Maria Barranco Movies

A Spanish family's seaside vacation becomes a tense, seriocomic exploration into xenophobia when they stumble across an illegal African immigrant stranded upon the beach after an accident destroyed his raft and left his traveling companion dead. When patriarch Antonio, a somewhat dim-witted taxi driver, sees the miserable Ombasi huddled around a campfire, he is immediately suspicious and frightened for his family. Unfortunately, they lose their car keys and have no choice but to remain with the mysterious foreigner, who speaks no Spanish. At first, the film takes a humorous look at the family's struggle to communicate with the stranger, but then three racist skinheads arrive and the story takes a much darker turn. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This Spanish-French comedy set in South London seeks to demonstrate that human relationships provide an excellent example of chaos theory. Featuring a bilingual cast, the story centers on Luis, an introverted bookworm who travels to London, accompanied by his overbearing mother, to stay with his aunt Olivia. Olivia has a tempestuous relationship with a handsome television actor, Duncan. Her child belongs to him. With all these people together under one roof, the situation in the apartment is quite chaotic. However, Luis' mother eventually goes back home and Duncan, who is caught philandering at a party, gets the boot. Soon Luis and Olivia are having a torrid affair of their own until his mother returns and causes all sorts of trouble. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

It is 1620, and the young King of Spain (Gabino Diego) is technically a married man, because the great churchmen have conducted a grand public wedding ceremony joining him with a wife. However, as the real rulers of the state, they have perversely kept him completely innocent in matters of sex, so that his marriage remains unconsummated. One day, one of the king's few friends sees to it that he gets to spend a little time with a high-class prostitute (Laura del Sol). In fact, she's so high class that she's the favorite whore for the Grand Inquisitor himself. After the king's initiation into the joys of the female body, he publicly declares his desire to see his queen naked, which scandalizes his prudish and very hypocritical court. The Inquisitor (Fernando Fernan Gomez), when he learns of the boy's meeting with the prostitute, issues two conflicting instructions to two different aides. He sends one to have her arrested and another to warn her to go into hiding. That kind of convoluted behavior is the norm in this humorous historical drama. One of the controversies the court entertains itself with is whether or not the king committed adultery with the prostitute, since it could be alleged that he wasn't quite completely married at the time, according to the legal and theological conventions of the time. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

An American abroad finds herself falling in with an eccentric group of fellow expatriates in Spain in this comedy. Cassandra (Judy Davis) is a nomadic American who finds herself stranded in Spain, where she's found temporary work translating books into English. However, Cassandra's limited translating skills are not bringing home the bacon, so when she encounters a strange woman named Frankie (Marcia Gay Harden), she's willing to help her find a missing friend for a price. Cassandra soon discovers Frankie isn't a strange woman after all -- she's a man living as a woman in preparation for a future sex change operation. It seems Frankie's significant other, a seriously butch lesbian named Ben (Lili Taylor), has walked out on her and taken their daughter Delilah (Courtney Jines) with her; Frankie wants Cassandra to help her find the two of them. As it turns out, Ben has moved on to new pastures, becoming involved with April (Juliette Lewis), a head-in-the-clouds bohemian, and with the help of wealthy art patron and part-time magician Hamilton Kincaid (Christopher Bowen), Ben, April, and Delilah are happily squatting in a spare wing at La Pedrera, Spain's best-known gallery. As Cassandra tries to persuade Ben to reconcile with Frankie, she gets fast-talked by Hamilton into performing as part of his magic act. Gaudi Afternoon was directed by Susan Seidelman; it was her first dramatic theatrical feature since Cookie in 1989, after spending over a decade making documentaries and television projects. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

When he sees a motorcycle go over the side of the boardwalk at San Sebastian, crashing onto the beach, Jota goes to see what happened. He discovers that the vehicle was being driven by an attractive young woman. He calls an ambulance and gets onto it with her. When the emergency medical staff discover that she has amnesia, Jota takes advantage of the situation to claim that she's been living with him for the past few years. After she gets out of the hospital, the young woman accompanies him to a camping resort called "The Red Squirrel," and they have a number of adventures involving her obnoxious husband, who has been looking for her, and an equally obnoxious campsite neighbor. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The sexual experiences of the insatiable and ever more kinky temptress Lulu (Francesca Neri) are chronicled in this virtually plotless film. In the story, Lulu marries the American professor who first seduced her at age fifteen in a car (of course). She tires of hanging out with him and begins seeking sex of all kinds, hanging out in some pretty seedy places in the process. Along the way, she has intimate encounters with male homosexuals, transvestites, and indulges in a bit of sadomasochism. This film made a big splash in Spain while it was being produced because the first woman who was offered the lead (Angela Molina) quite publicly refused it, for (obvious) reasons that spurred interest in the final production. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Victor wants to be a famous actor and so has come to Madrid in search of work. There he meets representatives of a Hollywood film company. They want him to appear in their next film as a real macho man. Meanwhile Victor works for a phone sex company and is called by lonely, closeted plastic surgeon, Ricardo and his "wife" Amanda. This riotous Spanish comedy chronicles what happens when Victor and Amanda fall in love. To help her get a divorce, he offers to take incriminating photos of himself and Ricardo making love so that she can sue for divorce. When he learns that Amanda is not Ricardo's wife, Victor is very surprised. Meanwhile, the real wife, Angela and her lover, her husband's business partner, want to kill Ricardo. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

"I'll never love you . . . ever!" the sexy and attractive Marina (Victoria Abril) states emphatically to the love-struck Ricky (Antonio Banderas). You know she means what she says because when she makes this statement she is handcuffed and lashed to a bed, not exactly the proper way to warm anyone up for romance. Yet in Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! the way to a woman's heart is depicted as being held in captivity until the Stockholm Syndrome kicks in. The film concerns the plight of Marina, a "B"-movie diva trying to adjust to her recent success after years of porno films and drug addiction. But then into her life comes Ricky, a part-time handyman and full-time mental patient, who, during one of his past escapes from the mental ward, had spent the night with Marina -- who gave in to him during one of her less-discerning moments. Since then, Ricky has been thinking of her constantly. Determined to win her affections, he kidnaps Marina, holding her captive in her own apartment and trying everything to convince her to love him -- then they could marry and have a big family. All Ricky's attempts to woo Marina fail. Finally, after taking a severe beating from some street thugs, he strikes a chord in Marina's nurturing heart so that when her sister Lola (Loles Leon) finally discovers her plight, Marina no longer wants to be rescued. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

This Spanish sex-comedy comes from director Manuel Gomez Pereira and focuses on a trio of divorced men who agree to swear off relationships with women. Burned to many times by the fairer sex, roommates Juan, Joaquin, and Manolo make a pact that they will stay single forever. However, when they meet their new maid, they all fall head-over-heels and the agreement goes right out the window. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi