Torremolinos 73 (2003)

Director:

Pablo Berger

Writer:

Pablo Berger (writer)

Release Date:

30 April 2003 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Set in 1973 Spain, a struggling encyclopedia salesman and his wife take advantage of an offer to make adult films. The act turns him into an aspring legit filmmaker and her into an international sex symbol.

Plot Keywords:

Encyclopedia | Salesman | Ingmar Bergman | Sex | Publishing

Awards:

15 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Javier Cámara	...	Alfredo
Candela Peña	...	Carmen
Juan Diego	...	Don Carlos
Fernando Tejero	...	Juan Luis
Mads Mikkelsen	...	Magnus
Malena Alterio	...	Vanessa
Ramón Barea	...	José Carlos Romerales
Tom Jacobsen	...	Erik
Mari-Anne Jespersen	...	Frida
Bjarne Henriksen	...	Lauritz
Nuria González	...	Señora de Romerales
Mariví Bilbao	...	Señora de Anasagasti
Germán Montaner	...	Sr. Anasagasti
Jaime Blanch	...	Ginecólogo
Máximo Valverde	...	Himself

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Spain | Denmark

Language:

Spanish | Danish

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Taiwan:R-18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:12 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | Denmark:11 | Ireland:16 | Israel:16 | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Estudios Picasso

Goofs:

Continuity: Alfredo uses a silent Super 8 camera and silent film stock to shoot the movies in his flat, but when we see him watching the results on a projector some days later, the movie has sync sound that was seemingly recorded at the time of the shoot.

Movie Connections:

References Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972)

Soundtrack:

Carmen

Inspired by Ingmar Bergman!

Pablo Berger, the director of "Torremolinos 73", takes us back to the Spain of the seventies when Franco was still around and where he sets the scene for this satire about the clandestine porno industry. Mr. Berger also wrote the screen play, that at times is mildly amusing by the situation he creates. If you haven't seen the movie, please stop reading here.

We first see Alfredo trying to sell books door to door without much success. His boss calls his staff and informs a new revamping in the business. He is going to start a series of experimental films about sex education that will be marketed abroad. The employees are shocked, and only Alfredo and his wife Carmen, and another man, agree to participate. Carmen wants to have children, which seems not to come to her and Alfredo.

Carmen becomes a favorite sight in the Scandinavian countries, and she is even as identified in a department store in Madrid by one of her fans. Since their Scandinavian instructors keep on quoting the great Ingmar Bergman, Alfredo decides to make his own film that parallels "The Seventh Seal". The shooting is in an empty hotel in Torremolinos where Alfredo and his crew are seen filming the movie in the artistic black and white, but suddenly Carlos, the money man, wants a bit of sex in the picture. Alfredo is shocked because since he is not participating, Carmen will have to perform with the leading man! Javier Camera, who was so good in "Talk to Her" plays Alfredo, the book peddler turned porno film director. Candela Peña makes a good suffering Carmen who is lured into the scheme because of necessity. Juan Diego is seen as Alfredo's boss.

The film has a faded look that blends well with the period its trying to reproduce. The film has some funny moments.