Adolfo Fernández Movies
- 2008
The realities of terrorism in Spain provide the backdrop for this political thriller from writer and director Manuel Gutierrez Aragon. Xabier (Jose Coronado) is a well-respected university professor who is a member of an exclusive Basque dining club. The club is home to a number of Basque nationalists who believe the use of terror against the Spanish government is appropriate and justified; Xabier does not share these views, and speaking out against terrorist violence at their gatherings has earned him several enemies. While Xabier believes the members of his club defend terrorism as theory rather than practice, he discovers that's not the case when one of the loyalists threatens his life and unknown invaders ransack his apartment. Meanwhile, Xabier's girlfriend is Francesca (Vanessa Incontrada), who works as a clinical psychologist in a Spanish prison hospital. One of Francesca's newest patients is Josu Jon (Oscar Jaenada), a Basque terrorist who suffered a head injury when he wrecked his car while being chased by police. Josu Jon has lost much of his memory, and as Francesca helps him piece his life back together, he finds he can no longer support the cause for which he was once willing to die. But Olatz (Leire Ucha), leader of the terrorist cell Josu Jon worked with, is not about to let one of his soldiers walk away without a fight. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oscar Jaenada, Jose Coronado, (more)
- 2008
Director Xavi Puebla offers a bitter satire of international business practices with this tale of corporate ambition centering on the competition for a prime human resources position at a major pharmaceuticals firm. When the head of Farewell-Gutmann's human resources department dies, Lazaro (Adolfo Fernandez), Adela (Ana Fernandez), and Fernando (Lluis Soler) all start to jockey for position within the company. Lazaro projects a larger than life image despite the fact that he is broken on the inside, Adela overcompensates for the pain of her personal life by being an obsessive worker, and Fernando is more than willing to bend the rules in order to advance his career. As depressive, alcoholic divorcee Lazaro attempts to land his former brother-in-law Santiago (Pep Anton Munoz) a job at the firm under the agreement that Santiago will help engineer a romantic reunion between the former spouses, Adela interviews epileptic Martin (Sergio Caballero) for the same position and Fernando considers hiring pretty Ukranian immigrant Nadia (Marta Novotna). Little do the prospective employees realize that the toughest part of the application process is an upcoming interview with the dreaded Luger (Hector Colome Hammer) - a frightening and powerful man who pushes them to the absolute limit in a sadistic series of grueling corporate tests. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ana Fernandez, Lluis Soler, (more)
- 2007
Abandoned by her husband and left alone when her daughter leaves home for school, forty-four year old mobile phone company executive Luisa vows to seduce a handsome coworker who only has eyes for the pretty young salesgirl. Luisa feels like a ghost: she's got to family at home, and everyone at her work seems to look straight through her. One night, at a work party, Luisa becomes incensed when her co-worker Jorge ignores her in favor of cozying up to pretty salesgirl Marina. Whereas Jorge and Luisa are just about the same age, Marina is much younger and far more naïve. Perhaps with a little help from her actress friend and a sprightly table tennis coach, Luisa can finally make the personal transformation needed to steal Jorge's gaze away from that pretty young salesgirl. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Bouzas, Adolfo Fernández, (more)
- 2005
Helmer Santiago Tabernero's coming-of-ager Life in Color (AKA Vida y Color, 2005) paints an enduring, vivid portrait of life in a Spanish village in the late summer of 1975 - at a juncture when color televisions were on the verge of appearing in middle-class homes, and the lives of citizenry on the verge of dramatically improving thanks to the impending death of fascist Francisco Franco. Tabernero filters his tender, nostalgic story through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Fede (Junio Valverde), who lives in the hamlet of Las Islas with his sister Bego (Silvia Abascal), his mother Sole (Ana Wagener), his father Angel (Adolfo Fernandez) and his grandfather (portrayed by Joan Dalmau) - a man who saves a bottle of champagne to gear up for the ensuing celebration of Franco's death. The sweet-natured Fede must contend with almost constant bullying by the punk Benito, and spends the majority of his extracurricular time with two friends: the quiet, introverted Sara (Nadia de Santiago) and her Down's-afflicted sister, Ramona (Natalia Abascal) - both victims of a mentally unstable, issue-ridden father. Tabernero sets about interweaving several stories of life in the village - the most intense of which involves the mysterious disappearance of a young girl from Las Islas. As lensed by ace cinematographer Jose Luis Alcane, the picture expressionistically projects the aesthetic overtones (bright, intense colors) of Fede's imagination onto the film's settings. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Junio Valverde, Silvia Abascal, (more)
A man finds he's still a stranger in a nation where he's lived for half a decade in this tense drama. Mario (Ernesto Alterio), born and raised in Spain, has spent five years living in Morocco overseeing a business for his father Victor (Adolfo Fernandez), with whom he has a contentious relationship. Shorty before he is scheduled to come home, Mario is asked by Victor to look in on his half-sister Laura (Elena Ballesteros), who is traveling through Morocco. Having had little contact with Laura, Mario is surprised when she turns out to be a lovely young woman with a provocative manner. After spending an evening with her, Mario accidentally kills a sheep while driving back to his flat, which raises the ire of the locals, and the next day Laura disappears while shopping at the kasbah. Mario thinks the sheep's owner may be responsible, but when he approaches the man about Laura's whereabouts, a fight breaks out, and Mario is arrested. The police accuse Mario of murdering Laura, and Victor retains the services of a hired gun, Rodrigo (Jose Sancho. Mario needs to find Laura quickly, and Brahim (Mehdi Ouazzani), who lives in town, offers to track her down on the condition that Mario then escort him to his family in the southern part of the country. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernesto Alterio, Jose Sancho, (more)
A Madrid police officer's dangerous obsession with a local murder known as "The Batiscafo Crime" sets him on a path that may lead to destruction in director Jesús R. Delgado's humorous crime thriller. When a trio of determined crooks mastermind what seems to be the perfect bank robbery, their bulletproof plan soon falls apart, leaving a devastating path of destruction that threatens to bring both the criminals and the fearless lawman down a dark path from which none may ever return. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernando Guillén, Natalia Verbeke, (more)
- 1998
Mario Gas directed this music-themed Spanish drama set in Barcelona of the mid-'80s. When famed composer Lluis Doria (Laurent Terzieff) visits a transvestite club, he learns his lifelong friend Albert Rossell (Serge Reggiani) is the house pianist. A flashback takes the tale four decades into the past where the younger Rossell (Pere Ponce) rejoins Teresa (Paulina Galvez) after having spent years in prison for helping anti-Franco anarchists. The story continues into Paris of the '30s, the period when Doria and Rossell first met, sharing a mutual interest in music and Teresa, before civil war sent them in different directions. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jordi Mollà, Pere Ponce, (more)
- 1996
This thriller is a remake of the popular Spanish 1963 version and marks the directorial debut of Jesus Mora. Ex-con Roman is on the road to reform until he gets close to thirty and has a crisis about his heretofore wasted life. He finds himself torn between the criminal temptations offered by Martin, and the sweet rewards of honesty offered by his girlfriend Marisa. Roman chooses the former and with former druggie Picas and his pregnant wife Julia, begins conspiring to help Martin rob an armored car slated to carry the spoils from a big rock concert to the bank. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
