Hi All!

I know we've talked about Pedro Almodovar before, but I just watched another movie by another Spanish writer/director, Alejandro Amenabar, and I think he's wonderful!! I saw Abre los Ojos a few weeks ago, and just finished watching The Others, with Nicole Kidman, and it was great!! Was The Others a follow-up to a Spanish movie (as Vanilla Sky was to Abre los Ojos)? Or is there any other Amenabar movie anyone can recommend? I think he's an exceptional filmmaker, and would love to see some more of his Spanish work.

Gracias!!

-GranadaGirl

I agree with you, he's already the Spanish director with more future.
He filmed The others in English (I think it's a coproduction American-Spanish, although I'm not sure about this).
His first film is called Tesis and it was a great hit here in Spain, it's a thriller about snuff movies, it's a story inside the University of periodism he made while he was still studying there. The production is not as well cared at The Others and the money spent in the film is much lower but the story is unbelivable. High tension until the end.

I agree, Tesis is a great movie, very well done.

About The Others, it wasn't done as a follow up to a previous film.

Hey, and what did you think about Abre los ojos? I thought it was better than Vanilla Sky (VS seems "easier" somehow; the character doesn't have to work quite as hard to discover what's up).

And no one's mentioned " La Lengua de las Mariposas "? Apparently, Amenábar didn't direct/write this one, but was the responsible for the original music. Odd, eh?

Alejandro Amenábar .

What a GREAT movie was "La Lengua de las Mariposas". RENT it if you want. It should be a openly available in the international section of any video rental store. I think we discussed this movie in this forum in the past too.

I STILL haven't seen Abre Los Ojos (OR Vanilla Sky). Might have to rent that this weekend. I HAVE seen Tesis , though.

Saludos, MadridMan

MM-

I thought Abre los Ojos was a MUCH better movie than Vanilla Sky, eventhough it's basically the same movie. I'd suggest renting that one.

-GranadaGirl

Alejadro Amenábar is great, young blood to the spanish cinema (young people were really fed up with Civil War and "Transición" movies). My favourite movie is "Tesis", in my opinion is the "freshest" one and a real surprise to those who went to the cinema not knowing what to expect.
José Luis Cuerda, director of La lengua de las mariposas, was the producer in Tesis and Abre los ojos (don't know about "Los Otros"), so Amenábar and himself have a good relationship. In fact, Amenábar likes to compose music "by ear", he doesn't have any knowledge of "solfeo".

Well, congrats to him for Mar adentro's Academy Award

Well done, can't wait to watch it.

(and the guy is only 32!)

While you're at it, Pim, catch up with Amenábar's "Abre Los Ojos" from 1997 if you haven't seen it already. It's a great movie.

I have, thanks, I've seen them all (not that many, for the moment).

I also love Tesis though it deals with a highly disturbing topic!!!

I wrote my honors thesis in college on Alejandro Amenábar and his first two films, Tesis and Abre los ojos. They are both great movies and I highly recommend them. Amenábar also wrote all of the original music for both of these films, as well as Mar adentro. The Others was a co-production, filmed in English with a Spanish crew. I was lucky enough to see Mar Adentro two weeks ago, thanks to the little independent theater that just opened here in Cedar Rapids,Iowa. It was a huge shock to see a Spanish film playing here and I totally took advantage by seeing it 4 times during that week. It is an excellent film and I can't wait for it to be released on video here in the US.
Amenábar truly is the leading young director in Spain and there is much to be expected from him in the future.
Also, on a related topic, Almodóvar's latest, La mala educación, is now playing at our little second-run/independent theater. I saw this film last summer in Spain, but will probably head over there this week to check it out again.If you get the chance, I would recommend this one too, despite the NC-17 rating it has been saddled with here in the US.
Spanish cinema is fast becoming the leader in Europe and producing many quality films, such as these and also as MadridMan mentioned, La lengua de la mariposa, which is an incredible film as well.