Karra Elejalde Movies

A man tries to reconcile his desire to be good with his lawless ways in this dark drama from Mexican auteur Alejandro González Iñárritu. Uxbal (Javier Bardem) is a man with a bright side and a dark side. Uxbal is a caring father who is strong but affectionate toward his two children, Ana (Hanaa Bouchaib) and Mateo (Guillermo Estrella), and he struggles to maintain a healthy relationship with their mother, Marambra (Maricel Álvarez), despite her problems with alcohol and instability. But Uxbal is also a criminal who oversees a small underground empire alongside fellow crime boss Hai (Taisheng Cheng) and Uxbal's impulsive brother, Tito (Eduard Fernández). Uxbal's dealings range from drugs to construction, but unlike his partners in crime, he tries to treat those around him with dignity even as he trades in human misery. Uxbal's precarious world begins to collapse when he's diagnosed with a serious illness and told he has only a few weeks left to live; he tries to put his affairs in order in the time he has left, but realizes that few around him have any sense of responsibility. Biutiful receives its world premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An ordinary guy takes an extraordinary step through time in this science fiction thriller. Hector (Karra Elejalde) is spending a few days in the countryside with his girlfriend, Clara (Candela Fernández), when he sees something that catches his attention while playing with his binoculars. Looking at a nearby house near a wooded area, Hector spies a beautiful woman taking her clothes off, and decides to take a stroll and give her a closer look. However, when he arrives at the house several minutes later, the woman is lying in the grass and appears to either be dead or passed out. As Hector examines her, he's attacked by a strange man and flees on foot. Hector seeks refuge in a building that turns out to be a research facility owned by a mysterious scientist (Nacho Vigalondo), who gives him a place to hide inside a futuristic closet. However, Hector realizes it was actually a time-travel machine when he emerges a few minutes later and looks out the window to see himself standing over the unconscious woman in the distance. Los Cronocrimenes (aka Timecrimes) was the first feature film from writer and director Nacho Vigalondo, who also appears as the scientist. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Directed by Javier Maqua, this oddball comedy combines bad taste with a political message. A direct jab at the fallacies of Spanish bureaucracy, Carne de Gallina ("Chicken Skin") is a politically incorrect tale of an eccentric yet dignified group of individuals who have refused to accept what they consider to be an unfair lot in life. When ex-miner Luison (Txema Blasco) suddenly dies in the middle of his visit it a local brothel, the family decides to keep the body at their home and hide the death itself until after the following Monday, when they can claim his pension funds. This satirical look at the absurdities of government also features Karra Elejalde, Isabel Ordaz, Anabel Alonso, Nathalie Sesena, Amparo Valle, and Maxi Rodriguez. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

This drama from Spain was inspired by a real-life incident in the 1930s when a number of people living in a small Basque village claimed to have seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary. In the early '30s, an anti-clerical movement swept through Spain and it was decreed that state-sponsored schools were to halt religious instruction and public buildings were to remove religious artwork, a decision that was highly controversial among a large number of Spanish citizens. Joshe (Eduardo Noriega) is a student teacher who guides students in Ezkioga, a small town in the hill country where the removal of religious instruction has been met with outrage. Joshe is engaged to marry Edurne (Leire Ucha), but when he meets Usua (Ingrid Rubio), a girl who works at an inn in the village, he finds himself falling in love and has a hard time reconciling his feelings for the two women. Meanwhile, a number of local residents claim that they have seen the Virgin Mary, who has appeared to them and told them Spain must restore religion to its government before it is too late; among those who have witnessed the vision are both Edurne and Usua. In time, Edurne admits that what she saw was a product of mass hysteria and not a true religious vision, but Usua is not so easily convinced, and Joshe struggles to convince her to embrace logic rather than faith. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this farce, noted Spanish director Joaquin Oristrell sets his sights on a raving sexist and the aftermath of his misdeeds. Ex-athlete and restaurateur Arturo splits his time between training his slow-witted son Arturito in the finer points of speed walking and having an affair with his attractive young cook, Cristal, whom he promises to marry. Of course, the latter activity is hardly popular with his beleaguered wife Paz, who seeks comfort with Cristal's father. When Cristal discovers Arturo and Paz having sex in the kitchen, she plots her revenge by attempting to seduce Arturo's son, until she finds herself falling for the naïve boy. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Spanish director Jaime Balaguero brings us this jet-black horror thriller. Claudia (Emma Vilarasau) and Marc's beloved six-year-old daughter Angela dies under mysterious circumstances. Flash forward five years, and Marc has left while Claudia wiles away her time watching family videos of happier times. Angela suddenly inexplicably calls saying, "They wanted you to believe I was dead." Claudia immediately calls an ex-cop, Massera (Karra Elejalde), to investigate the matter. To make matters worse, Claudia finds herself stalked by psychotic ex-boyfriend Toni, who simply radiates evil. As the movie progresses, Massera and Quiroga (Tristan Ulloa), a journalist who works for a magazine specializing in the occult, uncover a bizarre sadistic cult that sacrifices children. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The third feature from popular Spanish filmmaker Juanma Bajo Ulloa is a sprawling and complex action comedy with a touch of Almodovar-esque surrealistic absurdity that simultaneously satirizes gangster movies, film noir, and the Catholic Church. Juantxo is the chief protagonist. Coming from a bourgeois family, he has had all the opportunities to fulfill his father's wishes by obtaining a university degree, getting a high-paying job and making a place for himself in high society. The trouble is, Juantxo is a socially awkward idiot and a mamma's boy. He is, however, engaged to a rich and beautiful woman. A few days before his wedding, Juantxo's buddies Konradin and Paco persuade him to go out for a final night of oat-sowing. They are not long at the stag party when Juantxo falls for an exotic prostitute. Unfortunately he loses his fiancee's expensive engagement ring while messing with the hooker. Later, this valuable ring is discovered by Villambrosa, a gangster/pimp/international drug runner. His enemy Souza finds out about the ring and sends his sexy moll Fatima do Espirito Santo, a new age girl who can levitate, to investigate the situation. Meanwhile, Juantxo and friends frantically search for the ring. They have three days to find it and their journey takes them on a riotous road trip that leads them into the depths of the Mafia underworld. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this lively Spanish-Argentine comic fantasy, two luckless actors get angry and with the help of a high school drama class jolt a sleepy, rural Argentina town into to taking much-needed political action. Before coming to town the disillusioned duo were making a meager existence performing their little play at cabarets and in small cafes. Despite their adverse position, Angel remains optimistic. Unfortunately, partner Eduardo, a fiery Basque, has had enough and angrily threatens to quit. An auto breakdown leads the two to the town which is in the process of electing new officials. The actors get booked to perform at a campaign dinner. There, the Eduardo loses his cool and launches a fiery attack on the official's big plan for building an enormous tourist hotel. A riot nearly ensues afterward. Later they encounter an old friend and former revolutionary who has become a school teacher in town and it is he who rallies his class to help Eduardo and Angel put their new play on at the town's ramshackle, abandoned theater. Naturally, the mayor and other officials are not happy that a reactionary play is being prepared in their town and do all they can to stop it. In the end, though a final conflict between the officials and the townsfolk provides the story's climax. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This Spanish drama chronicles the struggles of a gang of amoral hoods to survive in a hopelessly violent urban world. The film open inside a crowded getaway car right after a robbery. In is are three men, a woman, and a blindfolded cop, their hostage. Esteban, a robber, is sure that the cop saw his face and now threatens to kill him. The leader of the gang is Javi. Tono drives, and Alex, a 20-year old woman, tries to calm the hysterical Esteban. The car pulls into a deserted quarry. It is Tono who ultimately shoots the hapless cop. Most of the film focuses upon Alex who sports short hair with the word "void" shaved into the back of her head. Alex is the sole supporter of her parents and two brothers. She earns money by dealing drugs and helping Javi's gang run guns. She yearns for Javi to give the love and affection she has never known, but he ignores her. Alex becomes a body guard to an illegal dog fighter and finds herself in deep trouble when she is forced to kill the two men attacking her client. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sexual repression, class conflict, fetishes, and an Electra complex are combined in this fast-paced, but convoluted Spanish comedy. Angel, a botanist, loves feet and when he spies the barefoot Luisa in a flower shop, it is love at first sight. Luisa, unaware of his foot fetish and the fact that his attraction is coupled by her close resemblance to his mother, readily accepts his marriage proposal. She learns the truth only after they move into his country mansion and she wakes up to find her husband doing strange things to her feet in his sleep. He does not otherwise touch her, and she spends her days alone while Angel works in his lab. Relief is offered when Lucas, Angel's former professor comes to visit. The crazy old coot offers her sexual instruction while simultaneously embezzling from Angel. Meanwhile, in another part of the film, a one-eyed pimp, and hooker are involved in hijinks at a local night-club. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar returns to his recurring framework of offbeat sexuality and death with this colorful comedy. Kika (Veronica Forque) is a Madrid makeup artist who falls in love with Ramon (Alex Casanovas), a dead man whose face Kika is hired to prepare for a funeral. Kika's attraction resurrects Ramon, and the two begin cohabiting. Kika becomes embroiled in a pair of criminal schemes, one involving her maid Juana (Rossy De Palma) and Juana's amorous, retarded brother Pablo (Santiago Lajusticia), the other involving Ramon's father, Nicholas (Peter Coyote). After Kika is raped by Pablo, she learns the incident was videotaped by Ramon, the footage ending up on a tabloid television program hosted by Andrea Scarface (Victoria Abril). Kika and Ramon split, but the latter discovers his father's complicity in the demise of his mother, leading to a violent confrontation. Because of Almodovar's humorous treatment of the film's rape, Kika was his third feature in a row that resulted in critical accusations of misogyny and exploitation. His subsequent material became more dramatic and less tinged with black humor. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In Basque country, feuds, governments, and wars come and go, while cows placidly observe the strange behaviors of the humans who care for them. In 1875, during a massacre inspired by an out-of-control family feud, a farmer and his friend find themselves in a ditch together. One of them dies, and the other survives by playing possum using his friend's blood as a disguise. As the film flashes forward in time, the man is now a grandfather who amuses himself by painting the tranquil gaze of cows over and over again, while he observes that his son is having an affair with his dead friend's granddaughter. Finally, during the Civil War in 1936, violence again mars the life of the family, as the illegitimate son of the earlier affair attempts to make headway with his life. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi