IMDb on iPhone and iPod touch Learn more Learn more Download from the App Store
IMDb > Siesta (1987)
Siesta
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
5.2/10   1,027 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Contact:
View company contact information for Siesta on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 November 1987 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The time of day when mystery and passion become one.
Plot:
Claire (an American) wakes up in a terrible state at the end of a runway in Spain. As she tries to account for her state (blood-soaked and bruised)... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
3 nominations more
User Comments:
some interesting stuff going on here, but time might be better spent on the novel? more (32 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ellen Barkin ... Claire

Gabriel Byrne ... Augustine

Julian Sands ... Kit

Isabella Rossellini ... Marie

Martin Sheen ... Del
Grace Jones ... Conchita

Jodie Foster ... Nancy
Gary Cady ... Roger
Graham Fletcher-Cook ... Gary
Daniel Martín ... Beaten Spaniard
Fabián Conde ... Injured Spaniard
José María Cañete ... Ticket Agent #1
Jaime Doria ... Detective #1
José Teodoro ... Ticket Agent #2
Frank Braña ... Park Policeman
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
Germany:93 min | Portugal:100 min | USA:97 min | Argentina:99 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
'Mary Lambert (I)' had also directed 'Madonna''s "La Isla Bonita" music video the same year in exactly the same city. The exteriors in the music video are identical to the ones in this movie. more
Quotes:
Kit: WE all thought the show would be a success, but since it wasn't I hardly see how I should be responsible for the hotel bill... so why don't we go down into the bar... order some drinks on the room... and... think about it. more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Everything but You more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
9 out of 14 people found the following comment useful.
some interesting stuff going on here, but time might be better spent on the novel?, 6 May 2005
5/10
Author: CryFi from Lansingburgh, New York, USA

Claire "On a Dare" wakes up by an airport runway wearing a red dress. She's dirty and bruised. She has no idea where she is or how she got there, or even what day it is, but she does remember who she is and retains most of her memories. She strips off her dress by a creek to wash off it and herself what seems to be blood, and sunbathes nude to dry off - sustained full-frontal nudity within the first two minutes of the movie, jeepers!

I'm reminded of a line from the novel The Screaming Mimi by Frederic Brown, "There's murder before the story proper starts, and murder after it ends; the actual story begins with a naked woman and ends with one, which is a good opening and a good ending, but everything between isn't nice."

Claire, finding the blood washes off her thinks someone else must be dead. Discovering and remembering that she is in Spain, she thinks she may have killed her ex-lover Augustine, or his new wife.

Claire had been due to skydive without a parachute into a dormant (or artificial?) volcano covered with a net to catch her, that will be on fire. If she misses the net, or hits it after it has burned too much, she's dead in Death Valley. Receiving a letter from her ex-lover who doesn't want her to do the stunt, she flies to Spain to try to get him to return to her, despite her having been married to her promoter for six years or so.

Claire has some strange adventures, sometimes pretty horrible. A fat taxi driver with tin dentures offers to help, but his price is sex, or rape. An eccentric brawling artist tries to help her, and doesn't seem to have any motive other than "the good you give out is returned to you."

Sprinkled throughout are shots of Claire skydiving; like Roger Ebert, I couldn't tell if this was "fantasy [...] memory, or anticipation" not that it makes much difference. Throughout "falling" gets mentioned a lot in other ways. Claire, in a Catholic church says she feels like she is falling, the artist talks about how the only kind of falling that isn't failing is falling in love, etc.

One thing the title seems to refer to is a siesta Claire's ex-lover takes in a small building near a church, where they perhaps used to have sex.

Bruce Joel Rubin wrote a screenplay in the 1970s that was considered one of the best unproduceable scripts. This movie seems in a way an attempt to make it, though it is based on a novel. This movie didn't really do it for me, and perhaps time would be better spent reading the novel. Rubin's screenplay was produced a few years after this movie, and turned out quite well.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (32 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Siesta (1987)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Misunderstood and maligned wim-vorster
SIesta/Carnival of souls ashtontylo
DVD AVAILABILITY wim-vorster
Sound track? Miles Davis? stuandsarah
Screenplay arvindmozumdar-1
DVD planned? Svedburg
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Mulholland Dr. The Last Seduction Bitter Moon Spider
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
IMDb Drama section IMDb USA section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.