Alberto Amarilla Movies
- 2009
This zany, Spanish-language teen sex comedy concerns a group of young social outcasts and misfits, including a blind boy, a wheelchair-confined metalhead and a shy, backward type who decide to "crash" Oxford University in England to win over a gorgeous girl. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mario Casas, Alberto Amarilla, (more)
- 2009
Inspired by the visually stylish Italian giallos of the 1970s, first-time writer/director Stefano Bessoni's Imago Mortis follows a young film student on his quest to unmask a killer who projects his victims' last visions for the entire world to see. Bruno (Alberto Amarilla) is a student at the F.W. Murnau Institute, an international film school where aspiring filmmakers ply their trade. After discovering a bizarre helmet that immediately goes missing, Bruno is troubled to see his classmates start dropping like flies. There's a killer on the loose, a madman who taunts his prey by using a camera obscura to project the final image seen by his previous victims before moving in for the kill. His gruesome technique is based on the theory of "Thanatography," in which the final image a person sees before death is permanently imprinted on their retina. By removing his victims' eyes after the murder has been committed, the killer not only collects the ultimate trophy, but has a morbid means of taunting future victims, as well. But Bruno suffers from terrible nightmares, and his waking reality becomes ever more twisted; identifying the killer becomes an impossible task. After all, it could be anyone from former director of photography Astolfi (Francesco Carnelutti), whose son was killed while working on a film directed by Professor Olinski (Alex Angulo), to Prof. Olinski himself, or even school proprietor Countess Orsini (Geraldine Chaplin), whom Bruno suspects to be the leader of a collegiate cabal that may wield more power than either he, or the rest of the student body, actually realizes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Amarilla, Francesco Carnelutti, (more)
Director Antonio Banderas's reflective sophomore drama follows nascent poet Miguelito (Alberto Amarilla) and his best friends, Paco (Félix Gómez) and Babirusa (Raúl Arévalo), as they confront their pasts and ponder their futures while coming of age in 1970s-era southern Spain. Based on the novel by author Antonio Soler, the story centers largely on Miguelito's relationship with the beautiful Luli (María Ruiz) and his struggle to move beyond his youthful indiscretions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Amarilla, María Ruiz, (more)
Two of the most talented figures in contemporary Spanish cinema -- actor Javier Bardem and director Alejandro Amenábar -- collaborate for this powerful drama, based on a true story. Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) was a fisherman and part-time poet who, at the age of 26, suffered an accident while diving that left him a bedridden quadriplegic. Now 54, Ramón must depend on his family to survive -- his macho brother José (Celso Bugallo), José's wife, Manuela (Mabel Rivera), and their son, Javi (Tamar Novas). While grateful to his family and friends for their help, Ramón was always an active person, and as the years wore on, he has come to see his life as frustrating and pointless and wishes to die with what remains of his dignity. José, however, is bitterly opposed to the notion of assisted suicide, and Spanish laws would implicate anyone who helped Ramón end his own life, which is something Ramón does not want to do. Through Gené (Carla Segura), a friend who works with a "Right to Die" organization, Ramón is introduced to Julia (Belen Rueda), a lawyer he hopes will help him persuade the courts to let him end his own life. Julia is dealing with her own mortality issues since being diagnosed with a degenerative disease, and Ramón hopes her condition will make her arguments more persuasive. As Ramón and Julia work together on his case and help to prepare a book of his poems for publication, Ramón finds himself falling in love with his attorney, who happens to be married, but while his infatuation gives Julia second thoughts about the case, Ramón remains convinced that the greatest gift to him would be an end to his life. Javier Bardem's performance in The Sea Inside (aka Mar Adentro) earned him the Best Actor award at the 2004 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Javier Bardem, Belén Rueda, (more)
