Santiago Tabernero Movies

Helmer Santiago Tabernero's coming-of-ager Life in Color (AKA Vida y Color, 2005) paints an enduring, vivid portrait of life in a Spanish village in the late summer of 1975 - at a juncture when color televisions were on the verge of appearing in middle-class homes, and the lives of citizenry on the verge of dramatically improving thanks to the impending death of fascist Francisco Franco. Tabernero filters his tender, nostalgic story through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Fede (Junio Valverde), who lives in the hamlet of Las Islas with his sister Bego (Silvia Abascal), his mother Sole (Ana Wagener), his father Angel (Adolfo Fernandez) and his grandfather (portrayed by Joan Dalmau) - a man who saves a bottle of champagne to gear up for the ensuing celebration of Franco's death. The sweet-natured Fede must contend with almost constant bullying by the punk Benito, and spends the majority of his extracurricular time with two friends: the quiet, introverted Sara (Nadia de Santiago) and her Down's-afflicted sister, Ramona (Natalia Abascal) - both victims of a mentally unstable, issue-ridden father. Tabernero sets about interweaving several stories of life in the village - the most intense of which involves the mysterious disappearance of a young girl from Las Islas. As lensed by ace cinematographer Jose Luis Alcane, the picture expressionistically projects the aesthetic overtones (bright, intense colors) of Fede's imagination onto the film's settings. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Noted Basque-born director Daniel Calparsoro spins this high-octane crime thriller set in Madrid. The film opens with a violent car wreck witnessed by stunning Lucia (Najwa Nimri) and her thuggish boyfriend Chino (Gustavo Salmeron). Just before Chino, Lucia, and their buddy Charly (Juan Diego Botto) rob a wealthy Frenchman at gunpoint, the couple makes noisy love as their pal looks on. The rich man gets shot in the process of the robbery. Thinking that they killed him, the three promptly flee. Meanwhile, Chino's elder cop brother Antonio (Alfredo Villa) tries to steer his rebellious sibling toward the straight and narrow -- until Chino finally gives in and tips off the cops about a drug deal between Charley and a crime boss. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

A psychopathic building super wreaks havoc upon his tenants in this Spanish-Puerto Rican psychodrama that was entirely filmed in Puerto Rico. A killer on the run. To hide from the authorities he kills the newly hired superintendent of the seedy Paradise Condominiums and assumes his identity. When he meets the condo's lonely manager, he calls himself Quinn. She becomes his first victim after she discovers his true identity. Quinn, though a cold-blooded murderer, has a certain charm and soon everyone is fooled, except for Gus a young attendant at a gas station. When Quinn sets his sights upon Gus' best friend Sara and her mother, who trust their super, a battle ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi