from society by staying in his attic for thirty years in this symbolic feature of isolation. His wife and daughter live in the house and remain his only contact to the outside world. He emerges after three decades to find himself completely incapable of acting or thinking as he did before his self imposed isolation ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

El Milagro de P. Tinto is the first full-length film of Madrid-born Javier Fesser, whose career behind the camera had previously been in advertising. The story, which follows the saga of an ordinary Catholic family, appears to be very conventional: Young P. Tinto wants to be the father of a large family when he grows up. He dreams of having a bunch of healthy kids as soon as he finds himself a woman. Fifteen years later, we find him living with blind Olivia in a valley off the beaten track where the express train for the North has stopped only once in the last five years. Time passes, but the children he has dreamed of do not arrive. Fifty years later, when the couple has given up all hope, a miracle takes place, the 'miracle' alluded to in the title of the film, which will make possible the continuation of the Tinto family from one generation to the next. But the new arrival is not only a long time coming but also appears to be from a highly unusual source. In the final analysis, this family portrait is anything but conventional. Javier Fesser uses offbeat set designs borrowed from comic strips and cartoons as he concocts a fantastic and entertaining cocktail of social satire and surreal comedy reminiscent of Theo Van Dormael's Toto the Hero. The film received a Special Mention from the jury at the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival for its style, humor, and originality. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

David (Mark Stevens) is a physician who returns to Spain 30 years after his involvement in the Spanish Civil War. Now a member of a medical convention, he looks up old friends and finds his former lover, now a married woman with a flamenco-dancing daughter. He and the daughter (Manuela Vargas) have an immediate and mutual attraction to each other. He considers running away with the exotic beauty before asking his wife to join him for an extended vacation after the convention . ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This Japanese/Spanish co-produced, bizarre mish-mash of genres has hints of everything from The Beguiled to Eating Raoul. Director Jacinto Molina (using the pseudonym "Paul Naschy") plays a mercenary who double-crosses his partner/girlfriend Meiko and gets shot for his troubles. Falling unconscious, he is taken in by a wealthy doctor, Don Simon, who has two beautiful daughters, Alicia and Monica. His recuperation is slow, and in the meantime he is seduced by both daughters and apparently haunted by the ghost of their mother. Then there's a veterinarian who gets bludgeoned by an unseen stalker and eaten alive by pigs. It turns out that Naschy is being fattened up for slaughter by the family, whose members learned cannibalism from their servant Rachel's dad while living in Africa. The ghost turns out not to be a ghost at all, but Don Simon's third daughter, who went mad and would not join the family in their new tastes. She ends up shooting everyone, but not until Naschy has been bled and butchered. This is a very confusing film with some really silly moments, like the jungle drums on the soundtrack whenever there's a close-up of the black Rachel's rear end. It's certainly a change from Molina's usual self-pitying werewolf roles, but whether that's a good thing or not is left to the viewer to decide. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

In this Spanish film, Daniel (Tony Isbert) is a member of The Organization. It is never quite clear whether The Organization is part of the government, a secret society, or something else. Whatever it is, it is powerful, and does not take disobedience lightly. He is sent on an assignment to Bilbao to determine what has become of a lad his age, a former member. He takes over the boy's room in an odd rooming house. When he is given the photo of the boy's girlfriend (Geraldine Chaplin), he is so taken with it that he puts off his quest. The Organization requires him to continue, however, so he tracks her down to a remote fishing village. The two fall in love and attempt to escape. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

La Corte de Faraon is a romp of a zarzuela ("operetta" is a loose translation) that first appeared in 1910 (original libretto by Guillermo Perrin and Miguel de Palacios, original music by Vicente Lleó). The Pharaoh rewards his victorious general Putifar (Josema Yuste) with a new bride, Lota (Ana Belen), but the general is more intrigued with his own ego on his wedding night, and in the morning he dashes off. Along comes Friar José (Antonio Banderas) with his soulful eyes and innocent sexuality, and Lota aggressively goes after him. He escapes, but when brought before the Queen, she follows Lota's precedent and the poor Friar barely escapes a second time with his virtue intact. (In the original the Friar is none other than Joseph of the colored coat.) In this updated version, the troupe of zarzuela players gets in trouble with the police, and the whole lot of them are hauled in for scandalous behavior. Between the on-stage and off-stage insanity, the singing, the dance numbers, the music, the slapstick, and the slams at censors, police, and political repression -- this zarzuela upholds the tradition of pleasing all types of viewers. Except Franco, that is -- he banned the operetta. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's films are colorful, sexy, and very funny, and this one is a perfect introduction to his work. An emperor's son, Reza Niro (Imanol Arias), comes to Madrid in disguise and sleeps with Sadeq (Antonio Banderas), an Islamic terrorist with a highly developed sense of smell. Sadeq's group wants to kidnap Reza, who disguises himself as a punk rock singer and falls in love with Sexilia (Cecilia Roth), a nymphomaniac singer for a rival band. There's also a wealthy woman (Helga Line) who wants Reza's sperm for an artificial insemination, a delirious dry-cleaner who sleeps with his own daughter, and other bizarre characters. Almodovar takes delight in intersecting lives, chance meetings, and humor that springs from the strangest of situations. He also has the rare talent of presenting potentially offensive material in such a whimsical and affectionate fashion that no matter what his characters do, the audience loves them as much as he does. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Whatever his reasons or intent, when the young man carrying a cello begins working at the old-folks home, he strikes up an acquaintance with the man known as "the Maestro" (Fernando Fernan Gomez), who is full of plans to produce a play based on a Caribbean love affair and adventure in his youth. As he listens to the old man's reminiscences of love, he thinks of his own girlfriend (both are played by Angela Molina). Eventually, the beloved eccentric's play is produced, accompanied by the boy's cello music. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Once-great Spanish matador Nacho Martinez has been reduced to starring in gruesome "snuff" films. Martinez is idolized by Antonio Banderas, who has no notion of his idol's current illegal profession. Terrified at the thought of drawing blood in the bullring, Banderas nevertheless seeks out Martinez' assistance in preparing for a bullfighting career. To prove his "machismo", Banderas rapes Martinez' lady-friend Eva Cobo. No one will believe Banderas' confession of the rape, so he decides to attach more importance to his crime by confessing to a recent rash of serial killings (actually perpetrated by Martinez and his cohorts). Bandera's case is taken by feminist attorney Assumpta Serna, who unwittingly--but not unwillingly--sets herself up as Martinez' next "conquest." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi