Alejandro Amenábar
- 2009
A fourth century slave (Max Minghella) is confronted with his love for his intellectual alchemist master, Hypatia of Alexandria (Rachel Weisz), and the temptations of freedom spurred by the rise of Christianity in this historical epic from acclaimed filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rachel Weisz, Max Minghella, (more)
Two of the most talented figures in contemporary Spanish cinema -- actor Javier Bardem and director Alejandro Amenábar -- collaborate for this powerful drama, based on a true story. Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) was a fisherman and part-time poet who, at the age of 26, suffered an accident while diving that left him a bedridden quadriplegic. Now 54, Ramón must depend on his family to survive -- his macho brother José (Celso Bugallo), José's wife, Manuela (Mabel Rivera), and their son, Javi (Tamar Novas). While grateful to his family and friends for their help, Ramón was always an active person, and as the years wore on, he has come to see his life as frustrating and pointless and wishes to die with what remains of his dignity. José, however, is bitterly opposed to the notion of assisted suicide, and Spanish laws would implicate anyone who helped Ramón end his own life, which is something Ramón does not want to do. Through Gené (Carla Segura), a friend who works with a "Right to Die" organization, Ramón is introduced to Julia (Belen Rueda), a lawyer he hopes will help him persuade the courts to let him end his own life. Julia is dealing with her own mortality issues since being diagnosed with a degenerative disease, and Ramón hopes her condition will make her arguments more persuasive. As Ramón and Julia work together on his case and help to prepare a book of his poems for publication, Ramón finds himself falling in love with his attorney, who happens to be married, but while his infatuation gives Julia second thoughts about the case, Ramón remains convinced that the greatest gift to him would be an end to his life. Javier Bardem's performance in The Sea Inside (aka Mar Adentro) earned him the Best Actor award at the 2004 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Javier Bardem, Belén Rueda, (more)
Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar's first English-language production is a creepy period ghost story that continues in the vein of his earlier art house hit Open Your Eyes (1997). Nicole Kidman stars as Grace, a devoutly religious mother of two ailing children who has moved with her family to a mansion on the English coast while awaiting her husband's return from World War II, though he has been declared missing. Their children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), both suffer from a rare photosensitivity disease that renders them extremely vulnerable to sunlight, prompting Grace's rule of having only one door open in the house at a time. When Anne begins claiming to see ghosts, Grace at first believes her newly arrived family of eccentric servants to be responsible, but chilling events and visions soon lead her to believe that something supernatural is indeed going on. The Others was released only a few months prior to Vanilla Sky (2001), the American remake of Alejandro's Open Your Eyes (1997), ironically starring Kidman's then-estranged husband Tom Cruise. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, (more)
Mateo Gil, screenwriter of the acclaimed Spanish work Open Your Eyes (1997) directs this flashy, bizarre psychological thriller set during the stunning spectacle of Seville's Holy Week. Fledging novelist Simon (Eduardo Noriega) makes a living by writing crossword puzzles for the local newspaper and lives with spoiled rich kid weirdo Sapo (Jordi Molla). One day, Simon gets an ominous phone call informing him that if he does not include the word "adversary" in his next crossword there will be hell to pay. Meanwhile, a local leading figure is mysteriously killed when poison gas is released from a Virgin Mary statue. From there, the film spirals into a dazzling parade of nightmarish images such as a naked priest cozying up to another Virgin Mary and a legion of hooded penitents shooting toy guns at trapped and frightened Simon. Noted Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar provides the music. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eduardo Noriega, Jordi Mollà, (more)
Veteran director Jose Luis Cuerda delivered this sensitive portrait of a child coming of age during a tense political situation just before the Spanish Civil War. On his first day of school, frail eight-year-old Moncho (Manuel Lozano) is so terrified by the imposing figure of his teacher Don Gregorio (Fernando Fernan Gomez) that he flees into the nearby woods. In spite of his authoritarian appearance, the schoolmaster proves to be a kind, free-thinking Republican who teaches Moncho the virtues of being good. The boy is soon spending much of his time with the elderly Gregorio in the Galician countryside, admiring such wonders of nature as the tongue of a butterfly. Other people in young Moncho's world include his down-to-earth mother (Uxia Blanco), his Republican father, and his older brother, who plays the saxophone with a group of local musicians. However, when the Fascists roll into town, the boy's life changes forever. La Lengua de las Mariposas was screened at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernando Fernán Gómez, Manuel Lozano, (more)
The line between dreams and reality become increasingly blurred after a womanizing playboy is nearly killed by a jilted lover in Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar's masterful sophomore effort Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes). It would seem as if Cesar (Eduardo Noriega) has it all. Handsome, charming, and with money to burn, he can get any girl he wants, and usually does so on a nightly basis. Following a birthday party in which he chats up Sofia (Penelope Cruz), the date of his best friend Pelayo (Fele Martinez), Cesar is plunged headfirst into a nightmare world when jealous former lover Nuria (Najwa Nimri) swallows a handful of pills and sends her car careening into a cement wall with the terrified playboy as her hapless passenger. With his formerly strikingly handsome face now twisted into a hideous mass of scarred flesh, Cesar's ugly emotions are now externalized for all to see. Pining for a plastic-surgery miracle to return him to his former glory so that he can seek out Sofia and take a chance at real love, he is pleasantly surprised when the doctors make a breakthrough and Sofia accepts him back into her life. Although all seems perfect for the moment, the formerly soulless player finds that this is only the beginning of his increasingly disturbing journey. Why is Sofia changing appearance and turning into Nuria periodically? And why won't the police and his psychiatrist believe Cesar's desperate attempts to rationalize a world that is growing increasingly surreal? Could it have something to do with a doctor Cesar has seen on television who keeps appearing and attempting to help him out of his nightmare? Peeling away at the layers of his subconscious, Cesar begins to realize that reality is no more than a state of mind, and that in order to get his life back he may be forced to take unthinkable measures. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, (more)
The debut feature from Spanish wunderkind Alejandro Amenábar (Open Your Eyes, The Others), Tesis is a thriller starring Ana Torrent as Ángela Márquez, a film student who, while researching for a thesis paper on violence in cinema, stumbles upon a snuff film featuring the murder of a former student at the university. Enlisting the help of classmate and violent-movie buff Chema (Fele Martínez), Angela begins an investigation into the crime that leads them to several suspects. One of them is Bosco (Eduardo Noriega), a handsome classmate to whom Angela finds herself attracted, much to the chagrin of Cheme. Tesis was the recipient of seven awards at the 1997 Goya Awards including Best Film. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
