Francisco Vidal Movies

For Astarlos, living in Madrid at the time of the troubled rule of Isabel the Second in 1868, fencing is not an outmoded method of personal combat, but it is a way of life. It teaches lessons about comportment, attention, responsiveness to others, and taking responsibility for one's own life. Further, it is an aristocratic art, and the heart of aristocratic sentiment (no matter what one's station of life at birth) is to take responsibility for those who are less fortunate than oneself. Noblesse oblige. In this drama, the fencing master seeks to remain true to his values during a turbulent time which imperils his student's lives. One student is a beautiful and mysterious young woman, another is a handsome lad of aristocratic birth. Among the outsiders impinging on their lives are a police inspector and a passionate revolutionary. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This story is ostensibly about a down-and out press agency in Madrid that is struggling to keep its last legs from buckling under when a young photographer snaps a picture of a corporate leader hurt in the foiled robbery of a massage parlor. From that premise, the story shifts to the personnel at the press agency itself, and in particular, the sometimes conflicted relationship between the photographer, his boss, and the boss's daughter. Before all this can be straightened out, the boss is in an elevator when its suspension cable is cut and it crashes multiple floors down. Does this mean the boss has actually died or is this rendition of the press agency and its leading characters a sub-plot in someone's fertile imagination? The final scenes hint at the answer. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

German Areta (Alfredo Landa) is an ex-cop detective with a tiny office in a part of Madrid going to seed - a scenario inspired by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961), to whom Crack is dedicated. Areta is trying to track down a young woman who has basically disappeared into the world of high-class courtesans in the city, and he is told to lay off the search by some powerful types who do not want any negative publicity. Unwilling to leave it at that, Areta' s enemies decide to bring home the message in an unsavory manner, through some nasty business with his girlfriend's daughter. Enraged at their tactics, Areta puts his manhunt into high gear and heads off to New York City to track down the bad guys. In another tip of the hat to Dashiell Hammett the "look and feel" of the film evokes the 1930s mystery movies. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Margarita (Silvia Aguilar) is a "kept" woman from the countryside, living in Madrid on the money given to her by her sugar-daddy, who earns a little money on the side by performing in a club alongside transvestites. Her brother comes to town to try and get her to stop embarrassing the family and return to their home (and the straight-and-narrow). Instead of reforming, she seduces him into sleeping with her. Similar attempts to induce her to "reform" meet with failure. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide