Spanish Cinema Now 08. 1.

December means Christmas to some folk, Chanukah to others. For foreign film fans in New York City, of course, it brings to mind - with relish and anticipation - the Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual Spanish Cinema Now series. 2008 marks this festival's 17th year, and the program (24 features plus a collection of avant-garde shorts) looks great - on paper, anyway. As with all such fests at the FSLC, there are films you'll like and others you'll not, but the majority of titles are usually a good bet because the selection has been made from - ostensibly - the best of what Spain offered its own moviegoers during the past year.

In addition to its regular program, SCN often highlights a director or actor to whom it gives a small retrospective. This year's subject is the wonderful actor Javier Cámara who has proven himself at home in roles as diverse as the male nurse in Pedro Almodóvar's Talk to Her and the encyclopedia-salesman-turned-porn-star of Torremolinos 73. Four of Cámara's newest films are part of the series as well and will have either their North America or US debut at the festival: Spain's entry into this year's foreign language Oscar race, Blind Sunflowers; the huge commercial hit from last year, Chef's Special; Cesc Gay's Fiction; and Tom Fernández's Suso's Tower.

Unlike last year's fest, during which I was able to see and review every film prior to its debut, this year's schedule, coupled with less available screeners, has resulted in a very catch-as-catch-can viewing schedule. Consequently, I can't offer my usual preview of themes and ideas, styles and genres on display, or give you a heads-up on titles you absolutely should not miss. Instead, I will see what I can when I can and report on each film as soon as possible - in order to give those within reach of the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center what, in some cases, may be their only opportunity to view some of these interesting films.

At this point I have managed to view six of the 25 programs - three of which I'd seen previously. Two are part of the Javier Cámara spotlight, and are interesting to see again, now that many of us Americans - not to mention Spaniards - know this actor's work even better than we did when these films first appeared. The earliest of the retrospective is Talk to Her, which appeared in 2002 and gave international audiences their first real taste of Cámara. I've seen the film twice now and could easily watch it again - for the performances of all involved (this was my first experience seeing Leonor Watling, and I think she's wounded me for life), as well as for the writer/director's gift at making the oddest people and situations real, funny, emotional and accessible. It's hard to imagine that there is anyone out there who has not seen Talk to Her. If so, now's a fine time - if only to compare Cámara's work from one film to the next. It screens Friday, 12/19, at 2; Sunday, 12/21 at 2 and Wednesday, 12/24, at 6.

Torremolinos 73 (made the year after the Almodóvar) is a most unusual comedy. Filmed in an utterly realistic manner (for much of its length, at least), it draws you in almost as would a documentary. The plot is there, and it's a good one, yet so real seem the two leads (Javier Cámara and Candela Peña), so strong are their performances, that, although I have seen both actors many times previously, it was as though this was a first encounter. While T73 is a movie in which sex and pornography (nothing hardcore) figure as prominently as almost any you'll see, there's nary a trace of shame or prurience in either the performances or, I'd wager, the viewer. This is astonishing, I think, and something of a first. The movie actually takes sex into a new realm, though in a different manner, as did the Spanish/Mexican movie Compassionate Sex. The comedy here is so grounded and quiet that you may not laugh out loud until one particular scene arrives. In it, a fellow who makes porn films but who has cut his theoretical teeth on the work of Ingmar Bergman, creates his "masterpiece." Talk about hilarious.

Yet there is a sadness to this movie that I think outweighs its lovely, low-key comedy. And I wouldn't have it any other way, for it deals with love and how to make a living under the Franco regime, and while it is never overtly political, it scores its points just the same. And I doubt that the "money shot" will ever again have quite the rich ramifications that it takes on here.

According to the IMDb, writer/director Pablo Berger has made only this (plus a few short films) in his nearly 20-year career. If he never makes another, Torremolinos 73 will stand as one-of-a-kind. Bonus: Ubiquitous Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (King Arthur, The Green Butchers, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself and the bleeding-eye villain in Casino Royale) makes another of his always-interesting appearances. As for Cámara, nearly every time you see him, you are inclined to opine, "This was his best role." Well, T73 just may be that.  For now, anyway. Torremolinos 73 screens Saturday, 12/20, at 8:20; Monday, 12/22, 4:10; Tuesday, 12/23, at 4:20.

"He needs to know how things are," explains one character to another in Malas Temporadas (Hard Times). "And how are things?" comes the rejoinder. Manuel Martin Cuenca's 2005 film, which features Cámara as part of its ensemble cast, does a fine job of answering that question - both for 2005 when the film was made and in all probability for our current times, too. The group of very interesting characters that the director/co-writer (with Alejandro Hernández) has assembled are connected in concrete, believable ways, rather than the more typical "happenstance" manner that haunts so many ensemble pieces.

Although his people often have lives of heavy-duty drama, Cuenca goes for the specifics of day-to-day getting-through-it that make for compelling insight instead of easy melodrama. The characters here - these include the wealthy and not-so, children, immigrants, social workers, smugglers and ex-cons - all do their best to manage their life, and the effort pays off handsomely for them and for the viewer. I first saw - and enjoyed - Hard Times at an earlier Spanish Cinema Now. Seeing it again, several years later, I find it not only holds up well but seems even more moving and profound.

The cast includes fine performances from Natalie Poza, Eman Xor Oña and the lovely Leonor Watling (who appears quite different here than I have ever seen her) and of course Mr Cámara. "He looks more like a plumber than a chess player," remarks the lady of the house about the character played by this remarkable actor. On the basis of this FSLC collection of Cámara characters so far, there seems little limit to what the performer can do. Hard Times screens Monday, 12/22, at 8:40 and Tuesday, 12/23, at 2.

Posted by dwhudson at December 3, 2008 8:36 AM