Ángela Molina Movies

Although he was once a colonel in Argentina, the principal character in this film is now a wealthy exile living in Paris with his beloved wife, who has been unable to bear children. To fill this void in their lives, he feeds and clothes abandoned children, raising them in his mansion as if they were his own. As would never be the case in real life today, in this fantasized story set in 1925, no one objects to this behavior, and they live pleasantly and enjoyably together. Things grow considerably more animated when a stage magician places his very attractive daughter in the colonel's household, which stirs a lively romantic interest from his boys and from the great man himself. This amiable international production is based on a novel by Jules Supervielle and features performances from three of Europe's best known actors, Marcello Mastroianni, Angela Molina and Michel Piccoli. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The name of mystery writer Edgar Neville may be relatively unknown in the U.S., but his novels have been the source for quite a number of films made in Europe. In this humorous story, set in Madrid, a woman (Angela Molina) standing in the rain is offered rides from two different cars. Either ride she takes will change her life significantly. At this point, the movie backs up and a narrator explains that from here on, the movie will explore both possible fates. The first car is being driven by a wealthy goofball (Imanol Arias) who is considerably older than the woman. If she gets in his car, she will marry him. The second car is being driven by an artist (Antonio Banderas) whom she is attracted to. Oddly, she still winds up marrying the rich guy, but when he dies of a heart attack, she can now look up the artist. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Guerilla wars against the major powers have been a factor in Central American politics for a long time. This biographical drama is based on the life of Nicaragua's prototypical 20th century guerilla, Augusto C. Sandino (born as Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino). His name and life were the inspiration for the anti-U.S. forces in that country fifty years after his death: they called themselves the Sandanistas. It is helpful to remember, and this movie demonstrates, that the U.S. military has been actively involved with the domestic politics of Nicaragua many times in this century, most notably during the 1912 invasion which resulted in over twenty continuous years of U.S. military intervention. In the story, Sandino loves two women: his wife, who remains at home, and his warlike mistress, a guerilla who accompanies him into the jungle. He has a tendency (common at the time) of wanting to trust politicians. As a result, he was betrayed by Anastasio Somoza in 1933, and vanished from sight. Somoza soon became the sole ruler of Nicaragua (from 1936 to 1956). The free-thinking rebel, who renamed himself Augusto César Sandino in the late 1920s, identified strongly with the indios or indigenous people of the region, and proposed a political agenda under which the countries of the Central America would unite against European exploitation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Dora (Angela Molina) is a music-hall type singer who is more than a bit of a floozy. She goes out with lots of men, has sex with them, and quite appreciates it when they pay for it. She met the piano player Juan (Angel de Andres Lopez) during an air raid at the time of the Spanish Civil War. Later, the two of them meet quite by chance as they are both auditioning for a job with Mario (Manuel Bandera), a gay nightclub owner. Juan is in love with Dora despite her unchanged habit of going out with as many men as possible, and the two of them are also friends with Mario (who also goes out with as many men as possible). There is a nobleman whose attentions Mario at first entertains and then spurns. This prompts the gay nobleman's mother to swear revenge on him for breaking her darling son's heart. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The Savage in this film is Sophie (Aurelie Gilbert), the 17-year old girl who comes into the lives of Michael and Alice (Murray Head and Angela Molina). Her father, a friend of theirs, has just died. It seems that he abandoned Sophie and her mother many years before. She has borne a tremendous grudge against the man ever since and, now that he is dead, she can never communicate her anger to him. Instead, she seduces and nearly ruins the life of her father's friend Michael. Curiously, this has the effect of liberating her from her demons, but leaves the lives of the couple who have befriended her in shambles. This intense drama is based on a novel by Katherine Fantod. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

After the death of Carlos II in 1700, the throne of Spain was up for grabs, and all the European powers got involved. Even after the next king was crowned, anarchy and poverty marred the lives of the Spanish for many years. Finally, Carlos III, attempted to bring significant reforms with the assistance of his minister, the Marques de Esquilache. This film, based on the play Un Sonador Para Un Pueblo by Antonio Buero Vallejo, portrays the struggles of Esquilache (Fernando Fernan Gomez) to implement his monarch's vision for Spain. Despite touching on many issues in Spanish history, it's really more of a character study of the title character. ~ Clarke Fountain, 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

To seek work, Maria's husband was forced to leave their Sicilian village for Germany after the birth of their son. That was years ago, and he has never returned, though Maria knows he is still alive. This is a common situation in the poverty of Sicily, and the women who suffer from it are called "white widows." Maria has another friend, Carmella, who is in the same boat. Carmella thinks that since Maria's son is well into his teens, she has waited for her husband long enough and it's time for her to seek some male companionship. Maria finds company in the arms of a fine doctor but then is laid low by an illness. After she dies, her son is upset enough to want to make somebody pay for his mother's suffering. He makes plans to travel to Munich and confront his long-absent father, perhaps to kill him. ~ Clarke Fountain, 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 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

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