Victoria Abril Movies
One of Europe's most popular and respected actresses, Victoria Abril has made her mark in more than 60 films produced in France, Italy, and her native Spain. First introduced to American audiences through the work of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who directed her in the controversial Atame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, 1990), the sensual, brown-eyed actress has gained a Stateside cult following, but remains thoroughly European in her choice of films and the roles she plays.Abril first earned wide recognition in Spain as a 14-year-old model on the popular television shows Uno, dos, tres, responda otra vez and 625 lineas. Born Victoria Merida Rojas in Malaga on July 4, 1959, she began studying as a ballet dancer at the age of seven, but following her celebrated turn on TV, segued into acting in the mid-'70s. Abril made her major screen debut in Vincente Aranda's Cambio de Sexo, a 1976 drama that cast her as an effeminate young man who undergoes a sex change. That same year, the actress made her first English-language film, Robin and Marian, in which she played the relatively minor role of a Spanish queen. She went on to do prolific work for the rest of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and in 1990 had her first collaboration with Almodóvar, for whom she starred as a drug-addicted porn actress taken hostage by an obsessive fan (Antonio Banderas) in Atame!. The film was a success in Spain -- where Abril earned a Goya Best Actress nomination for her performance -- and proved to be a controversial sensation in the States, where its plot outraged certain feminist groups. Abril collaborated with Almodóvar on two more films, Tacones Lejanos (1991) -- in which she played the estranged daughter of an actress (Marisa Paredes), and Kika (1993) -- in which she had a supporting role as an over-the-top tabloid TV program hostess.
Abril scored particular critical acclaim as a darkly amorous landlady in Vincente Aranda's Amantes (1991), winning a Best Actress Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival for her performance. Further acclaim came her way with Nadie Hablara de Nosotras Cuando Hayamos Muerto (1995), for which her portrayal of an alcoholic prostitute earned her a Goya and a Best Actress award at the San Sebastian Film Festival. A starring role in the French romantic comedy Gazon Maudit (1995), which cast her as a housewife torn between her unfaithful husband and a butch female truck driver, further increased Abril's popularity. She continued to star in films that emphasized her playful, flamboyant sexuality, maintaining her reputation as one of Europe's most colorful and vibrant performers. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- 1991
- R
Written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almódovar, Tacones Lejanos is a murder mystery centering on flamboyant actress Becky del Paramo (Marisa Paredes) and her daughter Rebecca (Victoria Abril), a television anchorwoman. After being estranged for 15 years, Becky re-enters Rebecca's life when she comes to perform a concert. Rebecca, she finds, is now married to one of Becky's ex-lovers, Manuel (Feodor Atkine). As the mother and daughter begin making up for lost time, Manuel is suddenly murdered at his home. Unfortunately, which of the ladies is responsible for the homicide remains unclear, even after one of them confesses. Released in the U.S. under the title High Heels, Tacones Lejanos was nominated for several Goya Awards as well as the Best Foreign Language Film at the 1992 Golden Globes. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Marisa Paredes, (more)
- 1991
- R
Vicente Aranda's Lovers is set in Spain, mostly in Madrid, during the 1950s. The story line is reminiscent of Theodore Dreiser's classic An American Tragedy (which was filmed as A Place in the Sun), wherein a passive, amoral, and shallow protagonist inadvertently destroys the lives of two women who love him. The handsome Paco (Jorge Sanz, who also starred in Belle Epoque and has been called "the Spanish Tom Cruise") is a young soldier involved with a virginal maid, Trini (Maribel Verdu of Y Tu Mama Tambien). Trini is saving her money and planning for their wedding, but Paco tells her not to worry, that he will find a job and save money for them. Paco leaves the army, but has trouble finding and keeping a steady job. He ends up renting a cheap room from Luisa (Spanish superstar Victoria Abril, best known for her work in Pedro Almodovar's films), a beautiful and mysterious widow. Before long, Luisa has seduced the sexually frustrated Paco, and involved him in her moneymaking scams. Trini quickly figures out what is going on, and makes a desperate effort to win back Paco's affection. Paco is obsessed with the sexually experienced and voracious older woman, but is unable to break off his long-term relationship with Trini. He attempts to string them both along, with disastrous results. The film was the first of veteran filmmaker Aranda to get a theatrical release in the United States, thanks largely to Abril's star power, and caused a minor sensation with its sexual explicitness, in particular the infamous "handkerchief scene." ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Jorge Sanz, (more)
- 1990
- NC17
"I'll never love you . . . ever!" the sexy and attractive Marina (Victoria Abril) states emphatically to the love-struck Ricky (Antonio Banderas). You know she means what she says because when she makes this statement she is handcuffed and lashed to a bed, not exactly the proper way to warm anyone up for romance. Yet in Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! the way to a woman's heart is depicted as being held in captivity until the Stockholm Syndrome kicks in. The film concerns the plight of Marina, a "B"-movie diva trying to adjust to her recent success after years of porno films and drug addiction. But then into her life comes Ricky, a part-time handyman and full-time mental patient, who, during one of his past escapes from the mental ward, had spent the night with Marina -- who gave in to him during one of her less-discerning moments. Since then, Ricky has been thinking of her constantly. Determined to win her affections, he kidnaps Marina, holding her captive in her own apartment and trying everything to convince her to love him -- then they could marry and have a big family. All Ricky's attempts to woo Marina fail. Finally, after taking a severe beating from some street thugs, he strikes a chord in Marina's nurturing heart so that when her sister Lola (Loles Leon) finally discovers her plight, Marina no longer wants to be rescued. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Antonio Banderas, (more)
- 1990
Guerilla wars against the major powers have been a factor in Central American politics for a long time. This biographical drama is based on the life of Nicaragua's prototypical 20th century guerilla, Augusto C. Sandino (born as Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino). His name and life were the inspiration for the anti-U.S. forces in that country fifty years after his death: they called themselves the Sandanistas. It is helpful to remember, and this movie demonstrates, that the U.S. military has been actively involved with the domestic politics of Nicaragua many times in this century, most notably during the 1912 invasion which resulted in over twenty continuous years of U.S. military intervention. In the story, Sandino loves two women: his wife, who remains at home, and his warlike mistress, a guerilla who accompanies him into the jungle. He has a tendency (common at the time) of wanting to trust politicians. As a result, he was betrayed by Anastasio Somoza in 1933, and vanished from sight. Somoza soon became the sole ruler of Nicaragua (from 1936 to 1956). The free-thinking rebel, who renamed himself Augusto César Sandino in the late 1920s, identified strongly with the indios or indigenous people of the region, and proposed a political agenda under which the countries of the Central America would unite against European exploitation. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kris Kristofferson, Dean Stockwell, (more)
This complex and confusing Spanish feature intercuts stories from 1936, 1940, 1970 and 1988, and has Victoria Abril play three different parts in them. The lives of many people are shown to be tangled together in nearly incomprehensible ways, and many of the characters are prone to engage in unsavory sexual acts involving fetishism and sadomasochism. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Jorge Sanz, (more)
- 1989
This tepid actioner is taken from the popular comic strip by Francesco Altan. Ada (Marie Louisa) is the heir who promises her dying father she will look for the son he left behind in Africa 20 years before. Her scheming cousin Nancy (Charley Boorman) tries to get Ada disinherited. Ada runs into several colorful characters -- a homosexual couple who grow tomatoes and sell ivory, a Spanish Civil War veteran, and some nasty Nazis. She also contends with her pretentious Spanish maid Carmen (Victoria Abril) and the handsome native Bumbo (Isaach de Bankole). ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marie Louisa, Richard Bohringer, (more)
- 1988
Sara (Victoria Abril) and her co-star Bruno (Antonio Valero) are popular soap opera stars who try to take a quiet vacation in this screwball comedy. They escape to a remote mountain village but are recognized by the locals who faithfully watch the daily program. Plenty of sight gags and sexual situations occur along with the continual and unwanted appearances of the show's producer Tomas (Antonio Resines). ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Antonio Resines, (more)
- 1988
Antonio (Antonio Banderas) is a gigolo who is taken in by a wealthy middle-aged woman in this sultry crime drama. He moves into the posh apartment of Isabel Harris (Carmen Maura) and satisfies her sexual urges. When Isabel has reoccurring nightmares she is being raped, the couple visits a pretty female psychiatrist. After Antonio seduces the shrink, he and the psychiatrist plot to kill Isabel's husband, steal their money, and pin the blame on her. The three double-cross each other after the man's murder is investigated by the police. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, (more)
- 1988
Bayard (Remi Martin) is a lowly squire who joins the army of King Charles (Patrick Timsit) after he is rejected by the noblewoman Blanche de Savoie (Anne-Gisel Glass). Bellabre (Gerard Jugnot) is the army captain who trains Bayard for the proposed invasion of Naples. Bayard returns a conquering hero to win the heart of Blanche, who defies the newly crowned King Louis XII (Martin Lamotte) and the Machiavellian Scottomayor (Roland Giraud) to marry her heroic soldier. Sight gags and parodies abound in this comedy that contains some of the grim humor of Monte Python And The Holy Grail. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Jugnot, Remi Martin, (more)
- 1987
Director Felix Rotaeta adapted the screenplay of Placer de Matar from own novel. Victoria Abril, who was incredibly busy when the film was made in 1987, plays the leading role (she wasn't exactly the heroine), while Berta Riaza costars as her mother. It's a thriller with plot twists aplenty; to give away too much would be to spoil the surprises. Here's a hint: the film's English-language title is The Pleasure of Killing. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Antonio Banderas, Mathieu Carrière, (more)
Policemen everywhere are sometimes lampooned for their self-importance and pomposity, and it is not unusual for a particularly impudent thief to become a national hero. However, Spain's Guardia Civil in the 1960s were an unusually self-righteous lot, and the otherwise not particularly edifying real-life exploits of the young thief Eleuterio Sanchez, nicknamed "El Lute," thrilled the nation. This crime adventure drama retells his story. After being arrested for a robbery gone bad, the young thief refuses to finger his partners in crime even under torture. Despite this, they are rounded up and executed for the murder they committed while robbing a jewelry store. El Lute received a commutation from General Franco, and was on his way to prison when he escaped, eluding a nationwide manhunt for several weeks despite having a broken arm. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Imanol Arias, Victoria Abril, (more)
- 1986
Set at the end of the 1940s, this drama about Pedro (Imanol Arias), a medical researcher, and his relationships with his family and women underscores the mood of repression that dominated Spain during Franco's fascist regime. Pedro lives in a boardinghouse and is attracted to Dorita (Victoria Abril), his beautiful neighbor. He wiles away his time with a wealthy friend and generally leads a normal life until he tries to save the life of a young woman who has had an abortion that went tragically wrong. He fails, and the woman's boyfriend comes after him, believing that he killed her. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Imanol Arias, Victoria Abril, (more)
Fabled Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima was the guiding hand behind the fast-paced French comedy Max, Mon Amour. The "Max" with whom the elegant Charlotte Rampling falls in love is a circus chimpanzee (played by a short-statured man in a monkey suit). Charlotte's British-ambassador husband Anthony Higgins has long suspected that his wife was cheating on him, but he certainly isn't prepared for her simian paramour. Amazingly, the film never descends into goofiness: Oshima uses his unorthodox plotline to poke holes in the self-protective pretensions of the Bourgeoisie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Anthony Higgins, (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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Francisco Rabal, Concha Velasco, (more)
- 1985
In this otherwise routine film, John Hurt is outstanding as the deceptively unbalanced Peter, brother of Laurence (Julian Sands), an inmate for the last many years in a mental institution in Geneva, Switzerland. An unusual accident cost the life of Laurence's twin brother, when they were just little boys, and sent Laurence to the Geneva clinic. For reasons of his own, Peter, a respected anthropology professor, gets Laurence released from the institution's care and then sets them both up in a low-end apartment in the city. When Pascale (Victoria Abril), a young college student, starts to fall for Laurence, Peter's own mental state is called into question. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Julian Sands, (more)
Essentially a tale of romance mixed in with a dash of politics, this engrossing story involves Engracia (Victoria Abril), a young Mexican prostitute working just south of the border with the U.S., and two American border guards who are among her clients: Mitch (Scott Wilson), a tough, go-by-the-book Anglo who has no deep affection for Mexicans, and Chuck (Jeff Delgar), an idealistic new border guard who has yet to learn the ropes. In a few instances, the film exposes the prejudice against Mexicans, but otherwise, politics is secondary to what happens next. Chuck falls in love with Engracia, and the two get married in Mexico -- and then he smuggles her across the border that he himself has been hired to guard. Sure enough, the vile Mitch gets into the act and quite clearly, both Chuck and Engracia are heading for trouble. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Scott Wilson, (more)
- 1984
In his second successful starring role in 1983, Agustín Gonzalez is a father who runs a wine shop in Madrid, a city under a three-year siege (1936-1939) because the Nationalists forces of Francisco Franco need to take Madrid before the fascist dictator can be installed in power. The siege has left the Madrileños with very little food, living under the threat of bombs, and worrying about the prospects of defeat. It is the sense of impending disaster, of hunger and deprivation that is oddly missing from this cinematic interpretation of the play by Fernando Fernán Gómez. The daughter in the family (Victoria Abril) enters into a love affair with a soldier and ends up having a baby, the son (Gabino Diego) is coming of age with the maid - and life seems to go on with all its proverbial ups and downs. But without the sharp dialogue of the play itself, this film is not as tautly strung, or as convincingly real as the stage production. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amparo Soler Leal, Agustin Gonzalez, (more)
- 1984
This ostensible comedy about the affairs or non-existent affairs of television executive Federico José Sacristán and his actress wife Elena Victoria Abril) is almost as hard to believe as director Manuel Gutiérrez-Aragón's previous effort Feroz. Federico convinces a friend to attempt to seduce his wife in order to test her fidelity. She passes the test, but her husband is not satisfied, and so he asks his boss to seduce her. Events conspire to lead the boss in another direction -- it turns out he is more interested in a transvestite who is actually the secret lover of Federico, and the boss seduces him instead. Meanwhile, Elena is acting in a production of Don Juan in which two of her supposed lovers are playing her lovers -- and the story continues downhill from there. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- José M. Sacristán, Victoria Abril, (more)
- 1984
The emotional interplay between an arguing couple, in love but not happy with their relationship, is meant to be the sustaining force in this crime drama with little other action. Thomas (Christophe Malavoy) has been blackmailed into carrying a shipment of explosives in his Peugeot to Egypt, where the devices will be forwarded to guerrillas on Cyprus. He brings his lover Veronique (Victoria Abril) along for the dangerous ride from Switzerland to the south, knowing the explosives can be easily detonated by accident and enemy agents as well as government agents are out to capture him. Both protagonists have a short fuse themselves, and as they separate and then come back together, their final destination looms ever closer in more ways than one. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christophe Malavoy, Victoria Abril, (more)
- 1984
- R
This technically impressive throwback to the early days of film noir stars Richard Berry as Bruno, a young actor who seems to get blamed for everything. Spotting a gorgeous female shoplifter (Victoria Abril) in trouble, Bruno decides to help her and gets arrested in her place. While lamenting his fate in prison, he is blamed for an escape attempt in which a psychotic guard (Richard Bohringer) is shot. When Bruno's sentence is lengthened, the guard makes his life a nightmare until the terrorized prisoner must lash out in the ultimate rebellion against (and surrender to) his inescapable fate. Director Denis Amar's moody film is strong on atmosphere but weak in characterization, despite an impressively sadistic turn by Bohringer, and the movie leaves the viewer flat rather than moved. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Berry, Richard Bohringer, (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)
- 1983
Based on Erskine Caldwell's novel, Le Batard could also refer to this French film born from an American novel, with the American South transformed into the south of France. An unemotive Gerard Klein is Patrice, the Paris automobile mechanic who travels to Marseille to identify the body of his loose-living and long-lost mother, who has been found murdered. After proceeding to kill off her barroom boss, he meanders around the south of France looking for sexual relationships. He comes across a teenage musician and is attracted enough to her obvious appeal to establish a more permanent liaison, taking her with him to Paris to set up housekeeping -- for she is pregnant. Soon she is driven to the limits of depression and boredom caring for their home and a new baby, and he has reached his limits of confinement and responsibility -- so he takes off again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gerard Klein, Julie Jezequel, (more)
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