Abracadabra

I DVRd this movie just for the heck of it, even though I usually don't watch subtitled pics. Was it a ghost story? Yes. A horror story? Yes. A family drama? Yes. An outrageous sex comedy with a feminist twist? Yes. Great music? Yes. I loved the combination of the genres and couldn't wait to see how everything in the plot got worked out. At first I couldn't get past the jewelry, clothing, colorful everything, including the wedding venues. Whoa.Subtlety was not included! Then...wow. There was a murder mystery too. In the dead center was Carmen (Maribel Verdu) and her crabby husband's cousin, a store detective and part-time master stage hypnotist, and a case of inadvertent possession. I won't go into more detail and mess things up for you. Poor Carmen! Does she want original hubby back and who--or what--has taken him over? One thing I need to mention. In the very last line of the movie the translator makes a one-word disastrous mistake. Listen carefully to what Carmen says. Oops!

A well told story , being perfectly set with a very good cast providing fine interpretations . As Carmen (Maribel Verdú) is a housewife from Madrid , mother of a rebel adolescent called Toñi (Priscilla Delgado) and married to the abusive macho man and obsessed with football Carlos (Antonio De La Torre) , which her daily life complicating due to the angry and violent character of Carlos . During the busy celebration after a wedding celebration of Carmen's nephew , her cousin Pepe (José Mota) shows his skills as a showman , but things go awry . After Carlos mocks Pepe in front of all invited people , a ghost possesses Carlos . Shortly after , Carmen looking for answers to sort out what's happening . Helped by a dentist called Fumetti (José Maria Pou) , Pepe's mentor , Carmen realizes that Carlos is possessed by the spirit of Tito (Quim Gutierrez) , a waiter who committed killings at a party before commit suicide himself at the same restaurant where he worked and where Carmen's nephew celebrated his wedding party . With time running out , Carmen and Pepe attempt to exorcise the evil spirit before Carlos be totally annulled by Tito , at the same time that the own Carlos begins to suffer the consequences to be under the influence of a schizophrenic ghost .

A disconcerting script with comedy , drama and fine players as Maribel Verdú as Carmen , Antonio de la Torre as Carlos and José Mota as Pepe . This entertaining and interesting Dramedy contains crazy events , amusement and surrealist as well as embarrassing situations . Sitting in a strange middle ground between the completely absurd and the stylish set pieces , including various nostalgic moments , paying tribute to music of the Seventies and Eighties . It is a crazy Spanish comedy with touches of drama that offers no intellectual stimulus whatsoever , though it has some fun and hilarious moments . Humor is sometimes cheesy and gross-out with numerous naughty , weird and gory situations , such as violent murders , adultery , jealousy , and funny mayhem . It partially sets the tone of the times in the seventies and eighties , including some flashbacks , in fact , this film belongs to a nostalgic sub-genre regarding past times . Behind this title hides a story based on fantastic events, with its director Pablo Berger makes a special tribute to music and happenings from ancient decades . But not only accomplishes that , the picture shows that there are many ways to do comedy without falling into vulgarity . It is an acceptable production plenty of ridiculous and strange situation , but it is saved by an intelligent as well as unpretentious script with several very funny scenes . All this is achieved by comedians like Antonio De La Torre and Maribel Verdú , they are the perfect combination to get laughs and tears , at the same time . As Maribel Verdú gives a nice acting as the housewife who struggles with her husband after he is possessed by a ghost , and Antonio De La Torre is nice as the unfortunate hubby suffering strange and radical changes of attitudes and behaviors . And José Mota as Pepe , the strange cousin who decides prove his abilities as a showman by means of a hypnosis session. The yarn provides a passel of brief or cameo appearances , such as : Quim Gutierrez as a schizophrenic young man who in early 80's killed his own mother and a number of assistants to a noisy wedding , Eduardo Soto as the recently deceased Camilo Sesto , Julián Villagrán , Ramón Barea , Saturnino Garcia , Janfri Topera , Javivi and special appearance by José Maria Pou as an insane dentist and fake magician .

It displays an evocative cinematography by Kiko De La Rica , one of the best Spanish cameramen who has photographed great movies as ¨Lucia Y el Sexo¨, ¨El Calentito¨ , ¨Witching¨ , "A Sad Trumpet Ballad" , ¨The Oxford crimes¨ , ¨Snow White¨ , among others . Being shot on location in Parla, Madrid, Pamplona, Navarra, and Torrejón de la Calzada, Madrid . Lively as well as adequate musical score by Alfonso De Villalonga , plenty of wonderfully traditional songs of the Seventies , Eighties and forward , such as : El baile del gorila written by José Antonio Benítez Serrano performed by Melody , the classical Tubular Bells written by Mike Oldfield , El baile de los pajaritos written by Werner Thomas and Terry Rendall performed by María Jesús , El día que yo me case, and Algo de mí written by Camilo Sesto performed by Edu Soto . As well as vintage musical score, such as : Air on the G String , written by Johann Sebastian Bach and Also Spratch Zarathustra - Sunrise Fanfare written by Richard Strauss . The motion picture was well produced and compellingly directed by Pablo Berger , a pretty good Spanish movies director . Here Berger delivers a very worthy work in which he demonstrates how with simple jobs can make a decent film . The flick delivered a successful result and achieved various Goya Nominations as Best Lead Actress : Maribel Verdú , Best Lead Actor : Antonio de la Torre , Best Supporting Actor : José Mota , Best Original Screenplay : Pablo Berger , Best Editing : David Gallart , Best Production Design : Alain Bainée , Best Costume Design : Paco Delgado , Best Makeup and Hairstyles : Sylvie Imbert , Paco Rodríguez . And Yoga Awards 2018 , as Yoga Award Worst Spanish Actor, José Mota . Director Pablo Berger developed the project for some years before being able to shoot it . Pablo is a well recognized filmmaker both nationally and internationally , and in proof of it he won many prizes in several Cinema Festivals , as this his feature debut ¨Torremolinos 73¨ , as well as the excellent ¨Snow White¨ or ¨Blancanieves¨ . Rating : 6.5/10 . Acceptable and passable , essential and indispensable watching for Spanish cinema fans .

Nice movie, perhaps slightly too slow and with too much downtime, for the whole movie it actually seems that nothing happens and everything could be solved in a scarce ten minutes. The film is also quite funny and entertaining, but apart from the protagonists all the other characters are practically useless for the purposes of the plot.

I was going to watch this so I could pass the time till I fell asleep.The beginning was a bit boring,if you have the capacity to get past this. this movie is really a lot deeper than first glance. I was shocked at the ending and sadden. I am not going to give away the story because if you have a decent attention span this movie is really good. If you are a YouTube watcher then you will not have the ability to allow the story to develop. I would say this is a black comedy. it was worth the watch

He's only made 3 films that I know of, but wow! My fav would be Torremolinos 73, followed by Blancanieves and then Abracadabra, but it's a matter of personal taste after all.

Abracadabra mixes plenty of genres in one wacky story. That reminds me of Alex de la Iglesia, which makes a lot of sense since they both started off together. De la Torre is fantastic as ever and Verdú continues to be great value in every film she's in. I'm not so keen on Mota's performance, not sure why but it doesn't quite fit, which is surprising since the tone of the film should be right down his alley, but hey. Everything else works as a charm, and the dance scene deserves a few rewatches! Definitely recommended!