Ángela Molina Movies

Political circumstances draw the people in this film into the ill-fated Spanish rebellion of 1909, which sought the overthrow of King Alfonso XIII. Set mainly in Cataluña and its capital Barcelona, the story begins in 1899 with soldiers returning from the Cuban front of the disastrous Spanish-American War, and it revolves around the romantic aspirations of two sisters who are swept up into the dangerous intrigues of the time. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Set near Barcelona at the time of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, this epic drama explores the adventures suffered by an uncommitted vacationing family caught unawares by the conflict. In focusing on the war's effects on the family, this film was able to offer much more devastating commentary than would normally have been permitted in the late Franco era. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Adapted from Pierre Louys' 1898 novel La Femme et le Pantin, That Obscure Object of Desire is the 30th and final film from the great Luis Buñuel. Recounted in flashback to a group of railway travellers, the story wryly details the romantic perils of Mathieu (Buñuel favorite Fernando Rey), a wealthy, middle-aged French sophisticate who falls desperately in love with his 19-year-old former chambermaid Conchita. Thus begins a surreal game of sexual cat-and-mouse, with Mathieu obsessively attempting to win the girl's affections as she manipulates his carnal desires, each vying to gain absolute control of the other. Brimming with the subversive wit which characterizes all of Buñuel's finest work, That Obscure Object of Desire takes satiric aim at a decadent, decaying society riddled by political unrest and moral bankruptcy. The picture is absurdist even in its casting -- Rey's dialogue was dubbed by the French actor Michel Piccoli, while the two-faced, hot-and-cold Conchita is played, logically enough, by two different actresses (Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina, respectively), with the character's dialogue spoken by yet a third performer. The same Louys novel was also filmed by Josef von Sternberg in 1935 as the Marlene Dietrich vehicle The Devil Is a Woman, and again in 1959 as Julien Duvivier's La Femme et le Pantin, starring Brigitte Bardot. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

This shocking film would have been impossible to make just two years before, in 1975. It tells the story of a group of right-wing terrorists, led by a strangely seductive older woman, whose destructive attacks on anyone it considers to have betrayed Spain to any form of leftism are cynically ignored by the police. The main story is about Tatin (Jose Luis Alonso), a 15-year-old young man, a hanger-on and newcomer to the group, who longs to participate in his first action against the hated "reds." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Whatever his reasons or intent, when the young man carrying a cello begins working at the old-folks home, he strikes up an acquaintance with the man known as "the Maestro" (Fernando Fernan Gomez), who is full of plans to produce a play based on a Caribbean love affair and adventure in his youth. As he listens to the old man's reminiscences of love, he thinks of his own girlfriend (both are played by Angela Molina). Eventually, the beloved eccentric's play is produced, accompanied by the boy's cello music. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Told in a manner more common during the Franco era, this movie tells the story of a man who fought with the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and has been hiding in the hills for 10 years. Local people help him avoid constant searches by the police, who know he is there. A returning exile seeks him out to try and get him to surrender, with tragic consequences for both of them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This thriller is based on the still politically sensitive story of the assassination of General Francisco Franco's heir apparent General Carrero Blanco. The General was to have been kidnapped by the Basque separatists, but when that proved too difficult, they arranged to bomb his car (with him in it) to smithereens. In order to do this, they had to dig a tunnel under a city street. The ensuing explosion blew the car over the roof of a nearby house. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Giovanni (Lou Castel) comes home after his brother's suicide to encounter the same family problems that have been around for years: his mother is a religious fanatic now obsessed with her son's errant spirit, his older brother has a cold and uncaring relationship with his children and his wife, and Giovanni's uncle who runs the wealthy family's house is always out to turn a profit for himself. When Giovanni goes to berate his dead brother's lover for not even coming to his funeral (his brother gave her an apartment and an income, and then she broke off with him because she did not love him), an unexpected attraction starts that builds in intensity as time goes on. Eventually, they start an emotionally-charged relationship that goes up and down like a roller coaster, their conflicts fueled in part by the ghost of the dead brother, by the fact that she is pregnant with his child, and by the difference in their economic status. As their relationship continues, it becomes a question of whether or not they will be able to overcome their differences -- a question that looms larger every day. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Demons in the Garden (Demonios En El Jardin) dwells upon three generations of an agrarian Spanish family. Most or all the family members have come of age since their country's Civil War. Fact becomes legend and legend becomes fact concerning that conflict, while the family is destroyed from within by corruption and long-smoldering rivalries. All of this is told from the point of view of the youngest (and, we are to assume, least emotionally damaged) family member. Demons in the Garden is very much in tune with the other multi-generational works of director Manuel Aragon, most of whose films can be regarded as creative cannonades aimed directly at the now-dead Franco regime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This routine story of love, murder, and witchcraft is set in 17th century northern Spain (in Basque country). A priest is trying to ferret out the truth in a 20-year-old tragedy involving a woman accused of witchcraft, her husband, and a jealous lover. Through a series of flashbacks, it is revealed that a young pregnant woman is jealous of Gabrielle (Angela Molina), who married the woman's lover. Deranged by anger at her betrayal, the mother-to-be murders her lover -- now Gabrielle's husband -- and then manages to convincingly charge Gabrielle with witchcraft. The result is that Gabrielle gets sent to prison, and the unbalanced young mother has her child and then inters herself in a nunnery (a common refuge for unwed mothers). The priest himself may be connected to this unhappy story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Complex and more cerebral than a wartime action-thriller, this espionage drama focuses on the relationship of two former buddies who were fencing masters before the war and in love with the same woman. Now Delancourt (Bernard Giraudeau) is apparently living a good life managing a gym in a Paris hotel under Nazi control, where he meets his former friend Pierre (Christophe Malavoy), who is on a secret assignment to mislead the Nazis on the date of the Normandie invasion. Pierre, alias Augustin, cannot figure out if Delancourt is a real resistance fighter or if he is a double agent. Circumstances create a larger and larger gap between the former friends while the plot goes through several twists and turns before Pierre's doubts are resolved. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is an enigmatic tale of a man's attempt to regain a lost period of youthful happiness. Peter (Bruno Ganz) and his somewhat broken-down wife arrive at a friend's house for an extended visit. Peter has been attracted to the woman of the house; he also once spent an idyllic summer here. He takes up with the couples' three children and engages them in games and child's play, partly as an attempt to regain the joy of that one summer. As the relationships between Peter and the other three adults shift around, his own objective for this visit remains well-hidden from view. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Klaus Maria Brandauer stars in this drama as Alek Neuman, a one-time boxing champion in the Soviet Union. While he was one of the top-ranked Russian fighters of his day, he was never allowed to box in the Olympics, because the Soviets would not permit Jews to compete on their national teams. Many years later, an elderly Alek is able to emigrate to the United States; he settles in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York, where he makes ends meet as a dishwasher. Alek is depressed and starts sinking into alcoholism until he meets Timmy Boyle (Adrian Pasdar) and Roland Jenkins (Wesley Snipes), two up-and-coming amateur boxers. Alek thinks that the two young fighters have potential, and he offers to coach them. While Timmy and Roland aren't sure at first if they trust Alek (or each other), in time they grow to respect each other, and it looks as if they may make the United States Olympic team -- where they may fight against the Russian team that wouldn't accept Alek years before. Brandauer won critical acclaim for his performance in Streets of Gold, which also featured Wesley Snipes several years before his breakthrough role in Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide