Gabriela Roel Movies
- 2007
A writer for a nighttime soap opera discovers the line between fiction and reality isn't as clear as he'd like in this satiric comedy. Miguel (Mauricio Isaac) is a writer whose latest assignment has been working on the staff of Destiny Of Love, a wildly popular Mexican telenova that follows the adventures of tempestuous heroine Gabriela. One evening, Miguel is pulled over by Bracho (Dagoberto Gama), a traffic cop, and as he tries to weasel his way out of a ticket, Miguel mentions that he writes for Destiny of Love. Bracho replies that Destiny Of Love is his favorite TV series, and after Miguel gives him a rundown on what will be coming up on the show, the policeman lets him go. Destiny Of Love's storyline soon takes an unexpected turn when Ana Victoria (Gabriela Roel), who plays Gabriela, announces she's quitting the show; the producers and writers decide Ana is so closely associated with the character than rather than recast, they'll have to kill off Gabriela in time-honored soap opera fashion. While more than a few fans are surprised when Gabriela suddenly meets her fate, the big surprise is for Miguel when he's confronted by Bracho, who makes it clear he wants Gabriela back on the show -- or else. Mejor es que Gabriela no se muera (aka It's Better If Gabriela Doesn't Die) was the first feature film from director Sergio Umansky, who appropriately launched his career in Mexican television. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mauricio Isaac, Dagoberto Gama, (more)
- 1996
This Mexican film is notable for its dream-like and vivid imagery. It follows a South American literary trend known as "magical realism." Nicolas (Bruno Bichir), a mysterious but very hip botanist visits Sofia (Gabriela Roel) at her office, and leaves his card. After he leaves, she has computer problems. She is not sure there's any connection between his visit and the problems, but she is interested in him anyway, and leaves the office quickly to find him. After a series of interactions, she wakes up in a hospital only to find that there is no evidence that he ever existed. Determined to find him again, she goes off to the Mexican countryside where increasingly odd things happen to her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Three women seek their fortune in a small border town in this drama from acclaimed, Ariel-winning Mexican director Maria Novaro. In the shadow of the 15-mile-long steel wall that stands on the edge of Tijuana, Serena, Jane, and Elizabeth each take shelter in search of a better life. Serena is a widowed mother of three, Jane is an American searching for her long lost brother, and Elizabeth is a Mexican-American artist who has come to the border town in search of her roots. In the town that is prison to some and refuge to others, all three women will experience something new as they discover that even in the stark heat of the desert, a garden can bloom. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renee Coleman, Bruno Bichir, (more)
- 1994
This Mexican fantasy-adventure uses a combination of live-action and miniatures to tell the tale of a young man who finds himself in possession of a rare piece of amber. This stone leads him into many adventures including bouts with sea captains, commissioners, prostitutes, and exotic dancers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hector Bonilla, Jorge Russeck, (more)
Joaquin (Manuel Ojeda) and his beautiful wife Susana (Blanca Guerra) are indeed In the Middle of Nowhere in this crime drama. The couple run a little gas station and store in a sparsely populated and desert-like region of Mexico. When a wounded man (Guillermo Garcia Cantu) arrives at the spot accompanied by his brother (Emilio Cortes) and wife (Gabriela Roel), they probably would have done what they could for them anyway. Instead, since the wounded man is a wanted fugitive, the trio take the couple hostage. This doesn't change much, except that the brother is way more interested in Susana than he would be if he were a decent man. Since the fugitive's wife is a lovely woman, Joaquin gets an eyeful of her while he can. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manuel Ojeda, Blanca Guerra, (more)
- 1991
In this art-film, ten episodes take place in the life of an apartment, which is the real leading character in the movie. The apartment must be quite a place, because it is the setting for a party between chauffeurs and maids who are taking advantage of their employers' absence. In another episode, a gangster and his moll hide there during a police manhunt. Even after it is damaged by the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, the apartment sees continued service. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriela Roel, Fernando Balzaretti, (more)
- 1990
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Intimate details in the lives of five family members become extremely clear from the vantage point of their bathroom mirror, in this innovative drama. Bertha (María Navarro) is the mother of the clan, and spends her afternoons away from the house with her lovers. Her husband Juan (Emilio Echeverría) takes those times more or less in stride - he locks himself in the bathroom with his girlie magazines. Their daughter Gabriela (Gabriela Roel) and her impecunious husband Roberto (Alvaro Guerrero) also live there. The final member of the household is the maid, Esperanza (María Rojo). The entire film takes place in the family's only bathroom. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriela Roel, Alvaro Guerrero, (more)
Luis is the only survivor of an attack by bandits on his boarding school. Chaos rocks the Mexican countryside during the 1910 revolution, and the boy is happy to have survived. Before he can get away and head towards home, he encounters another group of bandits. These are pre-teens who scavenge places looted by adult bandits. Thinking that by joining them his chances of returning home will be better, Luis' arrival makes the group a quartet. They soon become fast friends, bound together by their many adventures and their need to fend off the lethal bullying of the adult bandits, in particular the gang led by the sadistic Cacho. Before long, the kid bandits are wreaking havoc in the countryside all on their own. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In the early 1990s, Durango was a heavily forested region of Mexico, remote from citified life, and dependent on logging for income. This drama focuses on lives in transition in a town in the middle of those forests, where for decades the local movie theater has been the source for information and images of life outside the region. Now that satellite dishes are becoming more available, the local cinema is due for a serious cutback in its business. Aurelio has just moved to the town and is already romantically involved with his landlady. A young husband and wife are anxious about their upcoming separation, as the husband intends to seek work in the U.S. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alonso Echanove, Gabriela Roel, (more)
In this historical drama based on Carlos Fuentes' novel, Harriet Winslow (Jane Fonda) is a naive woman who, hoping to broaden her horizons, accepts a job as a governess in Mexico in 1913. However, Harriet unknowingly finds herself thrown into the middle of the Mexican revolution, where she attracts the attentions of two very different men: an elderly American gentleman (Gregory Peck) who has come to Mexico to die, and Tomas Arroyo (Jimmy Smits), a general with Pancho Villa's army of rebels who is fighting for the freedom of his people. The American's attraction to Harriet is more intellectual (though he unmistakably finds her attractive), while Arroyo holds a greater romantic allure to Harriet, who is still a stranger to the ways of love. In time, she gains a new sense of freedom and self-knowledge in Mexico, but while the victories of Villa's forces bring out an unseemly arrogance in Arroyo, Harriet makes a surprising discovery about the Old Gringo -- that he is in fact the fabled author Ambrose Bierce, who vanished years before. Old Gringo was the first American film for director Luis Puenzo, and the next-to-last for star Jane Fonda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Gregory Peck, (more)
- 1988
Aguirre (Omero Antonutti) leads 300 Spanish soldiers and 300 natives in his search for the legendary land of El Dorado in Peru during the year 1560. The expedition is attacked by hostile jungle tribes before mutiny breaks out among the soldiers. The unit is forced to kill and eat their horses to survive, but the leaders of the expedition are also targeted for assassination. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1987
This film came into existence because the screenwriter and director won a 1983 screenplay-writing competition. In the story, a family of eight "Chilangos" are vacationing in the Mexican countryside. "Chilangos" are long-time residents of Mexico City, and they are famed for having loud, quarrelsome, demanding and generally obnoxious behavior when outside their city, similar to the reputation of New Yorkers off their home turf. Quite soon during their vacation, a group of revolutionaries have stolen the family's money, and they are thrown on the mercy of police, politicians, and celebrities looking for opportunities to gain some publicity. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Carlos Ruiz, María Rojo, (more)
Critically acclaimed in its homeland but barely seen stateside, this 1986 Mexican-language Western concerns the dangerous attraction between two rogue horsemen and the woman that comes between them. Its title a potent card-shark metaphor, El Tres de Copas concerns the exploits of Pedro and Damian (Humberto Zurita and Alejandro Camacho), two brothers by family if not by blood, who travel the untamed, post-Mexican War West in search of whatever quick cons they can pull. When the lovely, mysterious Casilda (Gabriela Roel) comes between them, each finds that his loyalty to the other will be put to the test. El Tres de Copas was nominated for numerous Ariel Awards -- the Mexican equivalent of the Academy Awards -- after its release. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humberto Zurita, Alejandro Camacho, (more)
- 1986
Very loosely based on the novel El Astralago by Albertine Sarrazin, this adaptation of his story starts off with the mysterious prostitute Maria (Gabriela Roel) as she escapes from a menacing institution. On her way over the wall that is keeping her from freedom, she breaks her ankle bone (the "astragalo" of the novel's title) but that does not stop her from succeeding in her getaway. She ends up in the city and searches out a friend who can give her shelter. Maria also starts a long relationship with two different men, one of whom she verbally abuses without a trace of regret. More questions are raised than answered in this story, also limned in a 1968 French version, L'Astragale. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriela Roel, Alonso Echanove, (more)
