Paul Berrondo Movies

In this independent drama from filmmaker Eduard Bosch, Arian (Ingrid Rubio) is a naive but idealistic young woman of Basque heritage who falls in with a terrorist group fighting for the rights of her people. Hoping to prove her commitment, Arian volunteers to take part in a kidnapping organized by the Basque extremists, and she helps to abduct Isabel (Laia Marull), the daughter of a prominent businessman. However, as Arian watches over Isabel as they wait to hear if her ransom will be met, the unstable leader of the terrorists (Carlos Manuel Diaz) questions if Arian truly believes in the cause, forcing her to take matters far beyond the boundaries of safety or prudence. El Viaje de Arian was expanded from a short film Eduard Bosch had made some years earlier; the feature version was shown in competition at the 2000 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An obsessive French perfumer with a highly developed olfactory sense and an all-consuming drive to capture the essence of love eventually resorts to murder in his unrepentant quest to find the key ingredient for his recipe in director Tom Tykwer's adaptation of author Patrick Suskind's best-selling 1985 novel. Born in a fetid fish market and raised in a dilapidated orphanage, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) toiled his childhood away in a rank tannery run by the thuggish Grimal (Sam Douglas). Subsequently obsessed by smell, Grenouille's keen olfactory sense becomes so finely tuned that it eventually overpowers such human qualities as love and compassion. Though he has indeed discovered the unmistakable scent of a woman, Grenouille finds it impossible to connect with the fairer sex on any sort of meaningful level. Roaming the streets of Paris late one night, Grenouille catches the scent of a young girl selling plums and impulsively strangles her, later sniffing her nude corpse in a twisted attempt to preserve the distinctive scent in his memory. After persuading legendary perfumer Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) to take him on as an apprentice, Grenouille travels to the town of Grasse in Southern France in order to learn the art of enfleurage at a firm run by the highly respected Mme. Arnulfi (Corinna Harfouch). It is there that Grenouille becomes dangerously drawn to the vestal aroma of the young and beautiful Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood), the daughter of widower merchant Antione Richis (Alan Rickman). Soon driven to madness by such a pure scent, the spellbound Grenouille continues to claim the lives of the numerous young girls in a tragic attempt to bottle the impossibly elusive smell of virginal womanhood. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Two lovers living in Barcelona find their relationship on a gradual descent in Chilean director Matias Bize's intimate study in the death of love. Alejandro (Zlex Brendemuhl) and Vera (Vicenta Ndongo) are about to part ways, but before that happens the pair will share a few last moments together. It was Vera's decision to end the relationship, and as she seeks the support of her best friend Mara (Toni Gonzalez) Alejandro does his best to deny that anything is amiss. Later, as they gradually begin to part ways, both Vera and Alejandro think forward to the day they will correspond and share stories about their future lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide