Marisa Paredes Movies
Artistically adventurous Spanish actress Marisa Paredes has worked with a number of renowned international directors during her career, but she is most famous for her work with Spain's flamboyant Pedro Almodóvar. Madrid native Paredes was studying acting at the city's Dramatic Arts Conservatory when she began her professional career in the 1960s. Making her name as an actress in Spanish TV, stage, and film work during the 1960s and '70s, Paredes began to attract more international attention in the 1980s. After appearing in Sus Anos Dorados (1980) and Fernando Trueba's comedy Opera Prima (1980), Paredes starred in her first Almodóvar film, the ribald comedy Dark Habits (1984). Among her other 1980s work, Paredes earned the Onda Madrid Prize for her performance as the wife of a Nazi concentration camp doctor in Tras El Cristal (1985). Paredes earned more acting laurels as the unbalanced actress and potential murderess Becky in Almodóvar's High Heels (1991). Solidifying her international prominence, Paredes worked in French, Mexican, and Italian productions, as well as Spanish, throughout the 1990s. After acting with Philippe Loiret in Tombes du Ciel (1993), Paredes starred as a troubled pulp romance writer in Almodóvar's The Flower of My Secret (1995). Paredes starred as Marcello Mastroianni's ex-wife in innovative Chilean expat Raoul Ruiz's comedy Three Lives and Only One Death (1996); appeared in Mexican director Arturo Ripstein's florid crime drama Deep Crimson (1996), based on the same story as The Honeymoon Killers (1969); and played Roberto Benigni's mother-in-law in the Oscar winning Holocaust dramedy Life is Beautiful (1997). After adding a U.S. production to her credits with Talk of Angels (1998), Paredes once again made a colorful role even more so with her passionate turn as diva actress Huma Rojo in Almodóvar's critically hailed, award-winning drama All About My Mother (1999). Though it did not draw as much attention, Paredes also won kudos that same year in Arturo Ripstein's No One Writes to the Colonel (1999). Paredes' consistent excellence earned her Spain's National Film Award in 1996. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
Pedro Almodóvar directed this story of a woman and her circle of friends who find themselves suffering a variety of emotional crises. Manuela (Cecilia Roth) is a single mother who has raised her son, Esteban (Eloy Azorín), to adulthood on her own and has come to emotionally depend on him. One night, Manuela and Esteban take in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire; after the show, Esteban is struck and killed by a passing motorist as he dashes into the street to get an autograph from Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes), who played Blanche. Emotionally devastated, Manuela relocates to Barcelona in hopes of finding her ex-husband (and Esteban's father), who is now working as a female impersonator. Manuela becomes reacquainted with old friend La Agrado (Antonia San Juan), a transsexual, and is introduced to Sister Rosa (Penélope Cruz), a good-hearted nun who has to contend with her considerably more cynical mother (Rosa María Sardà). While looking for work, Manuela becomes acquainted with Huma Rojo. Huma, on the other hand, has troubles of her own, most involving her drug-addicted significant other, Nina (Candela Peña). Displaying Almodóvar's trademark visual style and a unusually strong sense of character-driven drama, Todo Sobre Mi Madre/All About My Mother received a highly anticipated theatrical run in Spain before winning the Best Director award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival; in 2000, Almodóvar would receive the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, (more)
- 1986
- R
Antonio (Jose M. Sacristan) is a vagabond traveler who hitches a ride into a small town. He takes a job in a restaurant before landing a better job in the local movie theater. Antonio remembers the owner as the woman who employed his acting troupe years before when he was a young child. He later gets mixed up in a plot to steal a valuable painting from a convent. The English title of Cara de Acelga is Spinach Face. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- José M. Sacristán, Fernando Fernán Gómez, (more)
- 1995
This Italian film takes a chilling, nonexploitative look into the mind of a nice young man who compulsively rapes beautiful women. The rapes are graphically presented and may be disturbing to some viewers. Outwardly Luca seems to be a normal, quiet 20-year old. His mother is frequently gone. Trouble begins when Luca becomes obsessed with Valeria, the beauty who works in the next building. He begins spying on her, and then secretly filming her with his camcorder. He tries to get to know her, but she ignores him. Unable to stand her constant refusal, the frustrated young man accosts her on dark street and rapes her. The first rape was almost accidental; he encountered her on the street and he hurt her. Unfortunately, he liked the violence and begins raping every attractive woman he sees. He is particularly violent with Lorena, a jewelry saleswoman whom he beats up in a park before violating her. Much of the film focuses upon Luca's twisted thought processes. He is upset by the constant rejection he feels; especially when women say no. The film's climax is predictable, and few will feel remorse for Luca's passing. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julieta Serrano, Marisa Paredes, (more)
Noted Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein directed this darkly comic drama of love and murder. Coral Fabre (Regina Orozco) is an overweight, emotionally unstable nurse raising two children on her own. Coral is desperately lonely, and through a "Lonely Hearts" club, she begins corresponding with Nicolas Estrella (Daniel Gimenez Cacho). When Coral finally meets Nicolas, she decides that he resembles her favorite actor, Charles Boyer (at least when he wears his toupee) -- and is convinced that they were destined to be together. The fact that Nicolas stole Coral's money after spending the night together does nothing to dissuade her; she learns that Nicolas makes his living by finding rich women and, using his charm, taking their savings before abandoning them. Leaving her children with an orphanage, Coral joins Nicolas as his lover and partner in crime, posing as his sister as he continues his work. Nicolas finds Coral's passion for him exciting, but their amour fou turns deadly when Coral's all-consuming jealousy leads her to murder Nicolas' victims. Profundo Carmesi was based on the true story of American multiple murderers Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, which also inspired the film The Honeymoon Killers (1969). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Regina Orozco, Daniel Jiménez Cacho, (more)
French filmmaker/musician F.J. Ossang, who featured a dope delirium plus full-frontal apocalyptic audio attack in his black-and-white Le tresor des Iles Chiennes) (Land of the Dead), rebounds with the acid noir red-out of this French-Chilean road movie about a hitman (Pedro Hestnes) and a hooker (Elvire) who meet at a South American hotel and then let loose on an ultra blast through red-hot Chile, leaving a trail of drug dealers and meta-mind blasts into the blue. Ossang's own music group, the Messagero Killer Boy provides the industrial techno-rock sounds. Shown at 1997 film fests (London, Locarno). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elvire, Pedro Hestnes, (more)
- 1999
- NR
- Add El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba to Queue Add El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba to top of Queue
Based on the novel of Gabriel Garcia Marquez by the same name, but set in the forties, the film is a reflection on life and its illusions by the Mexican master Arturo Ripstein. In a small coastal town in Mexico in the late 1940's, an obstinate colonel of the anticlerical Cristeros War keeps waiting for the pension that has been promised to him but never delivered. Every Friday, he goes down to the docks, dressed in his best suit in anticipation of the arrival of the letter announcing his pension. Everyone knows that he is waiting in vain, but he refuses to face reality, even though, deep in his heart, he knows that the letter will never arrive. His wife is suffering from asthma; their son Agustin was killed by the fascists; and the roof over their head will soon be taken away because of the unpaid mortgage. Yet the Colonel stands by his dream, refusing to give up despite poverty and hunger. He knows that if he lets go, there is nothing else left. His wife Lola proposes to sell the cock, which is the only thing left behind from their son. But the Colonel does not want to give up the fighting cock, which he believes will win one day. The story is rendered in a simple and straightforward narrative style unlike Ripstein's earlier work, which is more baroque, or Marquez's magical realist style. Repeated close-ups accentuate the damages of a long and hopeless wait on a person's inner strength. Veteran Fernando Lujan is remarkable as the Colonel, but Spanish Marisa Paredes shines as the wife who suffers in dignity. Salma Hayek has a brief appearance as the prostitute who had a relationship with Agustin. In competition at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fernando Luján, Marisa Paredes, (more)
The efforts of an American ex-patriot living on a remote Mediterranean to establish himself as a serious musician are constantly thwarted by every inhabitant of his small village in director Francesca Joseph's ensemble comedy drama. Larry (Stanley Tucci) thought that by moving to the village that was once home to a celebrated European composer he would find inspiration, but instead he just spends his nights playing for peanuts in the local pubs. Eventually Larry becomes convinced that if he stages a gala tribute to the late composer the locals will finally take note of his talent. But organizing such a lavish event and convincing the late composer's widow (Marisa Paredes) to allow her esteemed late-husband's works to be played publicly by a famed pianist (Virgile Bramley) isn't going to be easy, especially when it begins to seem like everyone wants their say in the event. Now, with everyone from Larry's neurotic partner Miranda (Jessica Stevenson) to the late musician's lovely muse Helena (Emmanuelle Seigner), opportunistic Englishman Sebastian (Hugh Bonneville) and his capricious brother Dickie (Rhys Ifans), and even Larry's long lost daughter Frankie (Jena Malone) crawling out of the woodwork, the put upon pianist will have to balance out the chaos that swirls around him if he holds out any hope of delivering his true masterwork. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stanley Tucci, Rhys Ifans, (more)
A recently released psychiatric patient and a would-be thief make a pact that will dramatically alter the course of both of their lives in writer\director Pablo Malo's twisting drama. Adrian is a rich kid with some serious mental problems. Released from the psychiatric institution where he has lived since he was just a young boy, Adrian settles in the house granted to him by his estranged father. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, dreary-eyed criminal Gonzalo, the son of an ageing hooker, is running short of cash, and looking for a big score. When Gonzalo attempts to burgle Adrian's house, the unstable owner catches him red-handed. But Adrian isn't interested in turning Gonzalo in, and he's willing to forget the whole thing if the thief will just help him to acquire a pistol. Gonzalo agrees, sending both men's lives spiraling out of control. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Unax Ugalde, Marisa Paredes, (more)
In modern-day Paris, a cabalist known as the Maharal has created a golem, an artificial being constructed of earth and clay, infused with spirit through the recitation of a special formula. The legendary being he brings to life is known in this instance as "The Spirit of Exile," and the magician's goal in creating her was to create a protector for Jews in need of one. In this movie, the golem is motivated to assist numerous people whose lives are marked by tragedy. In the main story, she must try to help Shemesh, a woman whose many troubles cause her to resemble the Biblical character of Job. She has been evicted from her home after her husband and sons die, and she and her daughter-in-law must find some means for surviving their difficult situation. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hanna Schygulla, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, (more)
- 1991
- R
Written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almódovar, Tacones Lejanos is a murder mystery centering on flamboyant actress Becky del Paramo (Marisa Paredes) and her daughter Rebecca (Victoria Abril), a television anchorwoman. After being estranged for 15 years, Becky re-enters Rebecca's life when she comes to perform a concert. Rebecca, she finds, is now married to one of Becky's ex-lovers, Manuel (Feodor Atkine). As the mother and daughter begin making up for lost time, Manuel is suddenly murdered at his home. Unfortunately, which of the ladies is responsible for the homicide remains unclear, even after one of them confesses. Released in the U.S. under the title High Heels, Tacones Lejanos was nominated for several Goya Awards as well as the Best Foreign Language Film at the 1992 Golden Globes. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Marisa Paredes, (more)
- 1985
Stylistically compelling, morally ambiguous, and profoundly unsettling, this Spanish psychodrama from writer-director Agustin Villaronga stands beside Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salo as one of cinema's most unflinching depictions of human depravity. The story opens in post-WWII Catalonia as former Nazi death camp "doctor" Klaus (Gunter Meisner) consummates his torture-murder of a young man by hurling himself from the roof of his house; this act, motivated either by a sudden attack of conscience or by some form of sexual mania, leaves him paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe on his own. We soon find Klaus lying prone in an archaic iron lung, attended by his stern wife Griselda (Marisa Paredes) and young daughter Rena (Gisela Echevarria). When they become unable (or, in his wife's case, unwilling) to look after him, Griselda hires handsome young nurse Angelo (David Sust), unaware that the young man is one of Klaus' former victims, who has maintained a detailed dossier on the "doctor" and his countless unspeakable atrocities. Thus begins a perverse and surreal manipulation of master/servant roles between the immobile Klaus and his equally demented attendant, as the young man attempts to recreate the nightmare world of the camps, even procuring more young victims for his former tormentor's amusement. Though it could be asserted that the stylistically accomplished Villaronga has made a passionate artistic statement about mankind's capacity for unspeakable atrocities, his film may be construed as being one of those horrors in itself. At any rate, Tras el Cristal is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Günter Meisner, David Sust, (more)
- 1999
Swiss director Alain Tanner, who wowed audiences in the 1970s with his art house classic Jonah, Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976), returns to the same territory with this decidedly more downbeat film. The movie details the life of Jonah (Jerome Robart), who has indeed just turned 25. A recent film school graduate, he is living with his Senegalese girlfriend and childhood sweetheart Lila (Aissa Maiga), and occasionally shooting documentaries. The film explores the shifting emotional landscape of Jonah and Lila's relationship as the two take in a boarder, Irina - a Russian woman on the lam from Soviet mobsters, for whom she made an adult movie. Meanwhile, Lila longs to return to Senegal to be with her grandmother. Jonas et Lila, a Demain ran at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jérôme Robart, Aïssa Maïga, (more)
- 2008
Following in the footsteps of her father, actor-cum-director Ugo Tognazzi, and her brother, director Ricky Tognazzi, Maria Sole Tognazzi makes her helming debut with the emotionally-amped melodrama L'Uomo che ama (The Man Who Loves). At its core, the film embodies an exploration of gay-influenced heterosexual perspectives and attitudes in the early 21st century. Pierfrancesco Favino stars as Roberto, a straight Turin-based pharmacist emotionally attached to his younger brother, the homosexual Carlo (Michele Alhaique). Roberto witnesses Carlo's delirious happiness with lover Yuri (Glen Blackhall) and feels extremely envious that Carlo has found someone. Though Roberto has proven himself capable of landing successful relationships in the past - his previous lovers include sexy hotel employee Sara (Ksenia Rappoport) and the drop-dead-gorgeous art gallery proprietor Alba (Monica Bellucci) - these relationships invariably ended in heartbreak, with Roberto either being dumped (in the case of Sara) or abandoning his partner (in the case of Alba). As time rolls on, he begins to feel a palpable sense of his own lingering happiness and dissatisfaction, and attempts to reconcile this with his convictions that everyone else in the world is completely satisfied with life. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierfrancesco Favino, Kseniya Rappoport, (more)
When a respected Native American chief is taken to trial for burning down a large multiplex adjacent to an ancient Mapuche burial ground, a seasoned lawyer comes to his defense in the courtroom. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 1992
Ana Luz's husband has gone away for a little while. While he's away, she experiences every possible irruption into her house, from a troupe of actors to a woman claiming to be her husband's lover. She seems to kill a plumber with her screwdriver, and her neighbor apparently kills a policeman. Just when she "wakes up" and decides she may be dreaming, it begins to seem as though she isn't, in this directionless would-be comedy. Many aspire to avant-garde and radical humor, including the seasoned pros who made this film, but even hardened reviewers were embarrassed for the makers of this movie. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carmen Maura, Marisa Paredes, (more)
- 1984
In his second successful starring role in 1983, Agustín Gonzalez is a father who runs a wine shop in Madrid, a city under a three-year siege (1936-1939) because the Nationalists forces of Francisco Franco need to take Madrid before the fascist dictator can be installed in power. The siege has left the Madrileños with very little food, living under the threat of bombs, and worrying about the prospects of defeat. It is the sense of impending disaster, of hunger and deprivation that is oddly missing from this cinematic interpretation of the play by Fernando Fernán Gómez. The daughter in the family (Victoria Abril) enters into a love affair with a soldier and ends up having a baby, the son (Gabino Diego) is coming of age with the maid - and life seems to go on with all its proverbial ups and downs. But without the sharp dialogue of the play itself, this film is not as tautly strung, or as convincingly real as the stage production. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amparo Soler Leal, Agustin Gonzalez, (more)
In this WW II tragicomedy, famed Italian funnyman Roberto Benigni (The Monster) portrays Guido, who moves during the '30s from the country to a Tuscan town, where he is entranced by schoolteacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's real-life wife). Dora likes Guido, but she remains faithful to her pompous fiancé, so Guido has an uphill struggle. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic attitudes lead to attacks against Guido's Jewish uncle (Giustino Durano). Leaping ahead to five years later, during WW II, Guido and Dora are married and have a son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). After they are imprisoned in a concentration camp, Guido goes to elaborate lengths to keep his son from understanding the truth of their situation. He tells the boy that they are competing with others to win an armored tank -- so everything from food shortages to tattoos is explained as necessary for participation in the contest. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, (more)
- 2005
Adapted from author Agustina Bessa-Luis' novel The Soul of the Righ, writer/director Manoel de Oliveira's Magic Mirror travels deep into the restless psyche of a well-to-do woman who longs to experience a divine vision. Previously imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Luciano (Ricardo Trepa) emerges into the real world in desperate need of a sense of direction. Luciano is haunted by the death of his sister Camila, though he does his best to stay distracted from family ghosts by going to work at the manor house of malcontent rich woman Alfreda (Leonor Silveira). Married to the much older Bahia (Duarte de Almeida), Alfreda has no children and spends much of her time discussing religious issues with eccentric Bible scholar Herschel (Michel Piccoli). When man-in-waiting Luciano fails to convince Alfreda that her fixation on the Virgin Mary is merely a delusion brought about by mental malaise, he subsequently hires local girl Filipe (Luis Miguel Cintra) to pose as the Madonna as part of an elaborate, but obscure, ruse. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ricardo Trêpa, Leonor Silveira, (more)
- 1987
Two gunmen chase after an anthropologist on the run in this convoluted, low-budget drama. In spite of several technical flaws in production and amateurish performances, the film shared prize money given by the CIGA hotel chain at the 1987 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rafael Diaz, Jorge De Juan, (more)
- 1980
Directed by Fernando (Belle Epoque) Trueba, the Spanish/ French Opera Prima stars Oscar Ladiore as a young divorced employee at a news agency. Outside the subway one evening, Ladione chances to meet his beautiful cousin, played by Paula Molina (sister of actress Angela Molina). The two commence an affair, then drift apart. Molina, an aspiring musician, falls under the spell of her pretentious tutor. On the verge of leaving the country with her teacher, she is "rescued" at the airport by Ladiore. The title's significance can be explained by its literal translation, "First Effort" (it is the first romance for Ladione after his marital breakup), and by the fact that "Opera" and "Prima" are slang terms for "Subway" and "Cousin," respectively. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Oscar Ladoire, Paula Molina, (more)
- 1998
In this erotic French-Italian-Spanish drama, Max (Georges Corraface), having spent a decade behind bars on a murder conviction, exits the prison a free man. Mysterious museum-worker Mila (Anna Galiena) is parked at the prison gate and speaks to him from her car. Mila is married to businessman Simon (Jean-Marc Barr), who doesn't satisfy her sexually. Later, when Max descends into a basement cafe to use the rest-room, he spots Mila at a pay phone, approaches her, and they have sex amid the rest-room urinals. Max gives her his phone number, and they rendezvous at an upscale hotel. When Max begins following Mila and spying on her, he makes a startling discovery -- her husband is his own brother. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Georges Corraface, Jean-Marc Barr, (more)
Writer and director Manuel Gómez Pereira takes a look at the funny side of same-sex marriage in this farcical comedy. Magda (Carmen Maura) is the manager of a posh resort hotel that is to be the site of a marriage ceremony bringing three gay couples together at once. One of the husbands-to-be is Magda's son Miguel (Unax Ugalde), who will exchange vows with Óscar (Daniel Hendler). However, while things are harmonious between Miguel and Óscar, Óscar's meddling mother, Ofelia (Betiana Blum), is making life miserable for everyone. Narciso (Paco Léon) will be tying the knot with his lover, Hugo (Gustavo Salmerón), but both are having family problems -- Hugo's uptight parents, Helena (Mercedes Sampietro) and Hector (Tito Valverde), aren't sure if they're willing to attend, while Narciso's man-hungry mom, Nuria (Verónica Forqué), threatens to make a spectacle of the ceremony. And actress Reyes (Marisa Paredes) will be on hand to see her son Rafa (Raul Jimenez) marry Jonas (Hugo Silva), who happens to be the son of her gardener Jacinto (Lluís Homar). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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