Angel Alcázar Movies
- 1995
This stylish, taut and unpredictable Spanish thriller is laced with black comedy and social consciousness as it tells the convoluted tale centering on alcoholic, unlucky Gloria Duque, an impoverished Mexico City prostitute. She is first seen performing fellatio on several crooks as they make another drug deal. Something goes awry and violence erupts and two corrupt drug agents and a local gangster die. Eduardo, an Argentine hit man survives and he does not kill Gloria. Just before one of the agents died, he handed Gloria a list of international money-laundering businesses and when things settle down she flies to Madrid, her hometown. There she sees her husband, a bullfighter in an irreversible coma, and begins living off of her mother-in-law's money. Doña Julia cares about her daughter-in-law and tries to get her to give up the booze, go to school and earn a respectable living, but Gloria is stubborn and insists on making it her own way. Unfortunately, her way is to rob a furrier, a front for one of the illicit businesses. Meanwhile, back in Mexico, Eduardo prepares to fly to Spain and complete his latest assignment: to kill Gloria and bring back the valuable list. Fortunately for her, just before Eduardo gets to her, Eduardo sees the light and turns to God instead of killing, but in the end, it is Doña Julia who holds the key to Gloria's final salvation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
The Spanish I'm the One You're Looking For bears echoes of Alfred Hitchcock, though it's unlikely that Hitch would have pushed the envelope as far as director Jaime Chavarri does here. Patricia Adriani plays a beautiful model who is the victim of a brutal rape in a dark section of Barcelona. The violation has an astonishing effect on the young woman. She becomes obsessed with meeting her rapist again, and to that end frequents the seediest of locales and commiserates with the lowest forms of humanity. The question raised here is whether Ms. Adriani is seeking vengeance or some bizarre form of sexual fulfillment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Gonzalo (Arturo Fernández) is a local "playboy" type who has landed in jail and is forced to talk one of the inmates, Gines (Francisco Rabal) into protecting him against the rowdier low-lifes in the prison. Gonzalo promises that when he is on the outside in a few months, he will repay Gines for the protection he needs now. Little does he know that the payment will involve hiring Gines as his gardener -- a gardener who would rather run Gonzalo's business ventures than pull weeds. It is the conflict between the meddling, tough-guy prisoner and the sophisticated Gonzalo that causes the most unexpected results in this comedy about the immiscibility of oil and water. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francisco Rabal, Arturo Fernandez, (more)
- 1983
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angel Alcázar, Maribel Martin, (more)
- 1982
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's films are colorful, sexy, and very funny, and this one is a perfect introduction to his work. An emperor's son, Reza Niro (Imanol Arias), comes to Madrid in disguise and sleeps with Sadeq (Antonio Banderas), an Islamic terrorist with a highly developed sense of smell. Sadeq's group wants to kidnap Reza, who disguises himself as a punk rock singer and falls in love with Sexilia (Cecilia Roth), a nymphomaniac singer for a rival band. There's also a wealthy woman (Helga Line) who wants Reza's sperm for an artificial insemination, a delirious dry-cleaner who sleeps with his own daughter, and other bizarre characters. Almodovar takes delight in intersecting lives, chance meetings, and humor that springs from the strangest of situations. He also has the rare talent of presenting potentially offensive material in such a whimsical and affectionate fashion that no matter what his characters do, the audience loves them as much as he does. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cecilia Roth, Imanol Arias, (more)
