guillermo toledo Tagged Articles at Cinematical

People all over the world are unhappy with Hollywood's domination of foreign box office. It gives audiences worse movies, which must appeal to all of the world. It influences a number of cultures to be more like American. And, most devastatingly, it ruins the production and the identity of national cinemas. Last year we saw a major protest in South Korea because the government was eliminating a quota that mandated theaters to show a certain amount of domestic product per year. This week there was another protest, this one in Spain, but it had an opposite demand. The Federation of Spanish Cinemas (like our own National Association of Theatre Owners) is upset with a proposed "Cinema Law", which is currently moving through the Spanish parliament, mandating that theaters must show one Spanish film for every three imports they show. As a sign of protest and criticism of the law, the Federation shut down 93% of the nation's cinemas Monday, though just for the one day.

Because there are about 230 theaters that aren't a part of the Federation, some people in Spain were able to find a movie if they really tried, but with around 3770 cinemas closed, I feel bad for anybody doing the trying. It wouldn't be surprising if representatives from Hollywood head over to Spain to support the protest, and maybe even bully convince the government, as they have a lot to lose from the law. The Federation apparently has a lot to lose, too, because Spanish films don't perform nearly as well at the box office as Hollywood fare. But last year the nation's top15 highest grossing films included three titles that were at least Spanish co-productions, with Alatriste being all the way up at number 4 (it does star Viggo Mortensen). In 2005, the same position held a Spanish film, Torrente 3: El Protector. Of course, this isn't that great considering most of the other titles are from Hollywood, and so Hollywood is where most of moviegoer's money is going. Plus, so far this year, the highest grossing Spanish film of 2007 (El Ekipo Ja) is all the way down at number 40.

Does the world need another movie about a comic book hero? How about one that's described as "a romantic comedy about the end of the world"? In Santos, an upcoming film from writer/director Nicolás López, the title character is a "failed comic book artist [who] lives in a parallel universe where he's a superhero who has to save the world." I grant you, the premise doesn't sound terribly original -- it may even make you groan -- but comedies are all about the execution, and some of the actors involved give me reason for optimism. Leonardo Sbaraglia made sharp dramatic turns in both Intacto (directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo of 28 Weeks Later fame) and The Whore and the Whale; I'd love to see what he does in a comedy. Guillermo Toledo brought true inspired lunacy to his lead role in Alex de la Iglesia's Ferpect Crime. And Elsa Pataky is simply beautiful, which may be sexist but is always a bonus for a romantic comedy.

According to the official web site, director López is just 24 years of age, yet has been making films for half his life. The IMDb bio says that his influences include Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith. He was heavily involved with the comedy series Piloto MTV, which aired on MTV Latin America. His first film, Below Average, was a big hit in Chile and screened at South by Southwest and the Los Angeles Film Festival, though Variety savaged it as a "tiresome" regurgitation of American movies. The trailer for Santos looks stylish and cool, setting up an apocalyptic mood before tossing stock comic book hero images into the mix. Who knows if López actually has the chops to pull this off, and if the appeal will translate beyond his homeland, but I'm keeping my nerd-loving foreign language-biased fingers crossed. Santos is set to fly into Chilean theaters in November 2007.

[Via Jaman Message Boards]

In this delicate era when entertainment in America is bogged by indecency concerns, political correctness and discussions of "how soon is too soon", it isn't surprising that a foreign comedy has bettered us in being more amusing, more respectful and more insightful about the touchy subjects of war, terrorism and racism.  Only Human is above all an innocent farce detailing your typical fiancée-meets-parents setup, but it uses the conventional plot for more than just a spotlight on wacky family members and screwball situations, serving also as a simple statement about some absurd perspectives on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The engaged couple in this Spanish-UK co-production is a pairing of a Jewish woman and her Palestinian beau, which undeniably takes on allegorical significance, yet doesn't lend itself to any overt political deliberation. Instead it deals with the conflict through an outsider's point of view, concerning itself with problems of generalized and accepted perceptions rather than deep, involved interests.