Maribel Verdú Movies

A hopeless, bleak mood hangs over this heavy drama about three teens in San Sebastian, a port city on the Bay of Biscay in the Basque country of Spain. Covert references are made to political issues like the miseries of shipyard workers and to the police as rather brusque and hard-nosed. Drugs are rampant in the lower orders of city life; one of the teens has dropped out of high school and is a user, as is his girlfriend. He survives by stealing and by handouts from his family, who nevertheless want nothing to do with him. No matter how much a third teen friend tries to get this couple to give up the habit, nothing works. The ultimate question, though not emphasized here, may be who is really responsible for what happens to this unfortunate young couple. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This Spanish film, shot in the lovely Huesca region, pokes gentle fun at the showbiz aspirations of five monks in a lonely monastery. When the grouchy old screenwriter cannot meet his deadline for the script for a new and already dull movie, he and his partner end up sequestered in a Spanish monastery. The five monks cannot help but add their two pesos worth every chance they get. The screenwriter also finds unwanted advice from the town baker who believes the script, which was set in 19th-century Scotland and written for Sean Connery, would be more interesting if it were a modern Spanish story with local settings. The baker, a pretty young woman, has many great ideas for the film. She, the screenwriter and his partner end up in a triangle that parallels the triangle in the story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Someone in a black minstrel suit is killing all of the flunky students at a university in Salamanca, Spain, and it's up to a new student, Alex (Silke), to piece the puzzle together before the next post-exam death. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

This uplifting film, set in a 19th-century Spanish convent, quietly comments upon the limitations of leading the spiritual and isolated life of a nun. The peaceful routine of the nuns is interrupted by the sudden arrival of an abandoned baby girl. The girl, whom they named Teresa after the Mother Superior, is formally adopted by the town doctor, but is actually raised by the loving hands of the nuns. The film follows their experiences as they learn a more earthly form of love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A pair of pink-collar workers short on cash decide to try a new part-time job -- bank robbery -- in this comedy. Lola (Ariana Ozores) and Silvia (Maribel Verdu) are two working-class women who are also best friends. Lola works on the cleaning crew at a bank and sometimes does odd jobs for her friend Maite (Carmen Maura), while Silvia is a beautician who is expecting a baby. Lola was once married to Gustavo (Jaime Pujol), a policeman, and while he wants to give their relationship another try, Lola isn't interested. His family hasn't been on good terms with Lola since the divorce, and one day they decide to evict her from the house she's been renting from Gustavo. Short on money and with few options, Lola and Silvia get the idea to rob the bank where Lola works. While Lola has access to the keys, she discovers the bank's funds aren't where she thought they were; determined to find out where the money is hidden, Silvia helps groom Lola into a sexy temptress so she can lure information from the bank's manager (Juan Gea) and give the robbery another try. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Carlos Saura, one of the finest and most distinctive filmmakers in the Spanish cinema, wrote and directed this biographical epic concerning one of Spain's greatest artists, the painter Francisco de Goya y Lucientes. On his deathbed, Goya (Francisco Rabal), attended by his mistress, Leocadia (Eulalia Ramon) and their daughter, Rosario (Dafne Fernandez), is plagued by hallucinations and frequent visions of the beautiful Cayetana (Maribel Verdu) as his mind reels through the events of his life. As a young man, Goya (played in his younger days by Jose Coronado) became the court painter to King Charles and the Royal Family, where he created technically skillful but uninteresting portraits and was invited to a number of royal functions. At one such affair, Goya first met Cayetana, the Duchess of Alba, and he was immediately smitten; they became lovers, and she was both the subject and inspiration of several major works, including "Desnuda" and "La Maja Vestida." Goya's work developed a dark undercurrent after Napoleon invaded Spain and he took up with Leocadia, creating disturbing images that alienated his patrons and frightened his children. In time, the decline of the court and a changing political climate forced Goya to seek exile in France in 1824, where he would die four years later. Goya In Bordeaux was a project that Saura had dreamed of filming for years, and he was ably assisted in recreating the look of Goya's paintings by master cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Alberto Sciamma's psychological thriller Jericho Mansions stars James Caan as Leonard Gray, the superintendent of the apartment building that gives the film its title. He has devoted his life to the building and to its many tenants; however, the denizens of the building begin to turn on him. A murder in the building leads to the police believing Leonard committed the crime. Leonard must figure out the conspiracy attempting to bring him down before it is too late. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, much of this somber drama centers on Rafael, a kindly but emotionally-distant butcher who has avoided people after accidentally castrating himself while cutting meat several years before. He has since considered himself unmanned and therefore undesirable to women. One day he sees a young man beating up his lover and can't help but intervene. Taking pity on the girl, he takes her to his home. Her name is Marina and she tells Rafael how she and her boyfriend Daniel grew up in a terrible environment without parental guidance. She also tells him that she is pregnant. Rafael treats the troubled girl with kindness and she responds by proving that there is more than one way to be a man and to experience love. In this way, the two find healing and happiness raising Marina's daughter. Years later, their happiness is nearly destroyed by the sudden return of the ultra macho Daniel. Caring nothing for Marina, nor his child, he only wants a place to live. Though he knows that Marina has strong, unresolved feelings for Daniel, Rafael does not want to lose her and so allows Daniel to stay. With only lifetimes of strife in common, the three lonely, disaffected adults thus form an uneasy family which must cope with painful issues and choices. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

At a time when the growing chasm between the rich and the poor appears to be slowly tearing Mexico - and many other Latin countries - apart, first time filmmaker Rodrigo Plá highlights just how isolationism breeds fear in many wealthy communities. Alejandro (Daniel Tovar) lives with his father Daniel (Daniel Giménez Cacho) and his mother Mariana Maribel Verdú) in an isolated community known as La Zona. La Zona is home to the most privileged citizens in Mexico, but with all of the gates and closed circuit cameras it feels more like a million dollar prison than a typical neighborhood. Eventually, a group of disadvantaged teenagers manage to break into La Zona. As the members of the community scramble to protect their families at any cost, one of the teenaged burglars, a frightened boy named Miguel (Alan Chávez), seeks cover in the basement of Alejandro's home as his friends scatter. Later, when Alejandro discovers the young fugitive, the privileged boy's growing empathy for the petty thief and murder suspect leads him to question the values imposed on him by his father as well as the many other isolationists who have taught him to fear his fellow countrymen. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Vicente Aranda's Lovers is set in Spain, mostly in Madrid, during the 1950s. The story line is reminiscent of Theodore Dreiser's classic An American Tragedy (which was filmed as A Place in the Sun), wherein a passive, amoral, and shallow protagonist inadvertently destroys the lives of two women who love him. The handsome Paco (Jorge Sanz, who also starred in Belle Epoque and has been called "the Spanish Tom Cruise") is a young soldier involved with a virginal maid, Trini (Maribel Verdu of Y Tu Mama Tambien). Trini is saving her money and planning for their wedding, but Paco tells her not to worry, that he will find a job and save money for them. Paco leaves the army, but has trouble finding and keeping a steady job. He ends up renting a cheap room from Luisa (Spanish superstar Victoria Abril, best known for her work in Pedro Almodovar's films), a beautiful and mysterious widow. Before long, Luisa has seduced the sexually frustrated Paco, and involved him in her moneymaking scams. Trini quickly figures out what is going on, and makes a desperate effort to win back Paco's affection. Paco is obsessed with the sexually experienced and voracious older woman, but is unable to break off his long-term relationship with Trini. He attempts to string them both along, with disastrous results. The film was the first of veteran filmmaker Aranda to get a theatrical release in the United States, thanks largely to Abril's star power, and caused a minor sensation with its sexual explicitness, in particular the infamous "handkerchief scene." ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide