Romance

After Rocio faints at her birthday party, the young girl who was once so vibrant and full of life is discovered to have a severe heart problem. When the doctor reveals to Rocio's that she has little time left to live, young girl puts on a brave face and attempts to make the most of her final days. Lucerito and Pedrito Fernandez star in a musical drama about living life to its absolute fullest. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The Spanish/Argentinian Of Love and Shadows (De Amor y Sombras) is a fragmentary adaptation of the Isabel Allende novel of the same name. The scene is Chile, during the dictatorial Pinochet regime of the early 1970s. Journalist Jennifer Connelly, insulated from the truth and enjoying the romantic favors of Army officer Camillo Gallardin, prefers to turn a blind eye to the political turmoil all around her. She changes her attitude abruptly when she falls in love with charismatic self-styled anarchist Antonio Banderas. The grim realities depicted in the Allende novel are soft-pedalled in favor of the Connelly-Banderas love story-which, truth to tell, doesn't play very well on screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In post-Franco Spain, a woman is hard-pressed to figure out what the new rules for women are. In this melodrama based on the novel by Almudena Grandes, Malena (newcomer Adriana Gil) explores life and relationships in the ever-changing world she finds herself in. Complicating matters for Malena is the example of her older sister, Reina, who is impeccably well-behaved. What's a girl to do except seek solace in the arms of as many men as possible? As she stumbles from catastrophe to catastrophe, Malena becomes her family's poster-child for what not to do with one's life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Enamorada, Mexican filmmaker Emilio Fernandez' only 1946 effort, was released in the US early the following year. The film's English-language title is A Girl in Love, the girl in question being the ravishing Maria Felix. Set during the Mexican revolution, the story concerns the rocky relationship between the hoydenish, high-born Beatriz (Felix) and revolutionary General Reyes (Pedro Armendariz). Forsworn to kill and/or humiliate any artistocrats in his path, Reyes cannot bring himself to harm Beatriz, whose hatred for the general slowly but surely turns to love. Throughout, Maria Felix is stunningly photographed by Gabriel Figueroa, one of director Fernandez' favorite collaborators. A huge success upon its first release, Enamorada has since become a fixture of the various Spanish-language cable TV services. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A beautiful cabaret dancer struggles to support both herself and her newborn child after being abandoned by the handsome sailor who promised her the world in this romantic drama starring Rose Carmina and Crox Alvarado. Maria Antonia (Carmina) has fallen hard for rugged sailor Fernando (Alvarado), but when it begins to appear that the lovelorn dancer has been abandoned she soon makes the decision to marry Miguel (Ruben Rojo) for the sake of her young child. Now, as Maria attempts to settle into her new life, the discovery that Fernando is alive and married leaves the lovelorn dancer wrestling with an uncertain fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A female documentary director's latest project is to capture her sister's marital difficulties on film in hopes of shedding light on the travails of modern romance. Ostensibly, the film aspires to view the problems from a contemporary female perspective, but the story's end belies its basis in traditional Mexican morality. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, Flores de Otro Mundo is a film about rural life in present-day Spain. A little village with no women and no future organizes a big bachelors' party to which all the single women of the neighborhood are invited. Patricia from the Dominican Republic who has no ID, Milady from Havana who is dying to travel all around the world and Basque Mariroso find themselves on the 'bus of hope' chartered by the village. What follows is a story of social integration and male/female relationships. Director Iciar Bollain is well-known for her career as a leading actress in over 15 films, particularly Victor Erice's El Sur, Manuel Gutierrez Aragon's Malaventura, and Ken Loach's Land and Freedom. Her first film, Hola, Estas sola? (1995), won several international awards. The film was screened in the International Critics' Week of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Billed as a Latina Waiting to Exhale, this film details the life and loves of four Hispanic women: Sofia, a therapist; Andrea, a divorced lawyer; Irene, a flashy clothes designer; and Lilly, an artist. The women gather every week at the nightspot Luminarias to discuss jobs, family, love, and sex. Sofia, who dates white men in the hope of fitting into Anglo culture, becomes smitten with an amorous Mexican waiter. On the other hand, Andrea, who believes that white guys are only interested in Hispanic woman as exotic love toys, finds herself falling for a Jewish lawyer. While Lilly deals with racism from her Korean-American boyfriend's family, sexpot Irene has her own conflicted feelings toward her transvestite brother. Luminarias was screened at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

A man in his early twenties starts thinking about his future and where the woman he loves will figure into it in this romantic comedy-drama from Brazil. It's a cool and rainy night, and Carlos (Murilo Benicio) is waiting outside a movie theater for his girlfriend Julia (Carolina Ferraz) to show up for their date. As Carlos starts to think he's been stood up, his mind wanders, and he finds himself imagining three different scenarios of how Julia might fit into his future. In one, Carlos is a businessman who is married, though not very happily, to a woman named Maria (Beth Goulart). One day, Carlos happens to run into his former girlfriend Julia, and he's soon tempted into infidelity. But does Carlos have the courage to leave Maria and start his life over with Julia? In another daydream, Carlos and Julia were married, but he divorced her when he came out of the closet after falling in love with Pedro (Emilio de Mello). Pedro and Carlos are very happy together, much to the annoyance of Julia, who goes out of her way to make things difficult for her former husband and his new lover. And finally, Carlos imagines himself an overgrown adolescent layabout who still lives with his mom (Irene Ravache) and seems incapable of handling a long-term relationship, though that doesn't stop him from seducing as many women as his circumstances allow. Carlos is urged to consult a computer dating service in hopes of finding a woman he can settle down with; Carlos gives it a try, and discovers his first match is none other that his significant other from college, Julia. Possible Loves was awarded the Latin American Cinema Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

It's said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but one woman finds that her boyfriend's absence makes other men more fond of her in this romantic comedy. Beatriz (Karina Gidi) is a frumpy office worker in a Spanish community who often laments the sad state of her love life, especially compared to that of her sister Laura (Ana Karina Guevara), who runs a rooming house. Beatriz has all but given up on romance when she meets Carlos (Ari Telch) while dining at a local cafe. Carlos seems quite taken with her, and after a few dates, he invites her along for a romantic getaway. Beatriz's heart is quickly stolen away by Carlos, and when he suddenly goes missing, she finds herself pining for him. But while most men in town wouldn't give her a second look before, in Carlos' absence she suddenly cuts a sexy and alluring figure, and is soon dealing with more suitors than she knows how to handle, including her boss (Jose Sefami) and an architect who previously thought he was gay (Daniel Martinez). Karina Gidi's performance in Demasiado Amor earned her Best Actress honors at the 2001 Guadalajara Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One man's search for love takes him on an unexpected journey in this purposefully offbeat romantic comedy, which picks up where Eliseo Subiela's El Lado Oscuro Del Corazon left off. Struggling poet Oliverio (Dario Grandinetti) is still looking for the perfect woman, though his standards are a bit on the high side; he wants a woman whose passion will literally allow him to fly, and those who fail to make the grade disappear down a trap door near his bed. Oliverio is taken with Miranda (Carolina Peleritti), but while he wants love without commitments, she wants a stable relationship, so he sets out to find Ana (Sandra Ballesteros), an upscale prostitute with whom he once had a fiery affair. As it turns out, Ana is willing to offer Oliverio a one-night-stand, but with a daughter to look after, she isn't interested in much more than that. With his constant companions Female Death (Nacha Guevara) and Time (Manuel Bandera) at his side, Oliverio decides to travel to the coast of Spain in hopes of finding Alejandra (Ariadna Gil), a lovely high-wire artist he's seen on a circus poster. Oliverio meets Alejandra and tries to win her heart, but before she'll get involved with him, she demands that he prove his love by performing a dangerous tightrope routine, leaving Oliverio to wonder if this is more commitment than he can handle. Bringing back many of the players and locations from the first film, El Lado Oscuro Del Corazon 2 received its North American premier at the 2001 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide