Daniel Calparsoro Movies
- 2008
A group of aspiring musicians working as cooks at an institute for the criminally insane must fight for their lives when a violent thunderstorm traps them in the asylum with some of the most disturbed and deranged criminals ever committed. Spanish director Daniel Calparsoro helms a screenplay penned by The Brigands of Rattleborge scribe S. Craig Zahler. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Daniel Calparsoro's Guerreros is set in the Balkans in the wake of the ethnic conflict between the Serbs and the Kosovo Albanians that prompted NATO military intervention in 1999. A group of young Spanish army engineers is stationed in a Kosovo village to help the Albanians recover from the war's devastation. The unit is sent on a mission to restore electricity to a small town in hostile territory, but their operation is derailed when they get caught up in the fighting between Serb and Albanian paramilitaries. Struggling to stay neutral, the peacekeepers find themselves fighting for survival as they scamper around the Balkan countryside searching for a way back to headquarters. Their descent into the quagmire of ethnic fighting tests the limits of their idealism and underscores the moral complexities posed by humanitarian intervention. This polished actioner screened at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eloy Azorín, Eduardo Noriega, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Najwa Nimri, Juan Diego Botto, (more)
- 1997
Featuring plenty of two-fisted action with romantic and political overtones, this intelligent thriller from Spanish director Daniel Calparsoro is set in the Basque region of northernmost Spain and centers on the clash between two Basque terrorists whose relationship becomes strained when the female starts refusing to kill their enemies. Unfortunately, for someone like her, leaving terrorism can be as dangerous as remaining in the fray. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Najwa Nimri, Alfredo Villa, (more)
- 1996
In this talky Spanish thriller, Gabi, a lesbian gang member seeks to convince her middle-aged heterosexual dreamgirl Carmina to become her new lover and crime partner. The story begins as Gabi and her lover burst into another woman's apartment, tie her up and begin robbing her. The police show up and during a shoot-out, one of the robbers is killed. After she escapes, Gabi returns to her fringy friends and begins dreaming of a soul mate. All Gabi knows is that the right woman will be a pair of green high heels. Carmina owns such a pair, and though she is far from Gabi's physical ideal, a soul mate is a soul mate and so she begins her persistent courtship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
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, All Movie Guide
