Isabel Ordaz Movies
Filmmaker Chus Gutiérrez directs this high-spirited comedy set in newly democratic Spain and detailing the adventures of a teenage virgin who flees to a decadent nightclub in order to escape her tyrannical mother. Sara (Verónica Sánchez) may be virginal, but as with most teens she's got a rebellious streak a mile wide. Upon discovering a Madrid club known as El Calentito, Sara finally finds a place where she can be her true self. Anything goes at El Calentito, and the vibe at the club is both pansexual and punk rock. Presiding over El Calentito is motherly transsexual Antonia (Nuria Gonzalez). One of the biggest bands on the local scene is Las Sioux, so when lesbian lead singer and Joan Jett lookalike Carmen (Ruth Diaz) and free-spirited Leo (Macarena Gomez) invite Sara to join the band, the eager adolescent jumps at the chance. But on the night of their performance for a hig-powered record executive, something astonishing happens -- the remaining members of Franco's fascist regime stage a daring coup d'état. Will El Calentito survive the ensuing chaos, and what will become of Las Sioux? With the future of the entire country suddenly thrown into doubt, the club is suddenly infused with a newfound sense of energy and urgency, and young, innocent Sara will experience sights and sounds that she could never have imagined. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Verónica Sánchez, Juan Sanz, (more)
- 2002
Directed by Javier Maqua, this oddball comedy combines bad taste with a political message. A direct jab at the fallacies of Spanish bureaucracy, Carne de Gallina ("Chicken Skin") is a politically incorrect tale of an eccentric yet dignified group of individuals who have refused to accept what they consider to be an unfair lot in life. When ex-miner Luison (Txema Blasco) suddenly dies in the middle of his visit it a local brothel, the family decides to keep the body at their home and hide the death itself until after the following Monday, when they can claim his pension funds. This satirical look at the absurdities of government also features Karra Elejalde, Isabel Ordaz, Anabel Alonso, Nathalie Sesena, Amparo Valle, and Maxi Rodriguez.
~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Karra Elejalde, Anabel Alonso, (more)
- 2000
The life and death of real-life terrorist Dolores Gonzalez helped inspire this troubling political drama. Yoyes (Ana Torrent) is a member of the ETA, a group of Basque terrorists staging political actions in Spain under the leadership of Argi (Inaki Aierra). Yoyes finds herself losing faith in the ETA's cause after Argi dies during a bombing; she soon drops out of terrorism, goes underground, and moves to Mexico, where she goes back to college and receives a Ph.D. A dozen years later, Yoyes travels to Paris when her husband Joxean (Ernesto Alterio) gets a teaching position with a French University. When Joxean decides to visit the Basque regions with their daughter Zurine (Laura Ballesta), Yoyes decides to join them, knowing it puts her at great personal risk. The Spanish government uses Yoyes' return for their own political ends, while her former ETA colleagues falsely believe that her presence there means that she has turned informant in exchange for permission to return home. Yoyes stars Ana Torrent, who first made a name for herself in the mid-1970s as a child actress in El Espiritu de la Colmena and Cria Cuervos. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Inaki Aierra, Ernesto Alterio, (more)
- 2000
Queen Isabel of Castile looks back at the high and low points of her years as a monarch in this one-woman monologue, written and directed by Rafael Gordon. Portrayed by Isabel Ordaz, Queen Isabel discusses her reign in the early 16th century as she considers the exile of Jews from Spain, her nation's role in the discovery of the New World, and her relationship with Fernando of Aragon. La Reina Isabel En Persona marked the first collaboration between Gordon and Goya-award winning actress Ordaz. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isabel Ordaz
- 1997
As it lays rusted and burning (thanks to the bored young punks who set it ablaze) in a grungy urban town square, a once-glorious white 1959 Chevrolet recounts its life story. Thus begins the film that marked the return of noted Spanish journalist, novelist and occasional filmmaker Javier Maqua to feature-film directing after a 17-year absence. Hard case drug dealer Brujas takes up residence in the lonely car. His only real friend is Gaspar, a former movie director for whom Brujas once worked. Gaspar suffers from similar hardships and works as a rat catcher at a nearby church. Together the two revere the Chevy as a symbol of their earlier affluence. Lucia is a middle-aged streetwalker who befriends the two and shares her dream of marrying an African immigrant who lives in the neighborhood. Trouble comes in the form of Turk, the local crime lord who wants to collect on a debt owed to him by Brujas. The first parts of the film are quite slow-paced, but matters become more exciting when a group of violent Neo Nazis show up and murder a friend of Lucia's. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Javier Albala, Manuel de Blas, (more)
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