Ray Loriga Movies

The daughter of a 16th Century Spanish nobleman strives to transcend her role as a woman in society and achieve something truly profound in this period drama starring Paz Vega and Geraldine Chaplin. Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada (Vega) knows well what is expected of her as a woman existing in a man's world, but she refuses to accept it. Convinced that she is capable of accomplishing much more than being a loyal wife and loving mother, Teresa enters a convent intent on writing, reading, learning, and living a full, richly textured life. Much to Teresa's dismay, the same vapid materialism and frivolity that seemed to have consumed the outside world have somehow found their way into the hallowed halls of this convent as well. In protest, Teresa embarks on a crusade of prayer and sacrifice that initially finds her branded a lunatic by those in power. But over the course of time something truly profound happens: a woman once considered mentally unstable gradually evolves to become a celebrated leader and, ultimately, a true saint of the highest order. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This Pedro Almodóvar melodrama examines how several lives are changed by a single gunshot. Adapting the novel Live Flesh by British mystery author Ruth Rendell, Almodóvar has given the material a Spanish makeover with added political thrust. Beginning in 1970 in Franco's Madrid, when a prostitute (Penelope Cruz) gives birth to a son, Victor, the story leaps forward to contemporary Madrid. Wealthy diplomat's daughter Elena (Francesca Neri) is watching Luis Buñuel's The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de La Cruz (1955) while waiting for the arrival of her heroin dealer, and she buzzes Victor (Liberto Rabal) (with whom she made a date, then forgot about him) into the building. In the confusion that follows, two cops, David (Javier Bardem) and Sancho (Jose Sancho) arrive, and a gun goes off. The story then makes another leap to four years later: Victor is in prison, while Elena, no longer on drugs, runs a disadvantaged children's shelter and is married to wheelchair-bound David. After his release, Victor visits his mother's grave and spots David and Elena at the cemetery -- where David meets philandering wife Clara (Angela Molina). Fate interweaves the tangled interrelationships of all into a complex tapestry of destiny and guilt. Shown at 1997 London and New York film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi