Maria Galiana Movies
- 2007
A new circle of friends helps a woman come to terms with grief in this Spanish drama. Ana (Julieta Serrano) is a middle-aged woman who is struggling to put her life back in order after the death of her husband. Ana isn't the only one in her family with problems -- her son Antonio (Antonio de la Torre) is having trouble with his marriage, and her grandson Ezequiel (Alexander Biggie) can't convince his father that he's more interested in dancing than football. Ana finds a new lease on life when she meets a group of neighborhood women who meet regularly to play petanca, a Spanish lawn bowling game. Ana's new friends help her to come out of her shell and enjoy life again, but she's forced to deal with real-world crises again when one of her pals is diagnosed with a serious illness. Originally produced for Spanish television, Y A Mi Quien Me Cuida? (aka And Who Will Take Care of Me? later made the rounds of European film festivals, and received its American premiere at the 2007 Los Angeles Latino Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julieta Serrano, Antonio de la Torre, (more)
- 2006
A fateful attempt to reconcile an estranged family relationship offers a moving portrait of love blunted by tragedy in this affecting family drama from director Leo Ricciardi. Little Santiago is traveling into the countryside with his parents when a sudden tragedy prevents the trio from extending the olive branch to the boy's curmudgeonly grandfather Juan. A man whose long and difficult life gradually turned his heart to stone, Juan soon finds the companionship of his wide-eyed grandson offering new hope for a world he previously dismissed as callous and cruel. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Winner of Best Film at the 2003 Miami-Brazilian Film Festival, the lighthearted, exuberant romantic comedy Viva Zapato! plunges the audience into the carnival-like atmosphere of Havana. Dolores (Laura Ramos) is a young Cuban dancer who dreams of opening her own beachfront restaurant. Fleeing her down-and-out marriage, Dolores summons her aunt (who resides in Brazil) for financial backing but is enraged to receive a pair of gaudy platform shoes instead of cash. Penniless, Dolores sells the shoes for a few bucks -- only to learn, to her horror, that her aunt buried the money inside of the heel. Suddenly, a frantic, free-for-all search for the shoe begins, plunging Dolores straight into the heart of downtown Havana and head-to-head with an array of bizarre, eccentric, and hilarious locals. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2001
A Spanish teenager learns about love, death, and oral hygiene in this bittersweet coming-of-age story. David (Biel Duran) is a 16-year-old growing up on the poor side of Madrid. His father Rafael (Fernando Conde) earns his living as a baker, and his mother Carmen (Asuncion Planas) looks after him as well as his older sister Marta (Pilar Duque) and his little brother Lucas (Manuel Lozano). As David deals with the traditional frustrations of adolescence, he also has to come to terms with the failing health of his grandmother (Maria Galiana), who has moved in with the family as she sinks into physical and emotional decline. He also must struggle to get along with his gym teacher (Enrique San Francisco), a bitter and hateful man who can't deal with women. In the midst of all this, David falls in love with Gloria (Barbara Lennie), a beautiful girl in his class, but he can't figure out a way to get her to notice him; in time, he's so desperate to get close to her that he starts getting his teeth cleaned by her mother (Alicia Sanchez), a neighborhood dentist who tends to share her problems with her patients. Mas Pena Que Gloria was the first feature from director Victor Garcia Leon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Biel Duran, Manuel Lozano, (more)
Tony (Laia Marull) is a young crook preparing for a bank robbery with her boyfriend Juanjo (Jesus Olmedo) and their low-life partners Maxi (Miguel Hermoso Arnao) and Moco (Roberto Cairo). Right before they commit the crime, Juanjo informs Tony that his prostitute sister wants him to take her young daughter Laura (Beatriz Coronel) to visit the girl's father, a flamenco singer in the Spanish southern coastal town of Tarifa. Juanjo persuades the initially reluctant Tony that Laura will provide the couple with a perfect cover after they relieve their partners of the robbery's earnings. Unfortunately, though the robbery comes off without a hitch, the duplicitous Juanjo absconds with the cash, making Tony and Laura fugitives both from the law and from the psychotically angry Maxi and Moco. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laia Marull, Juan Diego, (more)
Maria (Ana Fernandez), whose parents live in the country, cannot stand her father's authoritarian ways and moves to the city. She finds a job as a cleaner and tries to survive in a wretched apartment in the shabby part of a big city. She is pregnant, and the fact that her boyfriend has abandoned her does not help matters. When her father goes to the hospital for an operation, her mother comes to stay with her. Her neighbor, an old recluse whose only friend is his dog, begins to come out of his shell and these three lost souls try to give each other (and especially Maria) the strength to start over. A sensitive portrait of urban isolation and loneliness, Solas received the Panorama People's Choice Award at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ana Fernandez, Maria Galiana, (more)
- 1995
Little Felipe has been sick for a long time. To hasten his recovery, his parents send him to spend the summer of 1958 in the villa of his grandparents, located in the wealthy quarter of Cadiz. The warm climate of southern Spain is good for the boy, but the inhabitants of the great home may be a different story as all the relatives within are a tad strange. There Felipe meets his great-grandmother and her tough nurse Adoracion who patiently listens to grandmama's reminiscence's of the bandoleros who died for her. Felipe is not allowed to leave his bed, but his hours pass pleasantly thanks to the ministrations of the sexy Mari, a virgin, who loves to tease her four strapping aspiring lovers. As the summer progresses, Felipe interacts with all of his relatives and from their strange behavior finds himself learning an awful lot about life and love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
After striking responsive chord at the Berlin Film Festival, Fernando Trueba's Belle Epoque (aka Age of Beauty) went on to win 9 Spanish Goya awards and an Academy Award for "Best Foreign Film." Set in pre-Franco Spain, film stars Jorge Sanz as Fernando, a carefree, pacifistic army deserter. Wandering about the countryside, Fernando is welcomed into home of the wealthy Don Manolo (Fernando Fernan Gomez). Far from upset by the boy's AWOL status, Manolo is delighted because he shares Fernando's political philosophies. What follows is sheer heaven for the peaceloving lad, who sits smilingly on the sidelines as Manolo's four voluptuous daughters (Adrian Gil, Maribel Verdu, Miriam Diaz-Aroca, and Penelope Cruz) literally fight for his attentions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penélope Cruz, Miriam Diaz-Aroca, (more)
- 1987
In this romantic farce, Macarena is a pretty French girl who has come to Cordoba in southern Spain in search of a man she believes may be her father. She finally tracks him and his clan down in a minor city museum: they have become squatters there during one of the museum curator's brief absences. Two policemen have been given the job of persuading the wacky family to vacate the premises. Their response to these blandishments is to threaten to destroy the museum's treasures. At the same time her maybe-father's two sons are putting the make on her, one of the policemen has taken up residence with the family and is dancing with them, as a police SWAT team prepares to storm the building. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernando Rey, Juan Diego, (more)
