The Penguin Lessons: an unlikely friendship leads to personal and social transformation
Peter Cattaneo, “The Penguin Lessons” (2024) At first this film appears no more than a light, gentle comedy about a teacher upstaged by a penguin. In…
Spanish Films
Reviews of interesting Spanish-language or Spanish-produced films from Spain.
The Room Next Door: a flat and hollow treatment of voluntary euthanasia
Pedro Almodóvar, “The Room Next Door” (2024) Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature film addresses the issue of voluntary euthanasia / suicide and its effects…
Alien Supremacy: a brutally minimalist film with a shock surprise
Felix M Aller, “Alien Supremacy” (April 2017) One of many numerous fan-fiction films based on the original Alien quadrilogy begun by Ridley Scott and continued by…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, Spanish Films
The Fisherman: character study of outsider-turned-superhero in alien invasion short
Alejandro Suarez Lozano, “The Fisherman” (2015) A cleverly made and succinct little SF horror film set in Hong Kong, “The Fisherman” combines a character study that…
Pain and Glory: a self-referential film of an artist entering a winter of discontent
Pedro Almodovar, “Pain and Glory” (2019) A film investigating how creation can be inspired by personal memories and suffering, “Pain and Glory” is a fiction biographical…
Ana by Day: exploring identity and the limits of freedom and pursuing one’s dreams
Andrea Jaurrieta, “Ana by Day / Ana de Dia” (2017) You feel vaguely dissatisfied with and trapped by your life as a lawyer studying for a…
The Bookshop: one-dimensional characters and a pedestrian plot in a kitsch provincial English setting
Isabel Coixet, “The Bookshop” (2017) Directed by a Catalan-Spanish director, this film exudes provincial English kitsch in its setting, its stereotyped and sometimes frosty characters, and…
The Impossible: a real human story is the ultimate victim in this pedestrian disaster movie
Juan Antonio Bayona, “The Impossible / Lo Impossible” (2012) Someone should have told Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts before they signed up to this film the…
German and German-language Films, Spanish Films
The Diadem / MiniKillers: two trashy films that highlight how good a good actor can be
?, “The Diadem” (1966) Wolfgang von Chmielewski, “MiniKillers” (1969) Two curious short films from Germany and Spain respectively, both feature the English actor Diana Rigg in…
28 Weeks Later: film has more Swiss-cheese holes than the zombies make in their victims
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, “28 Weeks Later” (2007) On paper it looked like a good idea: a sequel to the original zombies-on-the-run flick “28 Days Later” by…