Carmen Maura Movies
Carmen Maura is a giant of Spanish cinema, a woman who has won numerous international awards for her work. Once the celebrated host of a Spanish television show, El Noche, and cabaret artist, Carmen Maura's star as a queen of cinema rose with that of Pedro Almodóvar.Maura began her film career in 1970, turning in great performances in films such as The Man in Hiding (1970); Fernando Colomo's Paper Tigers (1977); and Carlos Saura's 1978 film Blindfolded Eyes. The actress appeared in Almodóvar's very first film, Pepi, Luci, Bom, in 1980. Their collaboration lasted through seven films, including What Have I Done to Deserve This? and Dark Habits, both made in 1984, and The Law of Desire (1986). In the process, Maura showed the range of her abilities, as she portrayed the unusual characters that Almodóvar favors, such as a lesbian nun and a transsexual actress involved in a love triangle with her brother, played by Antonio Banderas. The two worked again in an Almodóvar vehicle that was destined to catapult them all to international stardom. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was released in 1988. The film won numerous awards, launched Banderos' career in America, and led Carmen Maura to the winners' circle for the European Film Award for Best Actress.
Her starring role as Pepa contains all the classic elements of an Almodóvar film. She is a strong and capable woman, in distress at her lover's impersonal bet, as he breaks up with her via a note and her answering machine. Her current condition of pregnancy makes his sudden departure all the more upsetting. As she teeters on the brink of insanity, her world is invaded by others vying for her time and attention at a most inopportune time: she is preparing to take her own life. Maura's gifts for comedy and pathos are evident in the hilarious scene in her apartment in which she tends to the needs of others, notably played by Banderos, Rossy de Palma, and Maria Barranco, while coming to terms with her own predicament. Almodóvar, always the admirer of the strength of women, has Pepa discovering that very fact for herself. By giving her compassion generously to others, she saves herself and is ready to face life once more.
Maura won the European Film Festival Best Actress award again in 1990 for her title role in Saura's Ay, Carmela!, with her riveting performance as an entertainer during the Spanish Civil War. Among her noteworthy contributions to cinema in the '90s were her characterizations in Happiness Is in the Field, directed by Etienne Chatiliez, in 1995; Téchiné's Alice and Martin (1998); and Common Wealth (2000), the latest film from Alex de la Eglesia. The luminous Carmen Maura is still going strong in the 21st century, having completed work in Eva Lesmes' The Hold-Up in 2001. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 2004
One man finds himself pulled in three directions at once by his family and a chance acquaintance in this breakneck comedy. Miguel (Jacques Gamblin) is a single parent and Spanish expatriate living in Belgium who has to deal with a young daughter, Laura (Raphaelle Molinier), his busybody mother, Abuelita (Carmen Maura), and his pushy brother, Juan (Pedro Romero). Miguel works for Juan's travel agency as a courier and errand boy. Shortly after sending Laura off to school, Juan gets an urgent call from Miguel and he has to head to the airport. En route, Miguel gets caught in a traffic jam and encounters Sonia (Ingeborga Dapkunaite), an illegal alien from the Ukraine who is on the run from police after being freed from custody by a group of activists. Sonia has been searching for her boyfriend who disappeared in Belgium a year ago, and after much haranguing Miguel agrees to help her, but that's before he gets word from Abuelita that an accident has sent his daughter to the hospital. Fortunately Laura's injuries are minor, but once Laura and Abuelita hear Sonia's story, they decide to drop everything to help her find her man with Miguel along for the ride, regardless of Juan's feelings about the matter (or Miguel's, for that matter). 25 Degres en Hiver was the first feature film from writer and director Stéphane Vuillet. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Jacques Gamblin, (more)
A hyperstylized tribute to spaghetti westerns courtesy of fearless Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia, 800 Bullets finds young Carlos (Luis Castro) striking out on his own in search of his long-lost father. Swiping his shrewish businesswoman mother's (Carmen Maura) credit card and setting his sights on Almeria, Carlos begins his quest to learn the truth about his father after his curiosity is sparked while thumbing through old photographs. Carlos comes into contact with his alcoholic grandfather Julian (Sancho Gracia) shortly after arriving in Almeria, where the one-time Clint Eastwood stunt double is still chasing his dreams of stardom. Rumored to have caused Carlos' father's death years earlier when a dangerous stunt went horribly awry, Julian now spends his days staging elaborate Western shows for tourists on the abandoned film sets. As the young boy quickly wins the affections of the rough and tumble stunt crew, the arrival of his mother begins to threaten his newfound happiness when she reveals plans of turning the location into an amusement park. As the hapless crew faces the prospect of being displaced by the greed of modern society, they are forced to defend thier territory by replacing their blanks with 800 real bullets. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sancho Gracia, Ángel de Andrés Lopez, (more)
- 1998
In this romantic French drama, auteur Andre Techine offers an intense, intimate look inside the complex relationship between two emotionally dysfunctional people. Neither Alice (Juliette Binoche) nor Martin (Alexis Loret) seem emotionally healthy enough to sustain a relationship, but somehow they manage to stay together amidst their many personal problems. The two met in Paris, where Martin fled after escaping the oppression of his recently deceased tyrannical father. Once in the City of Light, the depressed Martin attempts suicide and later accepts an offer to stay with his half-brother Benjamin (Mathieu Amalric) and his roommate Alice, a violinist, in their ramshackle garret. Shortly thereafter, Martin is spotted by a modeling agent and finds steady work on the city's catwalks. At first, Martin and Alice do not get along. He is brutish and incapable of expressing emotion. He pursues her, but Alice is not terribly interested, until her sexual frustration and need to be loved gets the better of her, and she succumbs to his advances. She then decides to leave Benjamin and travel with Martin to a modelling assignment in Granada, Spain. There the two are briefly happy, but as time passes, Martin's self-absorption increases. Alice's announcement that she is pregnant precipitates a crisis in which Martin reveals that he caused his father's death. Unable to bear the guilt and pain any longer, he commits himself to a mental institution and then requests he be given his day in court. Alice is convinced that Martin is innocent of the crime with which he has charged himself. When he insists on going to court, she goes there to save him from himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliette Binoche, Alexis Loret, (more)
- 1997
Director Jean-Pierre Mocky has gone too far past the limits of bad taste, disgusting sex, and pastiche sequencing to attract many viewers to this release. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Morel, Guillaume Depardieu, (more)
- 1996
Set in the suburbs, this tale of seduction, philandering, vengeance and murder is told with an airy, comical twist. The tale begins in summer on the day in which jealous husband Marco chokes his wife to death and then buries her in his backyard. He killed her because he discovered that she was planning to leave him for their neighbor, Andre. Because Andre is away on business, Marco tries to get more vengeance by seducing Consuelo, Andre's wife, but the relationship goes awry and once again Marco's thoughts turn to murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Jean-Pierre Cassel, (more)
- 1980
In this scary Spanish thriller, a young girl's husband rents her a lovely home just outside of Madrid so she can spend the last three months of her pregnancy in peace and luxury. Unfortunately, just as they arrive at the home, the girl realizes that it is the place where she had secretly had an illegal abortion five years before. The clinic is long-gone, but this doesn't ease the woman's disquiet. Things get even worse when she learns that her upstairs neighbor is the old abortionist's assistant. This woman has gone insane and keeps all the abortion tools and jars full of fetuses in the attic. In the end, the assistant loses all reason and tries to destroy the pregnant girl and the home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Javier Escriva, Silvia Aguila, (more)
- 1990
In Ay, Carmela, filmmaker Carlos Saura again harks back to his bitter childhood memories of the Spanish Civil War. Carmela (Carmen Maura), Paulino (Andres Pajares) and Gustavete (Gabino Diego) are travelling entertainers, trouping through Spain to perform their act before the Republican troops. Early one morning, the three artistes find themselves in Franco-controlled territory. In mute terror, the captive entertainers witness the deaths of several innocents at the hands of the fascists. Then they are forced to do a show for their captors. Swallowing their pride and hiding their disgust, the entertainers agree to do so. But Carmela is unable to go through with this humiliation: before an assembly a Francoites, she defiantly sings a paean to the Loyalist cause...and in so doing, achieves martyrdom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Andres Pajares, (more)
- 1988
Antonio (Antonio Banderas) is a gigolo who is taken in by a wealthy middle-aged woman in this sultry crime drama. He moves into the posh apartment of Isabel Harris (Carmen Maura) and satisfies her sexual urges. When Isabel has reoccurring nightmares she is being raped, the couple visits a pretty female psychiatrist. After Antonio seduces the shrink, he and the psychiatrist plot to kill Isabel's husband, steal their money, and pin the blame on her. The three double-cross each other after the man's murder is investigated by the police. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, (more)
The fifth feature of noted Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia, La Comunidad is a frenetic black comedy set in a decrepit old house in the center of Madrid. One of the house's new residents is Julia Garcia (Carmen Maura, whose performance won her a best actress award at the 2000 San Sebastian Film Festival), a real estate agent who has taken an apartment to revive her sagging marriage. One day, while engaging in some bedroom bliss, Julia and her unemployed husband Ricardo (Jesus Bonilla) are attacked by cockroaches that rain down on them through a crack in the ceiling. During a subsequent investigation of the upstairs apartment, firemen discover a man's rotting corpse. Julia later conducts her own investigation of the apartment and discovers almost 15 million dollars hidden away under the floor boards -- the result of a soccer-pool win by the apartment's dead owner. She decides to take the winnings and run, but while removing the cash, meets her neighbor Ramona (Terele Pavez), who quickly becomes suspicious of Julia's activities. It turns out that everyone in the building knew about the money and agreed to share it amongst themselves, a plan severely compromised by Julia's desire to keep the money for herself. After inviting Julia to a welcome party held by the residents' association, her neighbors go to extreme lengths to get the money, and plenty of cartoon-colored murder and mayhem ensues. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Eduardo Antuna, (more)
- 1994
A middle-aged woman comes into her own in this Spanish comedy. Carmen liked to have affairs. After one typically hot night playing poker and messing around with her male friends, she returns home in the morning to face her husband's jealous rage which causes him to die of a massive coronary. This leaves the newly widowed Carmen in a transitional state. On one hand, she misses her husband and her former life, on the other, she is now seen as available by her boss and co-workers at the newspaper she works at. When her daughter, Marta, a ballet student in Paris, announces her pregnancy, Carmens' life becomes even more complex. After coping with sexual harassment and several lousy dates, Carmen finds her dreamboat, a dashing businessman who appreciates her for herself. She also comes to look forward to becoming a grandmother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Antonio Resines, (more)
In this Pedro Almodóvar film, a singer at a low-end nightclub hides out at a convent after her lover dies of a bad dose of drugs, and she meets a group of off-the-wall nuns while in hiding. The nuns range from one who writes sensationalist pulp fiction under a pseudonym to another who takes drugs, and another hooked on masochism. But their private lives and perverse foibles may be in jeopardy when a new mother superior arrives to take charge of the convent. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julieta Serrano, Marisa Paredes, (more)
- 1977
In this non-narrative film, a salesgirl becomes embroiled in a lengthy discussion with a soldier and a film director. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Kiti Manver, (more)
A period piece that blends first love, the power of the cinema and the Mexican Revolution, El Cometa is set in 1910, as Medero's factions were organizing against the Profirio Diaz regime. Romualdo (Gabriel Retes) owns a traveling vaudeville show and has just lost his star attraction when his son Victor (Diego Luna) meets Guy (Patrick LeMauff), a French cinematographer who has worked for Lumiere. Victor is fascinated by the possibilities of the movies, and when Guy discovers Romualdo needs a new drawing card, he offers him a deal -- a movie set-up at a bargain price in exchange for helping to hide Valentina (Ana Claudia Talancon), a girl whose father was arrested for working with Medero's rebels. Valentina is also carrying a fortune in gold which she hopes to smuggle to Medero, who is hiding in Texas, but in the meantime she and Victor begin a romance and Valentina becomes the new star of the show while trying to elude the police. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diego Luna, Ana Claudia Talancón, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Set in Chile in the early 1990s, when the brutal oppression of the Pinochet regime had given way to a democratic government (and a capitalist economy that proved to have flaws of its own), El Entusiasmo/Enthusiasm begins in 1984, when Guillermo (Alvaro Rudolphi) introduces two of his friends to each other -- Fernando (Alvaro Escobar) and Isabel (Maribel Verdu). A decade later, Fernando and Isabel have a son, and they join forces with Guillermo to start a business offering sightseeing expeditions for tourists visiting the newly-democratic nation. Fernando gets an idea for a special multi-media presentation that would educate viewers on Chile's history, culture and political legacy, and it proves to be a major success -- enough so that he's roped by a group of less-than-trustworthy developers who want his help with a project building luxury housing in the desert. However, this is the opposite of the utopian collective that Guillermo had dreamed of years ago; Fernando's new ideals and associates alienate both Guillermo and Isabel, who turn against Fernando and into each others arms. El Entusiasmo/Enthusiasm was shown as part of the "Directors Fortnight" program at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maribel Verdú, Carmen Maura, (more)
- 1980
One man's inability to develop any serious, committed relationships with women is the focus of this standard romantic drama by Fernando Mendez-Leite]. Pedro (Xabier Elorriaga) teaches literature in an all girls school and is clearly dedicated to his profession. After he meets Aurora (Marilina Ross) at a party, she turns out to be more than he can emotionally handle. An Argentinian exile, Aurora has all the passion that Pedro seems to have missed in his life. Deciding he would rather switch than change, Pedro goes looking for other women, but in all the wrong places. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Xavier Elorriaga, Marilina Ross, (more)
- 1970
A man withdraws from society by staying in his attic for thirty years in this symbolic feature of isolation. His wife and daughter live in the house and remain his only contact to the outside world. He emerges after three decades to find himself completely incapable of acting or thinking as he did before his self imposed isolation ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yelena Samarina, Julieta Serrano, (more)
A pair of pink-collar workers short on cash decide to try a new part-time job -- bank robbery -- in this comedy. Lola (Ariana Ozores) and Silvia (Maribel Verdu) are two working-class women who are also best friends. Lola works on the cleaning crew at a bank and sometimes does odd jobs for her friend Maite (Carmen Maura), while Silvia is a beautician who is expecting a baby. Lola was once married to Gustavo (Jaime Pujol), a policeman, and while he wants to give their relationship another try, Lola isn't interested. His family hasn't been on good terms with Lola since the divorce, and one day they decide to evict her from the house she's been renting from Gustavo. Short on money and with few options, Lola and Silvia get the idea to rob the bank where Lola works. While Lola has access to the keys, she discovers the bank's funds aren't where she thought they were; determined to find out where the money is hidden, Silvia helps groom Lola into a sexy temptress so she can lure information from the bank's manager (Juan Gea) and give the robbery another try. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriana Ozores, Carmen Maura, (more)
- 1995
Little Felipe has been sick for a long time. To hasten his recovery, his parents send him to spend the summer of 1958 in the villa of his grandparents, located in the wealthy quarter of Cadiz. The warm climate of southern Spain is good for the boy, but the inhabitants of the great home may be a different story as all the relatives within are a tad strange. There Felipe meets his great-grandmother and her tough nurse Adoracion who patiently listens to grandmama's reminiscence's of the bandoleros who died for her. Felipe is not allowed to leave his bed, but his hours pass pleasantly thanks to the ministrations of the sexy Mari, a virgin, who loves to tease her four strapping aspiring lovers. As the summer progresses, Felipe interacts with all of his relatives and from their strange behavior finds himself learning an awful lot about life and love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Behind the peaceful walls of an impoverished medieval Spanish convent lies a teeming hotbed of ambition, lies and double-crossing as can be seen in this powerful, thought-provoking drama that is based upon Jesus Fernandez Santos' novel. The convent is set in an arid area and sole support comes from the local duke. The plague has been ravaging the surrounding town and panicky residents who are not yet afflicted flee. Sister Angela becomes ill and is nursed by her devoted friend Sister Ana. Angela slowly gets stronger and as she does, she begins reading about the lives of the saints. She begins to believe that the only way to save the decimated village from further chaos is to host a miracle. Sister Angela then has Sister Ana make deep slices into her palms to look like stigmata. The townsfolk believe that Angela's hands are bleeding spontaneously, but the mother superior isn't so sure and sets out to prove the miracle a fake. She can't and the villagers begin to revere Sister Angela as a saint. The mother superior can't bear this, and when Sister Angela is elected the new prioress, she goes over the edge with her desire for revenge. Things get even worse when the duke shows up and promises to give the convent enough support to make them one of the most powerful in Spain if they will host his daughter, who is thinking about joining the nunnery. Unfortunately, the haughty young woman is more interested in running things her own way. The deposed mother superior conspires with her at every opportunity, and when Sister Angela's palms suddenly becoming dangerously infected, the prioress finally gets her chance for revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A Jewish-American woman still reeling from her breakup with her Spanish-Israeli fiancée hits the road with a middle-aged Israeli woman, who is looking to collect the 30,000-dollar debt owed to her by her husband's former business partner, and a Palestinian woman, who claims to know the elusive moneyman's whereabouts, in this road-trip drama from Kippur director Amos Gitai. In her efforts to escape the painful memory of her breakup with former fiancée Julio (Aki Avni), Rebecca (Natalie Portman) agrees to accompany Hanna (Hanna Laslo) on her arduous journey through Israel to the Free Zone -- a tax- and customs-free region where those from countries at war with one another amiably buy and sell cars -- in hopes of collecting a large debt owed to her by her ailing husband's business partner known only as "The American." When Hanna and Rebecca finally arrive in the Free Zone only to discover that Hanna's contact and money have mysteriously gone missing, a Palestinian woman named Leila (Hiam Abbass) agrees to lead the skeptical Hanna to both "The American" and Hanna's rightly due cash. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natalie Portman, Hanna Laslo, (more)
