Ariadna Gil Movies

A fierce soldier fighting for the Spanish cause in Flanders returns to a drastically different Spain to fulfill the dying wish of a fallen friend, only to find that life isn't what it once was in his decaying homeland in director Agustín Díaz Yanes' adaptation of Arturo Pérez-Reverte's popular series of best-selling books. Compelled to fulfill the final wish of his dying friend, noble warrior Alatriste (Viggo Mortensen) makes his way back to Spain to care for the man's young son, Iñigo (Nacho Perez and Unax Ugalde). Things have taken a sharp turn for the worst back home, however, and as Alatriste does his best to help the boy reach manhood while earning his keep as a hired swordsman, he sees his country crumbling at the feet of a feeble monarch who is failing to grasp the inner workings of his own corrupt court. The impulsive handling of the Spanish Inquisition, coupled with the corrosive influence of the Count-Duke of Olivares (Javier Cámara), has brought a once-powerful nation to its knees as the growing chasm between the deceitful upper class and the miserable life of the commoners has effectively served to polarize the populace. In a time when corruption reigns and honor has faded, Alatriste remains a lone figure who refuses to relinquish his noble spirit as he raises Iñigo and enters into a passionate love affair with actress Maria de Castro (Ariadna Gil). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This Spanish thriller is set in the seamy side of Barcelona during the mid-'80s and tells the story of Maria, a drug addict and dealer. She is trying hard to clean up her act, but first she wants to do one more major deal with her friend Rafa. Unfortunately, their well-laid plans begin unraveling right from the start and soon they find themselves forced to flee from corrupt policemen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director Sergei Bodrov takes a break from his usual socio-political dramas in Bear's Kiss, a surreal fairy tale following Lola (Rebecca Liljeberg), the 14-year-old daughter of long-time circus employees, and her love affair with a shape-shifting bear who calls himself Misha (Sergei Bodrov Jr.). When her father, Marco (Maurizio Donadoni), is killed in a tragic car accident, the circus caravan travels to Spain, where several gypsy fortune-tellers explain the mysterious art of shape-shifting and the responsibilities it entails. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

With his gentle ensemble comedy Bienvenido a casa (aka Welcome Home), Spanish director David Trueba meditates on one man's passage from youth to the emotional maturity of adulthood. In the process, Trueba takes a wise and reflective look at the dynamics of contemporary relationships, romantic and otherwise. Alejo Sauras is Samuel, an aspiring photographer who makes the broad leap from his rural village in the Spanish countryside -- where he lives under the thumb of his domineering mother -- to the wonderland of urban Madrid. He moves in with his girlfriend, Eva (Pilar Lopez de Ayala), and accepts a position as resident photojournalist for a local culture magazine, where his eccentric colleagues include a slightly embittered, blind movie critic (with a blind guide dog), a burnt-out sports columnist, and a depressed vocalist/instrumentalist who pens the music column. Through the various employees, Trueba reveals a spectrum of attitudes toward love and romance. The remainder of the story finds Samuel teaming up with the magazine's reporter, Sandra, for an investigative story on a murder related to human trafficking. Meanwhile, Samuel begins to grapple, privately, with problems in his marital life -- specifically, how to preserve the love, romance, and devotion he feels for Eva (and she for him). Samuel's watchful mother cautions him not to repeat the same mistakes that she once made -- but the past comes back to haunt Samuel in the guise of a fateful encounter with a childhood friend, Nieves. Then, suddenly, Eva announces her pregnancy. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

An artist thrown into the violent world of police work is torn between his creative sensibility and his pragmatic need to earn a living in this offbeat police thriller. Jimmy (Adam Trese) is a gifted photographer who, despite the quality of his work, is having a hard time making ends meet. Eager to be able to support himself and his wife, Maria (Ariadna Gil), a classical dancer, Jimmy takes a job as a crime scene photographer with the L.A.P.D. The constant parade of violence and brutality Jimmy sees through his camera's lens proves hard to take, and soon Jimmy begins rearranging the scenes of violent death to give them a more creative and lifelike dimension, as he begins to imagine he can give the victims a new life through his art. Russo (V.J. Foster) and Flowers (Cully Fredricksen), the detectives Jimmy works with, are amused by his thin skin and creative sensibilities; they sense Jimmy's desire to leave his job behind, and persuade him to join them in a drug deal which could make them a fast and lucrative payday. Maria is also aware of Jimmy's discomfort with his new job, and in hopes of making enough money to support them both, she signs on as an exotic dancer at a strip joint, where she witnesses a crime that leads her into the same sort of danger Jimmy has been struggling to escape. Camera Obscura was the first feature film from writer and director Hamlet Sarkissian. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This upbeat adventure tells a lively tale -- devoid of sex and violence -- that the whole family can enjoy. The fairy-tale begins as the beautiful Ana abruptly changes her mind about marriage while standing at the alter of a Caracas church, and boards a flight to Paris carrying only a small suitcase and her favorite poster of Maria Callas. She ends up in a tiny apartment filled with other illegal South American immigrants, one of whom is the strong-willed, self-absorbed video artist Celeste. Ana, who dreams of becoming a famous singer like Callas, soon begins studying voice with an aged Russian gentleman. In another part of town, a filmmaker searches the city for a singer to assume the lead in his forthcoming film version of Rossini's "Cinderella." Ana is at a cafe one day when a gay waiter uses his psychic powers to predict that great things will happen to her. Ana then makes friends with a moody psychiatrist. Behind it all, an African sorcerer works potent magic of his own. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Fernando Trueba's El Embrujo de Shanghai (The Shanghai Spell) is a drama set just after the Spanish Civil War. Dani (Fernando Tielve) is a 14-year-old would-be artist who is hired to care for the elderly Captain Blay (Fernando Fernán Gómez). Blay convinces the young boy to paint Susanna (Aida Folch), a young woman from the local village. Susanna's father, Kim (Antonio Resines), is a rarely seen but beloved resistance figure, while her mother, Anita (Ariadna Gil), is considered the sexiest woman in town. One of Kim's associates shows up and begins an affair with Kim, while the two teenagers begin a tentative first romance with each other. The film is adapted from a novel by Juan Marse. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In the working-class Paris suburb of Montreuil, Jimmy's (Bruno Solo) restaurant, the Bombay Bar, is on the verge of being closed down by creditors. Jimmy is despondent -- the fact that his wife is about to have a baby isn't helping matters -- when he and his business partner Fifi (Lorant Deutsch) find unlikely inspiration in the form of "Riches et Sympas," a TV show dedicated to the lives of the rich and famous. Figuring that getting the "right" people to frequent their business will ensure its reputation, Jimmy and Fifi persuade Jimmy's friend, the laid-back, unemployed Mike (Samuel Le Bihan), to pose as a nobleman and lure his moneyed associates to the Bombay Bar. Mike agrees, and after crashing a posh charity ball, he finds himself being taken in by the likes of society fixture Arthus de Poulignac (Lambert Wilson) and Evrard (Guillaume Gallienne), the latter of whom ensconces Mike in his private mansion. Unfortunately, Mike soon becomes a little too fond of his newly-acquired lifestyle, leaving Jimmy to wonder what to do with the monster he unwittingly created. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Legendary Mexican director Arturo Ripstein explores the mundane and sexual obsession in 1940s Mexico in his 2002 film The Virgin of Lust. Introverted Ignacio "Nacho" Jurado (Luis Felipe Tovar) spends his days waiting tables at the Cafe Ofelia and his nights amongst his voluminous porno collection. His world is turned upside-down when a prostitute named Lola (Ariadne Gil) begins hanging out at the cafe. Nacho is immediately smitten with the whore, but Lola's mind is focused on a very brutish wrestler who'll have nothing to do with her. Lola, a natural sadist, recognizes Nacho's penchant for being dominated and she begins to fully exploit this chance to unleash her cruelty on a willing recipient. As the relationship settles into its regular perverseness, Nacho is presented with what he sees as an opportunity to capture Lola's heart completely -- to become a macho revolutionary hero by assassinating Francisco Franco. The Virgin of Lust was chosen for inclusion into the Upstream program at the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival, winning a Special Mention prize from that program's jury. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Film noir and comedy are successfully thrown together in this off-beat story about Germain (Antonio Resines), a stage producer trying to put together the two leads and backing for his next drama. Germain is looking for a man to play a psychotic obsessed with his mother and a woman to play a seductress. For the male lead he finds Rufo (Imanol Arias) who depends on robbery for a living, takes care of his drug-addict mother, and has hallucinatory visions about the Pope. The female lead has three contenders: Germain's ex-girlfriend Nena (Amparo Munoz), his ex-wife Amelia (Assumpta Serna), and Lola (Patricia Adriani) a beguiling vamp he met in a taxi one day. Germain soon finds that casting can be a nightmare when Nena's husband (his potential backer) lusts after Lola, Nena has her amorous sights set on Rufo, and Germain's ex-wife Amelia runs after a soccer player. Add in a murder, and absurdity rules the day. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A man and a woman struggle through an on-again, off-again love affair amidst some of the most memorable events of Argentina's recent cultural history in this romantic drama. Marcelo (Nicolas Pauls) and Alicia (Malena Solda) meet in 1975 at the final concert of the Argentine rock band Sui Generis and are immediately attracted. Circumstances keep them apart until 1982, when they meet again as the nation is caught up in the excitement of the World Cup soccer finals and the anxiety of the war in the Falkland Islands. Alicia and Marcelo's paths cross later, in 1989, as political turmoil sweeps Buenos Aires, and again in 1999, as millennial angst haunts the globe. Ariadna Gil and Gaston Pauls play the older Alicia and Marcelo in the later part of the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Three famous vocalists find their lives don't harmonize well off-stage in this farcical comedy. Armand Dupres (George Hamilton), Ricardo Palacios (Joe Mantegna), and Fabrizio Bernini (Danny Aiello) are three well-respected opera singers who have risen to superstardom thanks to a successful series of recordings and performances as a trio. However, after a disastrous concert in Mexico City, the three singers (all possessing king-sized egos) split up the act and refuse to talk to one another. A few years later, Palacios' career has taken a nosedive, and he's willing to set aside his differences and put the group back together. However, that's before he discovers that Dupres is engaged to marry his rebellious daughter Carmen (Ariadna Gil), and that his ex-wife has married Bernini. Can Palacios stop the wedding between Dupres and Carmen, win back his wife from Bernini, and still get the trio back on the road? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide