Historia de un beso

This is Garci's return to top form, with a brooding and engaging script which uses enjoyable situations to give us an attractive movie in a high sense as well as intimate sensitivity and that kept me entertained for the almost two hours of duration. Here Garci continues his peculiar dwelling on the past in a romantic melodrama with an ensemble cast full of great figures .Winter 1949. In the small Asturian village of Cerralbos de Sella, its most illustrious neighbor, the great writer Blas Otamendi (Alfredo Landa), has just died. His nephew Julio (Carlos Hipólito), a professor in France, returns to his hometown to attend the funeral. The reunion with his uncle's old friends, his former maid (Tina Sainz), and the family mansion "Llendelabarca," where he lived with the writer as a child, awaken Julio's childhood memories. Once again, the mystery of time and memory !.

Splendid and lively film from the Academy Award winning director of ¨Volver a Empezar¨. Agreeable drama with mood pieces about Spain of the 40s, 50s and 60s; including awesome performances, adequate set design and delightfully shot .

This time he is filming the script again with his usual collaborator Horacio Valcarcel, and his gaze to the past is directed this time to the everyday scenes of Asturias and Madrid in the fifties, the villages, parks, spas, cementery and walks of maturity.

This is a thought-provoking and love drama filmed with great sensitivity and feeling. It's an intelligent and touching story although sometimes is slow moving and tiring but is finely developed with sense of style and sensibility. Very pleasant drama, plenty of sensitivity , emotion, artistic scenes and abundant outdoors filmed on glamorous exteriors perfectly photographed. In the picture are treated ethics and moral themes developed with great sense of fairness and ductility. Interesting screenplay by Jose Luis Garci and Horacio Valcarcel ; Garci often co-writes his scripts with his friend Horacio Valcarcel. Filmed in his usual formal and luxurious style, without leaving a trace the joyful themes , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . It is well set and is as marvelously filmed as it is written and acted. This is one of those rare gems that does not stray from its purpose - to be a celebration of love , nature , and romance and a sensitive tale. Excellent acting by Alfredo Landa as a mature man who will have to face his present and past while falls deeply in love with a younger woman nicely played by Ana Fernández. In his fifth collaboration with Garci, Landa (Por fin solos, El arbol del penitente, El rey del río) stands out once again. Alongside this captivating love story, another romance develops in parallel, starring his nephew Carlos Hipólito, who falls for a young school teacher, Beatriz Rico.

After his collaboration in previous films, Garci reprises with the cameraman Raul Pérez Cúbero who makes a careful photography, as well as the composer Pablo Cervantes . He's a good composer who usually uses the piano to provide the film's sensitivity, both cameraman and musician give unity to Garci's trilogy. ¨Historia de un beso¨ (Story of a Kiss) is the second installment of a trilogy that the veteran director began with ¨You're the One (Una historia de entonces)¨ and that will be complemented with ¨Tiovivo 1950¨.

The director has counted on a truly luxurious choral cast with a number of actors, and which includes very well-known names from the cinema of yesterday and today. That is why it is a real fun to guess the long list of actors who appear parading here and there, among which are the following: Carlos Hipólito (mi hermano del alma, La soledad era esto), Beatriz Rico (Lázaro de Tormes, Esta noche no), the little boy Manuel Lozano (La lengua de las mariposas), Tina Sáinz (No te fallaré, Lázaro de Tormes), Francisco Algora (El abuelo barrio), Agustín González, Valeriano Andrés, Alfonso Delgado, Mary Paz Pondal, Rafael de Penagos, José Manuel Lorenzo, Enrique del Pozo, Iñaki Miramón and writer Juan Manuel de Prada .

Well filmed on marvelous locations in Principality of Asturias as Luanco, Gijón, Llanes, Oviedo : Snow covered Church, and Parque del Retiro, Madrid.

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Jose Luis Garci (El Crack I, II, Luz Domingo). Garci was the first Spanish director to win an Oscar for "Volver a empezar." The film received seven Goya nominations, though it failed to win any of them. It was nominated in the categories of Best Cinematography, Supporting Actor (Carlos Hipólito), Actress (Ana Fernández), Supporting Actress (Tina Sainz), Makeup, and Hairstyling. José Luis Garci is without a doubt one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film in Spain and perhaps the best known writer in the country. He has left a distinguished talent in his successful movies throughout the years: La Cabina (1972), Las Verdes Praderas (1979), El Crack (1981), Volver a Empezar (1982), Canción De Cuna (1994), La Herida Luminosa (1997), El Abuelo (1998), Tiovivo c. 1950 (2004) and Ninette (2005) , among others. Historia de un Beso, rating: 7/10. Better than average and well worth seeing . For these reasons is essential and indispensable watching .

This film has been accused by critics of being slow, tedious and literary in excess.

Yes, it has a smooth rhythm compared with a lot of its contemporaries and the majority of the dialogues lack of spontaneity due to its extreme accuracy. But the story is so warm and near that you can't help feeling touched by it.

"Historia de un beso" deals with memories that hurt as well as they fill us with melancholy when they come back to us. It's a beautiful and sad story about love that cannot be fulfilled but it's always well remembered.

Yes, I agree with the fact that its literacy it's too much calculated, but I've seen people crying with emotion while they were watching the movie, and I found myself touched at the end, too. If you liked Garci's previous movie ("You're the one, una historia de entonces" is the first of a trilogy) you won't be disappointed.

I've never seen a movie where literature and love by books were so present as in STORY OF A KISS. I cant understand the myriad of bad critics that this film received: its beautiful, and talk about the important things of life.

well, is true that the rhythm of the film is not as the usual films...: is slow, too classic. but this doesn't mean boring. and the dialogs and phrases are so intelligent and have so substance, that you thank that little time to think about them.

if you are romantic, and you like good stories good told, watch HISTORIA DE UN BESO.