Juan Antonio Jimenez Movies
In this atmospheric romantic drama, Keanu Reeves plays Paul Sutton, who has just returned home from a stretch in the Army during World War II. Still reeling from the horrors of war, Paul wants to settle down and start a farm, but his wife Betty (Debra Messing), whom he met and impulsively married shortly before shipping out, has arranged for him to take a job as a salesman peddling chocolates. While taking a sales trip to another town, he befriends a beautiful but distraught young woman, Victoria Aragon (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon). While away at college, Victoria met and fell in love with a young man and soon became pregnant; however, when her boyfriend discovered she was expecting, he abandoned her. She returns home full of shame and fearful of her father's reaction. But Paul gets an idea -- he'll pose as her husband and leave after a day or two, so when she's left alone with the child, the disgrace will be on him, not her. Victoria agrees, and Paul joins Victoria as she arrives at her family's estate in the California wine country. Most of the Aragon family take to Paul readily enough, especially Grandfather Don Pedro (Anthony Quinn), but Victoria's father, Alberto (Giancarlo Giannini), senses something amiss between the young couple. A Walk In The Clouds was the first American film from director Alfonso Arau, who previously made the international hit Like Water For Chocolate. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keanu Reeves, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, (more)
- 1986
El Amor Brujo is a filmed record of the little-known Spanish ballet by Manuel de Falla. The plot involves two gypsies, male and female, who are united in an arranged marriage. Each loves someone else, a circumstance that results in a fatal knife duel. The climax of the ballet involves the girl's torn loyalties between the ghost of her dead husband and her living lover. Antonio Gades, Cristina Hoyos, Laura del Sol and Juan Antonio Jimenez are the principal dancers in this well-photographed oddity. El Amor Brujo was the third in director Carlos Saura's flamenco trilogy, preceded by his far more successful Blood Wedding (1981) and Carmen (1983). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Gades
- 1983
Director Carlos Saura's Carmen develops a fictional story revolving around the rehearsals of Georges Bizet's opera about the brash and colorful cigarette factory woman and her dalliance with the soldier Don José, and eventual love for Escamillo, the bullfighter. Saura introduces exciting flamenco dance scenes and a love story between Antonio (Antonio Gades), the choreographer of the opera, and the actress playing Carmen, Laura del Sol. Joan Sutherland and Paco de Lucía also perform segments from Bizet's 1875 opera. The mix of magical choreography, rousing flamenco dances, and operatic insertions as well as the tongue-in-cheek parodies of the French opera and foreign stereotypes of Spaniards keeps most viewers well entertained throughout. Saura's Carmen won an award for "Artistic Contribution" and for "Technical Achievement" at the Cannes Film Festival in 1983, another award for "Technical Achievement" at the 1983 Venice Film Festival, and the "Best Foreign Language Film" award at the 1984 British Academy Awards. It was the second in a trilogy of films choreographed in a similar style by Antonio Gades. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Gades, Laura del Sol, (more)
- 1981
Federico Garcia Lorca's revenge play Blood Wedding was adapted into a flamenco-ballet by Alfredo Manas. This piece, in turn, was committed to film by director Carlos Saura. Rather than adopt the usual soft-focus, "in performance" approach to his material, Saura aims his camera at a dress rehearsal, where the actors perform upon a bare stage. Choreographer and principal dancer Antonio Gades is interviewed backstage, as are several of his troupe members. Many consider Blood Wedding to be among the best dance films ever made. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Gades, Christina Hoyos, (more)
