A Guide to Your Spanish Directors

These are three of my favorite directors in the world and one newcomer. Most people give me a very blank stare when I mention any of their names - even those that claim to be rabid movie fans - so I thought I'd try and straighten it out for everyone. Quiz next week, 6am sharp, be there.

Almodovar, Pedro.

YOB: 1949
POB: Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Notable Works: All About My Mother (2000) - lost mother takes care of pregnant nun and transvestite friend, seeks father of dead son. Talk to Her (2002) - two men take care of two women in comas. Bad Education (2004) - look at how very repressive schooling changed the lives of two gay men. Volver (2006) - woman's mother returns from the dead to impart some wisdom and fix some situations (not as "magical" as you think, don't worry).

Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film (All About My Mother), Best Original Screenplay (Talk to Her), and a nomination for Best Directing (Talk To Her). Hopefully Volver will follow suit this year!
Tammy's Awards: Talk To Her placed #2 on my 2002 movie list. Bad Education placed #5 in 2004.

Comments: Definitely my favorite of the bunch. I've never seen a movie of his that I didn't find incredibly interesting, unique, and having of a point. He writes and directs all of his own features. Some are better than others, mostly in terms of the plot. The 3 mentioned are all masterpieces, with Volver being the best in my opinion. One last mention: he is incredibly gay, and most of his films feature homosexuals, transvestites, strange sexual acts, etc. Not for the conservative movie-goer!


Cuaron, Alfonso.

YOB: 1961
POB: Mexico City, Mexico (ok so technically not a Spanish director, but whatever)

Notable Works: Great Expectations (1998) - Gwenyth Paltrow in the Dickens classic. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002) - 2 guys, 1 girl, 1 road trip, 1,000,000 sexcapades. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - third in the series. Children of Men (2006) - the world's population has inexplicably become infertile for the last 15 odd years, some girl is found pregnant, hilarity ensues.


Academy Awards: Y Tu Mama Tambien was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. No wins yet.
Tammy's Awards: Y Tu Mama Tambien placed #3 on my 2002 movie list.

Comments: After a couple of fairly un-noteworthy American films (and some Mexican tv writing), he made it onto Hollywood's foreign radar with his indie sex pic, "And Your Mother Too". He took the Harry Potter franchise into the dark direction it needed to go in with the third film. J.K. Rowling requested him specifically. He was asked to direct the rest, but declined in favor of making his own films. Children of Men has certainly received much critical acclaim so far this year; I have yet to see it.

del Toro, Guillermo.

YOB: 1964.
POB: Jalisco, Mexico (ok so apparently he's Mexican too)

Notable Works: Blade II (2002) - I have no idea. Hellboy (2004) - comic adaptation about a devil wannabe-good-guy. Pan's Labyrinth (2006) - girl contemplates post-war Fascist repression in some sort of fantasyland. It looks kind of like an adult version of Mirrormask.

Academy Awards: none yet.
Tammy's Awards: none yet.

Comments: certainly the least acclaimed director on the list, but I feel like he's going places with Pan's Labyrinth. It's being hailed as one of the best films of the year / all time by critics and fans alike. I can't even remember the last time I saw a 96 on metacritic; that's practically unheard of. Even The Queen and The Departed (both universally loved by critics this year) can't touch that kind of score. Unfortunately, I left Toronto 1 day before it premiered there (a fact which I am very distraught about), but it is definitely at the top of my "must see" list.


Inarritu, Alejandro Gonzalez.

YOB: 1963
POB: Mexico City, Mexico (ok so obviously this list should have been named differently!)

Notable Works: Amores Perros (2001) - 3 interweaving stories with dogs being the common thread. 21 Grams (2003) - a freak accident brings together 3 very different people. Babel (2006) - 3 separate stories all relating to language barriers.

Academy Awards: Amores Perros was nominated for best foreign film but lost to the unbeatable Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Tammy's Awards: Amores Perros was #8 on my 2001 movie list. In retrospect, it should have been higher.

Comments: Did you notice a theme among his movies? Similar, but also very different. I think Amores Perros would have to be the best of the three, it just reaches another level. Of course Babel has received far more attention that it ever will, because it has Brad Pitt!