La Ardilla Roja (The Red Squirrel) (1993)
Part of the Spanish Film Season
| Director: | Julio Medem |
|---|---|
| Certificate: | BBFC 18 |
| Length: | |
| Format: | 35mm |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Country: |
"Writer/director Medem makes the most of his premise with a taut, sexy thriller that hovers just the right side of plausibility. Another sign that he's a worthy successor to Almodovar's throne." - CHANNEL 4
THE PLOT
Whilst about to commit suicide a desperate musician is offered another chance when he is forced to help a woman who crashes nearby. She loses her memory so he imagines a new life for both of them.
REVIEWS
"Julio Medem presents a clever and insightful film on the nature of love and illusion in Red Squirrel. " - FILMREF.COM
"Writer/director Medem makes the most of his premise with a taut, sexy thriller that hovers just the right side of plausibility. Another sign that he's a worthy successor to Almodovar's throne." - CHANNEL 4
PRIZES
- Cannes Film Festival: Winner of Award of the Youth
- Bogota Film Festival: Best Film
- Goya Awards (equivalent to BAFTAs) - Best Score
- Gerardmer Film Festival: Critics Award and Special Jury Prize
DIRECTOR: JULIO MEDEM
Julio Medem is seen as one of the most important Spanish film directors at the moment.
Here are a few facts:
- Born in 1958 in the Basque Country
- Made only 6 feature films in the past 20 years: Vacas (Cows, 1991), La Ardilla Roja (1993, The Red Squirrel), Tierra (Earth, 1996), Los Amantes des Circulo Polar (The Lovers of the Arctic Circle, 1998), Sex and Lucia (Lucia y el Sexo, 2001), Caotica Anna (1997).
- Sex and Lucia is the film that gave him international recgnition - huge popular success over the world, despite mixed reviews
- His films have a very partticular style and atmosphere, full of dream, magic and mysterious illusions. He has been compared to Bunuel.
- In 2003 he made a documentary called La Pelota Vasca, la Piel contra la Piedra, about Basque nationalism. That documentary was heavily criticised in Spain for being pro-terrorism, although Medem defended himself against it.
Other films in the Spanish Film Season:
16
Film: Laberinto De Pasiones (Labyrinth Of Passion) (1982)
16 Apr 2010, 7:30 p.m.
You shouldn't miss this rare chance to glimpse early Almodovar, from an era when he was a filmmaker like John Waters.
22
Film: Huevos De Oro (Golden Balls) (1993)
22 Apr 2010, 7:30 p.m.
A satire on macho culture and 80s excess, it's a rise and fall sex comedy which seems to represent perfectly a certain vintage of Spanish Film.
29
Film: Toreomolinos 73 (2003)
29 Apr 2010, 7:30 p.m.
A serious and apparently straight laced encyclopedia salesman's career takes a new turn making soft core porn, with his wife.