Fernando Albizu Movies
A well-to-do Spanish attorney finds himself in hot water after falling for a shady Bulgarian man in the 2002 comedy-drama, Los novios bulgaros (Bulgarian Lovers). Middle-aged Madrid native Daniel (Fernando Guillen Cuervo, who also helped adapt the script) lives a life of relative comfort and is generally pretty happy with how things have been going for him lately. His one guilty pleasure is frequenting the city's gay quarter looking for men to pick up for an evening of reckless abandon. One night, Daniel meets Bulgarian Kyril (Dritan Biba) and is quickly smitten beyond all hope of reason. Finding out that Kyril is essentially homeless and penny-less, Daniel nonetheless gets him into bed--after buying him dinner--even after Kyril confesses to having a fiancee back in Bulgaria. As Daniel falls deeper in love with Kyril, Kyril takes advantage of the situation by convincing the lawyer to complete various tasks for him, which range from the morally questionable to the highly illegal and dangerous. A more than willing stooge to Kyril's demands--and all too aware of his situation--Daniel resigns himself to following this relationship through to the end, wherever it may lead. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernando Guillen Cuervo, Dritan Biba, (more)
Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to the phantasmagorical cinema that defined such early fare as Cronos and The Devil's Backbone with this haunting fantasy-drama set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and detailing the strange journeys of an imaginative young girl who may be the mythical princess of an underground kingdom. Her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), recently remarried to sadistic army captain Vidal (Sergi López) and soon to bear the cruel military man's child, shy young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is forced to entertain herself as her recently-formed family settles into their new home nestled deep in the Spanish countryside. As Ofelia's bed-ridden mother lies immobilized in anticipation of her forthcoming child and her high-ranking stepfather remains determined to fulfill the orders of General Francisco Franco to crush a nearby guerilla uprising, the young girl soon ventures into an elaborate stone labyrinth presided over by the mythical faun Pan (Doug Jones). Convinced by Pan that she is the lost princess of legend and that in order to return to her underground home she must complete a trio of life-threatening tasks, Ofelia sets out to reclaim her kingdom and return to her grieving father as Vidal's housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú) and doctor (Alex Angulo) plot secretly on the surface to keep the revolution alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ariadna Gil, Ivana Baquero, (more)
