Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde Movies

A sullen doctor who is teetering on the cusp of middle-age is forced to revisit his painful family past in director Gerardo Herrero's adaptation of Almudena Grandes' best-selling novel. As children, Juan and Charo (Natalia Sanchez) were sweethearts until Charo was swept away by the charms of Juan's older brother Dami. Though Dami and Charo eventually marry, their union was simply not meant to be. Soon after the unhappy wife comes seeking solace in the arms of her husband's brother, tragedy strikes and Charo is killed in a deadly car accident. Years later, Juan is a forty-year old doctor who has relocated his family from Madrid to the village of Cádiz on Spain's Atlantic coast. In addition to caring for he and Dami's mentally handicapped younger brother Alfonso (Andres Gertrudix), Juan also acts as guardian to his young niece Tamara. When a relationship begins to develop between Juan and his Andalusian maid Maribel (Cuca Escribano), Juan's troubled past soon begins to work its way to the surface of things despite his best efforts to keep it under lock and key. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A writer (Aitania Sánchez-Gijón), intrigued by archival papers left by a man who fought in the Spanish Civil War, goes to Argentina to investigate. ~ Rovi

La Vida Que te Espera stars Juan Diego as Gildo, a farmer who becomes the prime suspect of the authorities when an associate of his is murdered. His rural life does not appeal to his two daughters, and their lack of enthusiasm is compounded when the son of the dead man arrives with motives of his own. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Gerardo Vera directs this romantic drama about self-destructive love and sexual confusion. Alberto (Jordi Molla) is a respected aeronautical engineer married to artist Elena (Ariadna Gil) and has a son. Yet Alberto soon finds himself seduced by the wiles of hunky orthopedic surgeon Diego (Javier Bardem). Alberto admits to being unfaithful to his wife -- after she confronts him with incriminating evidence -- but he does not reveal that he cheated on her with a man. Seeking revenge, Elena goes out and sleeps with her co-worker Rafa (Javier Albala). Later, though Elena tries to welcome her errant husband back, he continues to shuttle between her and his gay lover. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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