¡Ay, Carmela! (1990)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.1/10   

Director:

Carlos Saura

Escritores:

Rafael Azcona (writer)
José Sanchís Sinisterra (play)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

8 febrero 1991 (USA)

Género:

Drama | Guerra

Plot:

Paulino and Carmela are husband and wife, troubadours touring the countryside during the Spanish Civil War...

Plot Keywords:

Spanish Civil War | Female Nudity | Tragicomedy | Spain | Lieutenant

Premios:

22 wins & 6 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

A good cast, script could be better though 7/10

Reparto

Carmen Maura	...	Carmela
Andrés Pajares	...	Paulino
Gabino Diego	...	Gustavete
Maurizio De Razza	...	Lt. Ripamonte
José Sancho	...	Capitán
Mario De Candia	...	Bruno
Miguel Rellán	...	Teniente interrogador
Edward Zentara	...	Polish Officer
Rafael Díaz	...	Centinela
Chema Mazo	...	Alcalde
Antonio Fuentes	...	Alferez artillero
Mario Martín	...	Cacique
Emilio del Valle	...	Cabo Cardoso
Silvia Casanova	...	Mujer presa
Alfonso Guirao	...	Campesino

Duración:

102 min

País:

Spain | Italy

Idioma:

Español | Polaco | Italiano

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sonido:

Ultra Stereo

Clasificación:

Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Iceland:L | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Locaciones de Filmación:

Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, Spain

Compañía:

Ellepi Films

Conexiones de Película:

Version of ¡Ay, Carmela! (2000) (TV)

Banda de Sonido:

Suspiros de España

A good cast, script could be better though 7/10

Spain, 1938: The Republicans (the good guys) are at Civil War with the Nationalist Fascists (the bad guys), led by General Francisco Franco (the baddest). Entertaining the good-guy troops is a rag-tag theatrical troupe consisting of Carmela (Carmen Maura), her lover Paulino (Andres Pajares) and their gofer, the mute Gustavete (Gabino Diego). Carmela & Co. aren't all that intellectual or idealistic, but their narcissistic hearts are basically in a politically correct place and they seem to enjoy giving the Republican guys a few laughs and the odd tear; no one appears to notice, or to mind, that they aren't really all that good.

Directed by Carlos Saura, best known for the caliente flamenco films Carmen and Blood Wedding, Ay, Carmela! has rather too much in common with Carmela's company. It's technically rag-tag and droopy, neither analytical enough to be challenging nor sensual enough to be exciting. Conceived as a cross between Bye Bye Brazil and Mother Courage, it ends up a politicized Goodbye, Dolly!. That's a movie that the dazzlingly talented, irreverent pixie Pedro Almodovar (Women on the Verge of a Ner vous Breakdown) might have been able to bring off, but not the relatively flat-footed Saura.

The star of Ay, Carmela!, Carmen Maura, became famous through her work with Almodovar, of course, and she's fitfully amusing here, doing her Carmen Miranda"Susan Hayward routine, but Rafael Azcona's see-through script merely serves to expose her flaws as a dramatic actress (she's great at extremes, not so hot at normal behaviour).

The rest of the cast falls victim to that same flimsy script, which wafts toward a teary climax as easy to forecast as rain in Vancouver. For indigenous audiences - the picture has been a big hit in Spain - the movie is no doubt important and moving, presenting as it does the reality of a war hidden for many years by Franco's repression. But for the rest of us, it's merely an attempt to translate a history we already know into a kind of entertainment we've seen too many times. Ay, Carmela, and adios. Conrad Alton, Filmbay Editor.