Dana Rotberg Movies
Acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Dana Rotberg returns to the screen following an eight year absence with this hypnotic drama about love and revenge. Set in a small village during the beginning of the 20th century, Otilia (Gabriela Canudas) is both blessed with a body that is the epitome of feminine perfection and cursed by an ugly mole that mars her beautiful face. The juxtaposition between fabulous beauty and disfigurement proves unsettling for the villagers and she grows up friendless, save the family's hired hand Melquíades. Though most figured she would end up as a prostitute, she is married off to Isidro, the local police chief. Cruel and petty, this ogre of a man brutalizes her and eventually infects her with venereal disease, rendering her sterile. With the help of Melquíades, Otilia takes a series of lovers to spite her husband. One day, the wounded Ruben -- a wanted outlaw -- staggers onto her doorstep and immediately she is in love. Much to Melquíades' chagrin, she harbors and tends to the criminal as her husband is out hunting for him. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gabriela Canudas
- 1997
During war time, the bonds forged by those struggling to survive the ravages of battle can be stronger than blood ties, something an emotionally-distant Bosnian poet discovers when he befriends a pair of war orphans and helps them search for their last surviving family member. The story begins in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war and centers on Hamza, who is first seen having a heated conversation with his wife, who accuses him of self-centeredness for not actively helping to get her and their adolescent daughter to safety. Shortly thereafter, the wife and daughter leave the city. One day, Hamza encounters seven-year-old Adis and his mute nine-year-old brother Kerim. With no one left to care for them, they are seeking their aunt Aicha, who has disappeared. During their arduous journey, the three befriend a wounded dog and thus an unlikely family is formed amidst the death and devastation. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mustafa Nadarevic, Almedin Leleta, (more)
Those who enjoy religious allegories like Pilgrim's Progress will have an easier time with this carefully constructed drama than those looking simply for a straightforward story. In the movie, circus-born Alma is a performer at the Fantasia Circus. Her mother has left her, and she is having an affair with her father, who is ill. When he dies, she is pregnant by him, which everyone in the troupe can easily figure out. Shunned by her peers, she takes to the streets as a fire-eater and then joins up with a wandering marionette troupe, led by Refugio, a very strict woman who learns of Alma's situation and requires that she follow very careful guidelines in order to have any standing in her eyes. She works with the leader's puppeteer son Sacramento to put on complex performances of Old Testament stories. As in similar allegories, characters in the movie embody the essence of their names; Alma = soul, Refugio = refuge, Sacramento = sacrament. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evangelina Sosa, Roberto Sosa, (more)
- 1990
Julio (Emilío Echevarría) teaches literature, and is generally ignored by eveyone around him: his wife, his grown son, and his students. In the evenings, he putters around with his unfinished novel with no intention of ever finishing it. His chance meeting with a lovely neighbor sparks his imagination, and he lives a lifetime of relationships with her in his mind, until he is brought back down to earth with a thump by his real-life obligations. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emilio Echeverria, Lisa Owen, (more)
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