Imanol Arias Movies
- 1982
Based on a 1943 book of the same title by Camilo José Cela, Colmena features the comings and goings of a wide variety of characters, all trying to survive in a poverty-stricken Madrid during World War II. Rather than feature any single story line, these people from all walks of life cross paths almost randomly as they come to a café to sip their one cup of coffee and work on a book, or pick up a prostitute, or get their shoes shined, or play billiards, or just warm themselves on a cold winter's day. This primary setting is complemented by a brothel where a dirt-poor journalist sleeps if there is a room available that night, while during the day he tries to make ends meet one way or another. The demeanor of the people in the café or in the brothel effectively conveys the atmosphere of a long-lost era that may have had hardships but also brought a subtle sense of camaraderie to very disparate human beings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Ana Belén, (more)
- 1982
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's films are colorful, sexy, and very funny, and this one is a perfect introduction to his work. An emperor's son, Reza Niro (Imanol Arias), comes to Madrid in disguise and sleeps with Sadeq (Antonio Banderas), an Islamic terrorist with a highly developed sense of smell. Sadeq's group wants to kidnap Reza, who disguises himself as a punk rock singer and falls in love with Sexilia (Cecilia Roth), a nymphomaniac singer for a rival band. There's also a wealthy woman (Helga Line) who wants Reza's sperm for an artificial insemination, a delirious dry-cleaner who sleeps with his own daughter, and other bizarre characters. Almodovar takes delight in intersecting lives, chance meetings, and humor that springs from the strangest of situations. He also has the rare talent of presenting potentially offensive material in such a whimsical and affectionate fashion that no matter what his characters do, the audience loves them as much as he does. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cecilia Roth, Imanol Arias, (more)
- 1982
- R
Demons in the Garden (Demonios En El Jardin) dwells upon three generations of an agrarian Spanish family. Most or all the family members have come of age since their country's Civil War. Fact becomes legend and legend becomes fact concerning that conflict, while the family is destroyed from within by corruption and long-smoldering rivalries. All of this is told from the point of view of the youngest (and, we are to assume, least emotionally damaged) family member. Demons in the Garden is very much in tune with the other multi-generational works of director Manuel Aragon, most of whose films can be regarded as creative cannonades aimed directly at the now-dead Franco regime. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ángela Molina, Ana Belén, (more)
- 1982
The story of Cecilia is a story of the society that dominated 19th-century Cuba, a society divided between whites, blacks, and those who were mixed, the mulattos. (Since the Spanish conquistadors killed off the Indian population in Cuba not long after they took over the island, there are no mestizos, or those of mixed-Indian blood in Cuba as in other Caribbean nations.) At any rate, the drama about the life and loves of Cecilia (Daisy Granados) takes place against the backdrop of graphically violent mistreatment of slaves and the rumors of a slave rebellion after the Cubans hear of slaves turning against their captors in Haiti. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daisy Granados, Raquel Revuelta, (more)
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