Ten Spanish films from 2012 to see in 2013:

   As I said in my ‘Top 5 of 2012’ post, I tend to see Spanish films a year or so after their original release –here are ten from 2012 that I hope to fix my eyes on in 2013.
[If there is no official English language title, I’ve put a translation in square brackets]

Blancanieves / Snow White
Director: Pablo Berger
Cast: Maribel Verdú, Macarena García, Sofia Oria, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Pere Ponce, José María Pou, Inma Cuesta, Ángela Molina.
This appeared on my list of films to see in 2012, but it hasn’t reached DVD yet so I’m still waiting. It is representing Spain at the Oscars in 2013 and I’m hoping that if it makes the shortlist then it might get a theatrical release in the UK.

El artista y la modelo / The Artist and the Model

Director: Fernando Trueba

Cast: Jean Rochefort, Aida Folch, Claudia Cardinale.

This seemed to get mixed reviews in Spain but the black and white cinematography looks sumptuous in the trailer and Trueba’s name is always a mark of quality for me.

El cuerpo / The Body

Director: Oriol Paulo

Cast: Jose Coronado, Hugo Silva, Belén Rueda, Aura Garrido.

The directorial debut of one of the writers of Los ojos de Julia / Julia’s Eyes (Guillem Morales, 2010). I haven’t read all that much about it (it was only released in early December) but it sounds intriguing – the body of a rich woman (Rueda) disappears from the morgue before the autopsy can take place. How did she die? A detective (Coronado) investigates both the disappearance and the events leading up to her death. 

El muerto y ser feliz / The Dead Man and Being Happy

Director: Javier Rebollo

Cast: José Sacristán, Roxana Blanco.

Buenos Aires. Sacristán plays a hired assassin, a Spaniard who has spent half of his life in Argentina. When he discovers that he is dying, he absconds from the hospital with a supply of morphine and heads out on the road with no particular destination in mind…

Rebollo’s previous film, La mujer sin piano / Woman without Piano (2009), was very distinctive, so I’m interested to see where he has gone next and Sacristán has been picking up awards for his performance in this black comedy.

El mundo es nuestro / [The World is Ours]

Director: Alfonso Sánchez

Cast: Alfonso Sánchez, Alberto López, Olga Martínez, Pepa Díaz Meca, Antonia Gómez.

I don’t know much about this one – I was aware of it appearing on Filmin with some fanfare and its reputation as something of an online phenomenon. But it has been appearing on multiple Spanish end-of-year lists and topped the readers’ poll of Spanish films in El País – so I’d better catch up with it. 

Fin / The End

Director: Jorge Torregrossa

Cast: Maribel Verdú, Clara Lago, Daniel Grao, Antonio Garrido, Blanca Romero.

A reunion between old friends is interrupted by an incident that leaves them cut off from the outside world. As they try to reach help cracks their relationships come under pressure and the group starts to disintegrate….

Invasor / [Invader]

Director: Daniel Calparsoro

Cast: Alberto Ammann, Antonio de la Torre, Karra Elejalde, Inma Cuesta.

Thriller. A soldier (Ammann) awakes from a serious accident that took place during his time in Iraq. But as his memory returns, he realises that his memories do not tally with the official record of events…

Madrid 1987

Director: David Trueba

Cast: José Sacristán, María Valverde.

I don’t know that much about what transpires in this one –only that the trailer suggests that it is mainly a conversation between Sacristán and Valverde that takes place when their characters become locked in a bathroom together.

Sueño y silencio / Dream and Silence

Director: Jaime Rosales

Cast: Oriol Rosselló, Yolanda Galocha.

Black and White. Oriol and Yolanda live in Paris with their two daughters. While on holiday in Spain an accident leaves one child dead and Oriol with no memory of their late daughter. 

Una pistola en cada mano / A Gun in Each Hand

Director: Cesc Gay

Cast: Javier Cámara, Ricardo Darín, Eduard Fernández, Jordi Mollà, Eduardo Noriega, Alberto San Juan, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Luis Tosar, Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, Candela Peña, Clara Segura, Leonor Watling.

This was also on my list of forthcoming (2012) projects I wanted to see but it has only recently been released in Spain. A comedy about modern men –my main reasons for wanting to see it are Cesc Gay’s involvement and those men onscreen.

Next week there will be a post about ten new films due to arrive in 2013.

Ten Spanish Films Due to Arrive in 2012

Blancanieves

These are films that were in production last year (or are in production at the moment), so I'm hoping that they will be released this year (although there is a film on the list that I thought would be out in 2011, so this isn't foolproof logic). These are the films that have caught my eye and piqued my interest -I may hear of others as the year goes on, but at the start of 2012 this is a good list to be getting on with. In many cases I don't know that much about the plot aside from an idea as to the genre; the people (directors, actors, or a combination of the two) involved are generally what has attracted my attention. Quite a few of them are due for release in the first few months of the year, so I may do an update post (or a ‘Part Two’) later in 2012. 

[Note: If the title translation appears in square brackets then it is my (literal) translation -translations without brackets are the productions' official English-language titles]

Blancanieves [Snow White] (dir. Pablo Berger)

Cast: Maribel Verdú, Macarena García, Sofia Oria, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Pere Ponce, Ángela Molina.

Silent Melodrama. There are several US retellings of the Snow White story due for release in 2012, but this one is set in 1930s Madrid and is filmed in black and white. Oh, and it's silent as well (with a score by Alberto Iglesias) -they are planning to take the film on a tour of Spanish theatres accompanied by an orchestra. Above is one of the first images of Maribel Verdú as the evil stepmother -more photos (including the one at the top of the post) can be found on the film's Facebook page. It looks like a ravishingly beautiful film. Due for release in March.

Extraterrestre / Extraterrestrial (dir. Nacho Vigalondo)

Cast: Julián Villagrán, Michelle Jenner, Carlos Areces.

Sci-fi Romcom. This appeared on last year's 'to watch' list but only appeared at film festivals -it is due for release in Spain in March 2012 (and will hopefully get a release here later in the year).

Grupo 7 [Group 7] (dir. Alberto Rodríguez)

Cast: Antonio de la Torre, Mario Casas, Joaquin Núñez, Inma Cuesta, Julián Villagrán.

Action Drama.  Seville, 1980s. From what I've heard so far, this might be Training Day a la española: a new officer (Casas) joins an established police drug task-force dominated by an officer (de la Torre) who doesn't play by the rulebook. The teaser trailer can be found on the film’s official blog. Due for release in April.

Katmandú, un espejo en el cielo / Katmandu, a mirror in the sky (dir. Icíar Bollaín)

Cast: Verónica Echegui

Drama. A young Catalan woman travels to Nepal to teach English and is changed by what she finds. She in turn changes the lives of those around her. The majority of Bollaín's films prioritise the female POV and centre on strong women -this is very appealing to me. I also think that Echegui is a star on the rise, and am interested to see what the pair achieve working together. Due for release in February.

La chispa de la vida / As Luck Would Have It (dir. Álex de la Iglesia)

Cast: José Mota, Salma Hayek, Fernando Tejero, Blanca Portillo, Juan Luis Galiardo.

Comedy. A media circus centres on an advertising exec (Mota) who is stuck in a life and death situation (judging from the trailer, this is partly of his own making). With no-one in agreement as to how to move him without killing him, he decides to take the media's money for exclusive coverage so that he can at least guarantee his family's economic future -I'd imagine that the situation deteriorates from then on. As I said in the Random Viewing post that featured Balada triste de trompeta, that film seems like a culmination of certain aspects of de la Iglesia's work; I'm intrigued to see where he has gone next with this new film. Due for release 3rd January.

La montaña rusa [The Russian Mountain] (dir. Emilio Martínez-Lázaro)

Cast: Verónica Sánchez, Ernesto Alterio, Alberto San Juan.

Romcom. Three childhood friends (two male, one female) reencounter each other many years later -a love triangle develops. I enjoyed the El otro lado de la cama films, and this reunites many of the same team.

Las Olas / The Waves (dir. Alberto Morais)

Cast: Carlos Álvarez-Nóvoa, Laia Marull, Armando Aguire, Sergio Caballero.

Drama. A road trip film of sorts as an 80-year-old man (Álvarez-Nóvoa) sets off on a journey into his past after the death of his wife; a film about memory, loss, and coming to terms with the past. I first heard mention of it when it played at the London Film Festival last autumn -it's due a commercial release in Spain in January.

Silencio en la nieve [Silence in the Snow] (dir. Gerardo Herrero)

Cast: Juan Diego Botto, Carmelo Gómez, Jordi Aguilar, Víctor Clavijo, Sergi Calleja, Francesc Orella, Adolfo Fernández, Andrés Gertrudix, Manu Hernández, Javier Mejía. 

Historical Thriller. Set in the Winter of 1943 and the hunt for a serial killer amongst the 'División Azul', the Spanish military volunteers allowed by Franco to fight alongside the German Army on the Russian Front. Trailer. Due for release in January.

Todo es silencio [Everything is Silence] (dir. José Luis Cuerda)

Cast: Quim Gutiérrez, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Celia Frejeiro, Juan Diego.

Thriller, based on the novel by Manuel Rivas. Cuerda supposedly retired after his last film, the excellent Los girasoles ciegos / The Blind Sunflowers (2008), but he's back with this story set against the backdrop of drug-trafficking and its impact (of the 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' variety) on a small coastal town. Childhood friends find themselves on opposite sides of the law in adulthood, and in love with the same woman.... [no images as yet].

Una pistola en cada mano [A Pistol in Each Hand] (dir. Cesc Gay)

Cast: Eduardo Noriega, Leonor Watling, Luis Tosar, Javier Cámara, Candela Peña, Eduard Fernández, Alberto San Juan, Clara Segura.

Comedy. I've seen few story details so far, but it appears to be a comedy about the modern man. Gay's Ficción (2007) is one my favourite films from recent years and this has to be one of the best cast lists of the year. [no images as yet].