Jose Bodalo Movies

Director José Luis Garci has turned his camera inward on filmmakers and screenwriters to portray them as so self-absorbed in the creative process that there is no other world, no other human relationship that can compete. As José (Adolfo Marsillach) and Federico (Jesus Puente) work together on a new screenplay, their interactions with their family (José's teen daughters, Federico's wife) disappear under the all-consuming task of creation. The daughters give up and go off on their own, and the wife joins a convent while Federico barely notices. And when the producer is interrupted by profound grief at the sudden death of his older son, he almost automatically returns to thinking about the film project when the funeral has ended. Garci honors many great directors at the beginning of this film, and the film continues to play out as an elaboration on this homage -- an illustration both of the dedication and the cost of filmmaking, no judgments given. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Set in Barcelona at the end of the 1950s, this melodrama revolves around a swaggering, petty criminal who tries to impress with his motorcycle skills and black leathers as he seduces one of the servants in a wealthy family and then goes after the blond daughter of the household. His plans are destroyed when the servant becomes hospitalized and eventually dies of unknown causes, catalyzing the rich family to send their daughter away and go after the young hoodlum to end his days of delinquency. Undistinguished in its script and the interpretations of the main protagonists, this film does not hold attention securely enough to keep it from slipping. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Released in Spain as Volver a Empezar, To Begin Again features Antonio Ferrandis as a celebrated Spanish author. Returning to his homeland after being more or less exiled during the 1937 Civil War, Ferrandis crosses the path of his former love, Encarna Paso. Alas, Ferrandis is suffering from one of those unnamed terminal illnesses that infest high-gloss movie weepers of this kind. To Begin Again won a 1982 Oscar for Best Foreign Film. The little-known Jose Luis Garci was the film's "auteur," wearing several hats as producer, director, and co-scenarist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A Native American working for the government must investigate the Indian Commissioner's death. Soon he uncovers the schemes of a wealthy land owner and an assassination plot which will further victimize the local natives. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

This is an English-dubbed version of the Spanish and Italian-made 1967crime action feature, also released with the name The Narco Men. It stars Tom Tryon, who shortly after this period left acting completely and went on to become a quite successful novelist. Harry Bell (Tryon) is an Interpol agent who has been framed and sent to prison. On his release, he finds work with a gangster who is desperate to recover some stolen heroin. If he fails to find the drugs, he will be killed. Along the way, Harry seeks to find the woman who framed him. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Sergio Corbucci crafted one of the most popular and widely imitated of the Italian "spaghetti westerns" of the 1960s with this violent but stylish action saga. A mysterious man named Django (Franco Nero) arrives in a Mexican border town dragging a small coffin behind him. When he attempts to save a woman who is being attacked by a group of bandits, he finds himself in the middle of a conflict between Mexican gangsters and racist Yankee thugs, with the innocent townspeople and a fortune in Mexican gold stuck somewhere in between. Django becomes a force to be reckoned with when it's discovered his coffin actually contains a Gatling gun. Django proved so popular in Europe that over 30 sequels and follow-ups were produced, though Franco Nero would not return to the role until 1987's Django 2: Il Grande Ritorno (the only sequel endorsed by Corbucci), which proved to be the last film in the series. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi