DCSIMG
 
 

Ane Gabarain Movies

2000  
R  
Add Common Wealth to Queue Add Common Wealth to top of Queue  
The fifth feature of noted Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia, La Comunidad is a frenetic black comedy set in a decrepit old house in the center of Madrid. One of the house's new residents is Julia Garcia (Carmen Maura, whose performance won her a best actress award at the 2000 San Sebastian Film Festival), a real estate agent who has taken an apartment to revive her sagging marriage. One day, while engaging in some bedroom bliss, Julia and her unemployed husband Ricardo (Jesus Bonilla) are attacked by cockroaches that rain down on them through a crack in the ceiling. During a subsequent investigation of the upstairs apartment, firemen discover a man's rotting corpse. Julia later conducts her own investigation of the apartment and discovers almost 15 million dollars hidden away under the floor boards -- the result of a soccer-pool win by the apartment's dead owner. She decides to take the winnings and run, but while removing the cash, meets her neighbor Ramona (Terele Pavez), who quickly becomes suspicious of Julia's activities. It turns out that everyone in the building knew about the money and agreed to share it amongst themselves, a plan severely compromised by Julia's desire to keep the money for herself. After inviting Julia to a welcome party held by the residents' association, her neighbors go to extreme lengths to get the money, and plenty of cartoon-colored murder and mayhem ensues. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Carmen MauraEduardo Antuna, (more)
 
1998  
 
In this rather old-fashioned Spanish comedy, the first directorial effort of actor Ramon Barea, a band of misfit nuns become trapped between an ideological war between sisters slavishly devoted to the old ways and those wanting to enter the 20th century, and they attempt to escape their aging convent by digging an elaborate tunnel. The traditionalists are led by the vice-prioress, who has been charged for guarding the preserved corpse of the convent's founder, while the modernists rally around the progress-oriented, computer-savvy prioress. The would-be escapees include Sister Rufina, who really wants to be a priest, Sister Asun, who undergoes a hysterical pregnancy and childbirth; Sister Remedios, who believes her beloved statue of Christ to be alive, and the ditzy innocent Sistar Rosarito. Pecata Minuta aired in the "Open Zone" category of the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Elena IruretaAne Gabarain, (more)