Fele Martínez Movies
Already a familiar face in world cinema thanks to fine performances in such films as Open Your Eyes and Talk to Her, Spanish actor Fele Martínez teetered on the brink of international success in the wake of work for such internationally recognized directors as Alejandro Amenábar and Pedro Almodóvar. Following his Goya-winning performance in filmmaker Amenábar's chilling feature debut, Thesis, Martínez has successfully alternated between lesser-known Spanish features and major exports.A native of Alicante, Valencia, Spain, the aspiring actor studied his craft in Madrid, creating the Sex-Peare Theater troupe with a group of close friends and fellow students before moving into film with his role as a connoisseur of the macabre in Thesis. By taking a supporting character that might have otherwise been two-dimensional and turning him into an ever-evolving character that the audience could actually feel for, the rising star rightfully earned the Best New Actor Goya that was subsequently bestowed upon him. After having his girlfriend stolen by a handsome (at least momentarily) Eduardo Noriega in director Amenábar's art-house hit Open Your Eyes (later remade in the U.S. as Vanilla Sky), Martínez spent the next few years carving a comfortable niche for himself in the realm of Spanish cinema. In 2000, Martínez stepped into the lead with a role in the Scream-inspired Spanish teen horror flick The Art of Dying, and in 2002, he essayed a pair of high-profile roles in both Jaume Balagueró's Darkness (set for release in the U.S. in 2004) and acclaimed director Almodóvar's Talk to Her. With his role as the best friend of lead Gael García Bernal (Y Tu Mamá También) in Almodóvar's 2004 drama Bad Education, it seemed as if Martínez was finally poised for the international recognition that had previously eluded him among mainstream filmgoers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2008
A woman losing her grip on her sanity discovers that the caring stranger who comes to her aid may ruin her life in this thriller. Fernanda Segovia (Cuca Escribano) and Enrique Gonzalvo (Fele Martinez) are a pair of editors and literary agents who have guided the career of writer Camila Ponte (Julieta Cardinali), transforming her into one of Europe's leading literary celebrities on the strength of her wildly successful first novel. Camila has been working on her second book, but stress, depression and writers' block have stalled the project, and Fernanda and Enrique fear Camila is on the verge of an emotional collapse. A benefactor arrives at Camila's doorstep in the form of Vera Galindo (Ana Torrent), a keen admirer of her work who offers to take her away from the pressure of life in the city. Vera escorts Camila to a beautiful hotel in a small country town, where innkeeper Palmira (Angela Molina) offers her customers peace, quiet and solitude. Camila thrives in her new surroundings, and Fernanda and Enrique are happy to hear that she's become newly productive since getting away from it all. But Fernanda and Enrique soon learn Vera is not as benevolent as she seemed -- she has evidence that proves Camila's first novel was actually the work of her father, and that the successful author is in fact a fraud. 14, Fabian Road was written and directed by Jaime de Arminan; it was his first feature film since El Palomo Cojo in 1995. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ana Torrent, Julieta Cardinali, (more)
An unlikely couple find themselves caught up in love and larceny in this comic road movie from director Murilo Pasta. Carmo (Mariana Loureiro) lives in a small village near the Brazilian border where she's the most desired woman in town. However, being chased and/or ogled by the many ne'er-do-wells living there isn't her idea of a good time, and Carmo thinks she may have finally found her hero when Marco (Fele Martínez) comes to her defense as she's being chased by a handful of lowlifes. Marco hardly seems like a prize catch in most people's eyes -- he's an ill-tempered man a couple decades Carmo's senior who is confined to a wheelchair and sells dubiously obtained knickknacks for a living. Still, Carmo and Marco find that they make a good team, and when some crooks make off with a truck loaded with Marco's merchandise, the two hit the road, determined to find the crooks and recover the loot. Carmo, Hit the Road received its North American premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fele Martínez, Mariana Loureiro, (more)
- 2006
Director Pablo García's Spanish-language picture Butterfly (AKA Bolborosa, mariposa, papallona, 2006) teeters gently between fictional narrative and documentary. At the film's core lies the axiom that the butterfly's beauty is best observed from afar - if one tries to capture it with the hands, they say, its appearance will fate, its luster forever spoiled. This observation constitutes a metaphor for filmmaking; García, it seems (who appears onscreen) recently attempted to shoot a feature, but - per the butterfly experience - failed to capture the intrinsic "magical aura" and nuances of his setting, deeming such a task almost impossible. Increasingly desperate, the filmmaker recruits a group of indigenous children who are more familiar with the surroundings, and thus able to help García preserve the unique aesthetic on film. Through these events, Butterfly meditates on how a film camera can be used to preserve the visual essence of a unique time and place, and how a knowledge of a particular environment can facilitate this undertaking. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fele Martínez, Tzeitel Rodriguez, (more)
Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar takes a look at his own adolescence as well as confronting the issue of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church in this stylish drama, which was chosen to open the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Enrique Goded (Fele Martínez) is a Spanish filmmaker who is having trouble settling on a new project when he's approached by Ignacio Rodriguez (Gael García Bernal), who was his close friend when they were schoolboys. Goded, who fell in love for the first time with Rodriguez, barely recognizes the man as his former crush, but agrees to read the short story he's written. The tale turns out to be an semi-autobiographical account of their days in a Catholic boarding school, in which a cross-dressing night-club performer named Zahara (also played by Bernal) hooks up with a man named Enrique (Alberto Ferreiro), who turns out to have been his first lover when he was a student. Recalling their school days, Zahara tracks down Father Manolo (Daniel Giménez Cacho), one of his teachers from school with pedophilic tendencies, and threatens to expose the priest's attempts to seduce him and ruin his relationship with Enrique years ago. Goded decides to use the story as the basis for his next film, and Rodriguez, an out-of-work actor, makes it clear he's eager to play Zahara. However, Goded isn't certain if Rodriguez is the right actor for the role, or if he's even the man he claims to be; an angry conflict with Rodriguez leads Goded back to the real Ignacio's mother (Petra Martínez). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fele Martínez, Gael García Bernal, (more)
Pedro Almodóvar follows his international success All About My Mother with an offbeat drama that explores the friendship of two men brought together under unusual but strangely similar circumstances. Benigno (Javier Camára) is a male nurse whose apartment overlooks a dance studio run by Katerina (Geraldine Chaplin); he often sits on his balcony and watches one of Katerina's students, Alicia (Leonor Watling), and he finds himself becoming infatuated with her. When Alicia is severely injured in an auto accident that leaves her in a coma, Benigno discovers she has been admitted to the hospital where he works, and he spends his days caring for a woman he now deeply loves but has barely met. Marco (Darío Grandinetti) is a journalist who was assigned to interview Lydia (Rosario Flores), a well-known female bullfighter whose on-the-rocks romance with another toreador, "El Niño de Valencia" (Adolfo Fernández), has made her the focus of the tabloid press. During Marco's interview with Lydia, he goes out of his way to treat her kindly, and she appears to return his attention. During the bullfight which follows, Lydia is gored by the bull, and is now in a coma; Marco is certain his interview broke her steely concentration, and he spends most of his days at the hospital, convinced her injuries are his fault. Alicia and Lydia are both housed in the same ward of the same hospital, and in time Benigno and Marco become close friends, bonding in their shared devotion to women who cannot return their affection. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Javier Camára, Darío Grandinetti, (more)
Miguel Bardem's Christmas comedy Noche de Reyes (Twelfth Night) intercuts a variety of story lines. Ernesto Cuspineda (Joaquin Climent) is a businessman whose life comes unglued during a party. His wife learns of his affair, and his daughter is expecting a baby. There are wise men who have nefarious motives, and scam artist Santa Clauses. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joaquín Climent, Kiti Manver, (more)
Directed by Jaume Balagueró, Darkness follows father and husband Mark (Iain Glen), his wife (Lena Olin), and their two children (Anna Paquin and Stephan Enquist) on their move to an outwardly quaint country home. Though the initial housewarming party is widely celebrated by neighbors, their houseguests become steadily fewer as a series of creepy happenings indicate that the house is home to more than their family. Sure enough, the lights begin to flicker incessantly on and off, while Mark's Huntington's disease makes a comeback after a ten-year dormancy. Regina (Paquin) expects that the problem stems from the house itself, but no one believes her. Determined to prove her case (particularly after mysterious noose marks begin to appear on her brother's neck), Regina decides to pay a visit to the man (Fermi Rexach) who built the house to begin with. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, (more)
Someone in a black minstrel suit is killing all of the flunky students at a university in Salamanca, Spain, and it's up to a new student, Alex (Silke), to piece the puzzle together before the next post-exam death. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- 2000
- R
Six people involved in covering up the death of a friend find that the police aren't all they have to fear in this thriller from Spain. Four years after Nacho (Gustavo Salmeron), an artist preoccupied with death, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, his identification turns up, and police detective Quintana (Emilio Gutierrez-Cuba) decides to reopen his investigation. Quintana questions Ivan (Fele Martinez), a friend of Nacho's, about the missing man, but Ivan denies any knowledge of what happened. However, it turns out that Ivan is lying. He and five of his friends -- Clara (Maria Esteve), Ramon (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), Carlos (Adria Collado), Patricia (Lucia Jimenez), and Candela (Elsa Pataky) -- joined Nacho for a weekend trip to the country. Nacho died, and the group buried his body rather than face the police. Ivan reassembles the group to dig up Nacho's corpse and move it before it can be discovered, but it seems that Nacho's ghost walks, and he's looking for revenge against his former pals. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adria Collado, Maria Esteve, (more)
A man studying to be a writer learns some unpleasant lessons about himself in this drama. Alfonso (Giovanni Ciccia) is an aspiring novelist who, as part of his scholarship to a writing program, must take an internship at a tabloid newspaper alongside his girlfriend Nadia (Lucia Jimenez). While Nadia is given a simple office assignment, Alfonso is made an assistant to one of the paper's top writers, Faundez (Gianfranco Brero), which turns out to be a demanding job. With his driver Van Gogh (Carlos Gassols) and his photographer Escalona (Fele Martinez), Faundez heads out each day to collect stories through intimidation and emotional manipulation, and he has no qualms about using sources for his own purposes or passing along stories to his less-industrious significant other, Roxanna (Ynonne Frayssinet). While Alfonso is appalled by Faundez's shaky ethics and cavalier attitude toward women, it also begins to sink in, and when circumstances force Alfonso to take over for Faundez for a while, he's surprised to discover how much he's come to resemble the man he despises. Tinta Roja was based on the novel by Alberto Fuguet. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gianfranco Brero, Giovanni Ciccia, (more)
The seamy underside of drug dealing in Spain is explored in this Spanish drama. Thirteen-year-old Milio (Alberto Escobar) and his older brother Luis (Fele Martinez) run drugs in Madrid for wholesaler Don Vicente (Francisco Rabal). While their mother (Geraldine Chaplin) disapproves of their business, Luis tries to watch out for his little brother and shield him from the most dangerous side of the dope traffic. When one of their partners is killed, Luis becomes wary of the drug trade, and his girlfriend Sira (Silke) urges him to get out of the business while he still can. But Milio doesn't want to quit, and Luis isn't sure which way he should turn, especially after Don Vincente urges him to stay. Sira then tries to force Luis' hand by going out with another of Don Vicente's soldiers. The debut feature from Saura Medrano (son of the great Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura), Just Run! had its world premier at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Geraldine Chaplin
Renowned actress Maria de Medeiros directs this sweeping historical drama set in Portugal about the heady days leading up to April 25, 1974, when that country was finally freed from 40 years of Fascist rule. The film opens with a series of grisly black and white photographs of Portuguese war atrocities committed against its colonies -- Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau. Antonia (de Medeiros) is a teacher who begs her minister-brother to release a couple of her students from the clutches of the secret police. As a result, she herself gets captured, interrogated, and tortured. At the same time, a young couple bid a tearful adieu at the train station just as the man, Capt. Maia (Stefano Accorsi) is drafted to fight in the colonies. Just before the youth gets shipped off to Africa, he manages to persuade the soldiers of a remote army outpost to rebel. Along with his buddies Lobao (Fele Martinez) and Antonia's ex-husband Manuel (Frederic Pierrot), Maia manages to storm a radio station and ultimately besiege the national guard barracks, which houses the president and military advisors. This film was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stefano Accorsi, Maria de Medeiros, (more)
- 1998
- R
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Julio Medem directed this romantic Spanish drama with location scenes in Finland. School children Ana (Sara Valiente) and Otto (Peru Medem) are brought together when a paper airplane flown from a window by Otto unites Ana's mother Olga (Maru Valdiviesio) with Otto's father Alvaro (Nancho Novo). After this encounter, Olga and Alvaro fall in love -- with the result that Alvaro leaves Otto's German mother Ula (Beate Jensen). To be near Ana, Otto begins living with Alvaro and Olga. Ana believes that Otto harbors the soul of her dead father. As adolescents, Otto (Fele Martinez) and Ana (Najwa Nimri) share a kiss over a book opened to a passage about the Arctic Circle, and they often sleep together. Otto is grief-stricken by the death of his mother -- partially due to his leaving her for Ana. Shown at 1998 film festivals (Venice, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Najwa Nimri, Fele Martínez, (more)
Lagrimas Negras is a psychological drama about love, but also the story of a young man who leaves his normal existence behind to embark on a journey which ends in violence. The opening sequences show apprentice filmmaker Andres (Fele Martinez) editing a documentary whose images set the bleak tone of the film. He spends a night with Alicia (Elena Anaya), a girl he has known since childhood, and later gets attacked on the street by two young women. His obsessive search for the assailants leads him to one of the women, Isabel (Ariadne Gil), who comes from a wealthy family and suffers from a split personality. Andreas gets involved with her, which totally changes his life until he finds it impossible to live in two different worlds. He is convinced he can help Isabel set her life straight and gives up everything he has to see things through the bitter end. Ariadne Gil's performance is remarkable as the disturbed Isabel and her alter-ego, Ana, but Martinez is weak as Andres. Long dialogue sequences distract the audience from director Franco's main theme -- the damage lurking behind the façade of respectability. The film will be remembered, not so much for its artistic merits, as for the fact that director Ricardo Franco died during the shooting; Fernando Bauluz, his assistant, had to complete the film. Lagrimas Negras was screened as part of the Panorama section of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ariadna Gil, Fele Martínez, (more)
The line between dreams and reality become increasingly blurred after a womanizing playboy is nearly killed by a jilted lover in Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar's masterful sophomore effort Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes). It would seem as if Cesar (Eduardo Noriega) has it all. Handsome, charming, and with money to burn, he can get any girl he wants, and usually does so on a nightly basis. Following a birthday party in which he chats up Sofia (Penelope Cruz), the date of his best friend Pelayo (Fele Martinez), Cesar is plunged headfirst into a nightmare world when jealous former lover Nuria (Najwa Nimri) swallows a handful of pills and sends her car careening into a cement wall with the terrified playboy as her hapless passenger. With his formerly strikingly handsome face now twisted into a hideous mass of scarred flesh, Cesar's ugly emotions are now externalized for all to see. Pining for a plastic-surgery miracle to return him to his former glory so that he can seek out Sofia and take a chance at real love, he is pleasantly surprised when the doctors make a breakthrough and Sofia accepts him back into her life. Although all seems perfect for the moment, the formerly soulless player finds that this is only the beginning of his increasingly disturbing journey. Why is Sofia changing appearance and turning into Nuria periodically? And why won't the police and his psychiatrist believe Cesar's desperate attempts to rationalize a world that is growing increasingly surreal? Could it have something to do with a doctor Cesar has seen on television who keeps appearing and attempting to help him out of his nightmare? Peeling away at the layers of his subconscious, Cesar begins to realize that reality is no more than a state of mind, and that in order to get his life back he may be forced to take unthinkable measures. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, (more)
In 1970, a dysfunctional family spends the summer in Ibiza on the southern coast of Spain. Julia (Veronica Forque) is married to adulterous Fernando (Antonio Resines), who departs when he's caught in the act by Julia. Julia's two daughters Elena (Maria Adamez) and Veronica (Silvia Abascal) are both attracted to hippie Ezequiel (Fele Martinez). Meanwhile, Julia's eldest son Cucho (Pepon Nieto) falls for free-spirited Susi (Clara Sanchis). Julia attempts to keep her family together amid the hedonistic lifestyles of the '70s. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Verónica Forqué, Antonio Resines, (more)
The debut feature from Spanish wunderkind Alejandro Amenábar (Open Your Eyes, The Others), Tesis is a thriller starring Ana Torrent as Ángela Márquez, a film student who, while researching for a thesis paper on violence in cinema, stumbles upon a snuff film featuring the murder of a former student at the university. Enlisting the help of classmate and violent-movie buff Chema (Fele Martínez), Angela begins an investigation into the crime that leads them to several suspects. One of them is Bosco (Eduardo Noriega), a handsome classmate to whom Angela finds herself attracted, much to the chagrin of Cheme. Tesis was the recipient of seven awards at the 1997 Goya Awards including Best Film. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
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