José Luis Borau Movies
José Luis Borau, Spanish director of feature films and television movies, began his entertainment career in the early '60s. After studying law in his native Zaragoza, Spain, Borau worked at Madrid's Ministry of Housing in 1957. In 1960, Borau began studying film direction at the Instituto de Investigaciones y Experiencias de Cinematografia in Madrid. Three years later, Borau released his feature directorial debut, Brandy (1963), a low-budget Western. In 1966, Borau launched his television career for the Spanish TVE network working on episodes of Dichoso Mundo/What a World, which starred stage actress Conchita Montes. Borau moved to the United States and remained there until the mid-'80s while making a movie about Mexican immigrants, Rio Abajo/On the Line. Borau also occasionally appeared in the films of others as an actor; his acting credits include El Juego de la Oca/Snakes and Ladders (1965), Mi Querida Señorita (1971), and Todos a la Cárcel/Everybody to Jail (1993). He won a prestigious Goya award for the drama Leo in 2000. Borau died of throat cancer in November 2012. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1997
While listening to the existential poetry of an elderly philosopher, a middle-aged teacher experiences an epiphany that leads him to abandon his work and his ever-patient girlfriend, who has not told him that she carries his baby, to follow the old man about. After absorbing many of his elder mentor's nihilistic beliefs, the teacher abandons his lover in favor of a beautiful, intelligent priest's daughter. Together, they embark upon a relationship fraught with decadence and debauchery that only leads them to great misery. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Based on a novel by Colombian author Alvaro Mutis, this frothy adventure chronicles the exploits of an unlikely trio of wanderers trying to earn money in Panama City during the 1950s. As the film opens, the three have been separated. The dashing Marqroll is aboard a ship that gets confiscated in port. While marooned, he wanders the city and runs into his good friend, the vivacious Macedonian-Polish traveler Illona who lives a splendid life after having sold a lucrative South African nightclub. Upon learning that their Lebanese compatriot Abdul has been imprisoned for smuggling, the two conspire to spring him. Afterward, they decide to help Abdul buy the tramp steamer he has always wanted. To do this, they open up a brothel. It's a big success and their goal is in sight until they hire on the mysterious Larissa as their newest shady lady. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1988
Manuel (Miguel Molina) is a young man who feels depressed for unspecified reasons while having his dinner one night. While sitting in the dentist's chair, he witnesses the murder of a young woman thrown off the top of a building. Manuel is silent about the incident but later encounters the estranged husband and killer of the victim, and the murderer slashes Manuel's face with a knife and is arrested. The uneven story is told in flashbacks. The feature was greeted with a cacophony of boos from disgruntled viewers at the 1988 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miguel Molina, Richard Lintern, (more)
- 1986
Tata (Imperio Argentina) is a matronly nurse hired by a wealthy heiress who has spent the last 13 years in a convent. Fearing she is prone to nymphomania, Tata oversees the romantic antics of the sex-starved woman as she attempts to rejoin society. Satirical jabs at the military government, the aristocracy, and the Church highlight this comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Imperio Argentina, Alfredo Landa, (more)
Essentially a tale of romance mixed in with a dash of politics, this engrossing story involves Engracia (Victoria Abril), a young Mexican prostitute working just south of the border with the U.S., and two American border guards who are among her clients: Mitch (Scott Wilson), a tough, go-by-the-book Anglo who has no deep affection for Mexicans, and Chuck (Jeff Delgar), an idealistic new border guard who has yet to learn the ropes. In a few instances, the film exposes the prejudice against Mexicans, but otherwise, politics is secondary to what happens next. Chuck falls in love with Engracia, and the two get married in Mexico -- and then he smuggles her across the border that he himself has been hired to guard. Sure enough, the vile Mitch gets into the act and quite clearly, both Chuck and Engracia are heading for trouble. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Scott Wilson, (more)
- 1979
A British writer goes to live in a Spanish village while he looks into the mysterious life of a 19th century wanderer who was allegedly slain by La Sabina, a mythical lady dragon. The writer becomes lovers with an American visitor and then falls in love with an enigmatic beauty from town. Things get really confusing when the writer's good friend arrives with his wife. When the writer's all-out campaign to seduce the local woman fails, tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carol Kane, Jon Finch, (more)
- 1978
Deeply layered with much symbolic and allegorical material, the generally non-narrative events in this film revolve around Ana (Ana Belen) a girl who has been diagnosed with a terminal case of cancer. In one scene, she is injured in a Madrid Public library when a police horse crashes through a plate glass window. The police have just been violently dealing with protestors who are objecting to the state's handling of the trials of six men accused of involvement in the death of a policeman. In another scene, a man claims he can cure her of cancer, but she must turn her mind over to him. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ana Belén, Norman Brisky, (more)
- 1977
- R
This shocking film would have been impossible to make just two years before, in 1975. It tells the story of a group of right-wing terrorists, led by a strangely seductive older woman, whose destructive attacks on anyone it considers to have betrayed Spain to any form of leftism are cynically ignored by the police. The main story is about Tatin (Jose Luis Alonso), a 15-year-old young man, a hanger-on and newcomer to the group, who longs to participate in his first action against the hated "reds." ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- José Luis Alonso, Maria Luisa Ponte, (more)
- 1976
In 1976, having completed two praiseworthy projects for Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura, Geraldine Chaplin journeyed to Spain to appear in Enrique Braso's In Memoriam. Her contribution to the film is secondary to that of Jose Luis Gomez, who play Julio Montero, a man tormented by his past. In pre-war Madrid, Julio, a painfully shy writer, is competing for the love of Paulina (Chaplin), but cannot bring himself to speak. Instead, another witer, a flamboyant hothead, asks for and wins her love. Julio then leaves Madrid for Cambridge. It is not until he returns many year later that he learns to his horror that Paulina's lover murdered her in a fit of jealous rage, after she had come from seeing him off on his journey to Cambridge. The same year that he appeared in In Memoriam, Jose Luis Gomez won the Cannes Festival "best actor" award for his work in Pascal Duarte. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Geraldine Chaplin, José Luis Gómez, (more)
- 1975
In this complex drama, a drifter brings his new girlfriend home for a visit. The girl's real flame is an escaped convict, who looks her up. Before she can leave with her convict lover, the drifter's mother kills her. Even though the mother had an incestuous relationship with her son, the son is determined to kill his mother, believing that she killed his one true love. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ovidi Montllor
- 1973
At first glance, we were prepared to designate B Must Die as a hybrid TV feature, consisting of two episodes of either The Outsider or Night Stalker. That's because the star of this obscure entry is Darren McGavin, who also headlined the two aforementioned weekly series. Further research revealed, however, that McGavin's character name in B Must Die is "Pal", which doesn't jive with either Outsider or Kolchak. Then we discovered that the film was a tax-writeoff action drama, boasting a convoluted storyline about a political/industrial rebellion in an unnamed South American country. Patricia Neal and Burgess Meredith costar in B Must Die. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1971
This strange film takes the story of a Spanish country matron into new ground. Adela (Jose Luis Lopes Vasquez) lives a conservative life in her village with her maid. When she scolds her maid for having an affair, the indignant maid runs off to Madrid. Adela receives the courtship of a local businessman, but, after accepting his engagement ring, she is disgusted by his further advances. Disturbed by this, she follows her priest's advice to seek psychiatric help. The psychiatrist, a doctor, tells her that she is, in fact, a man. Adela, horrified, cannot bear to return to her village and takes up life in Madrid as Juan. Her identification papers list her as a woman, and she must improvise in order to survive. There is a lot more to this odd story, made odder still because it is not a comedy, but a romantic drama. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1964
This intriguing spaghetti western was co-directed by Jose Luis Borau and Mario Caiano. The story concerns a group of corrupt Tombstone officials who extort protection money from the town's citizens. When the sheriff attempts to interfere, they hire a hitman named Moody (Robert Hundar) to murder him then install a puppet sheriff in his place. Unfortunately for the villains, they choose the town drunk, Brandy (Alex Nicol), who sobers up enough to take the job seriously. With the aid of an ex-bandit (Antonio Casas) and the people of Tombstone, Sheriff Brandy takes down not only Moody, but the thuggish town bosses as well. Margaret Grayson, Jorge Rigaud, and Giuseppe Addobbati co-star, and prolific composer Riz Ortolani provided the soundtrack. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
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