Días contados

Dias Contados (Running Out of Time) is a movie about love, lust, desire, hate, death, and regret, that takes place in Madrid, Spain. Antonio (Carmelo Gomez) is in town with two others on personal business. Charo (Ruth Gabriel) and Vanessa (Candela Pena) are two roommates with a laundry list of issues. Lisardo (Javier Bardem) is a local junkie. Portugues (Chacho Carreras) is a drug dealer trying to evade the cops. Lourdes (Elvira Minquez) is one of Antonio's companions to Madrid, who loves him far more than she gets in return. Throw in a husband of Charo getting out of jail, and edgy cops trying to bust Portugues; and you have an amazing movie that should've gotten much more attention here in the states.

The performances in this film are much better than most you see by actors who receive far more attention. Especially Ruth Gabriel, who gives one of the most memorable performances by a young actress (18 or 19) I've seen. Carmelo Gomez is a leading man who should be a household name here, and would be if we respected international films, the same way they do ours. They both give Oscar worthy performances in a film that will definitely leave an impression on you.

Recommended for those who liked Dirty Pretty Things, or 21 grams.

"With the Days Numbered" or ¨Dias Contados¨ or ¨Running out of time¨ is a thrilling movie filled with intrigue , drama , turns and sexual situations . A raw punchy love story set set against the background of terrorism . This is an intense thriller unflinchingly directed by Imanol Uribe . A womanizer and sex-addict man named Antonio (Carmelo Gomez) belongs to commando Madrid (also formed by Elvira Minguez and Joseba Apaolaza) from the terrorist organization Eta which is preparing a massacre in the capital. Antonio is posing as a photographer but he sets other priorities when he meets a druggie young named Charo (Ruth Gabriel) who is addicted to dope and for whom he falls in love . Later on , Antonio meets up the friends's Charo as the prostitute Vanesa (Candela Peña) , the local junkie Lisardo (Javier Bardem) and Ugarte (Pepon Nieto) . Meanwhile , the terrorist group carries out various attacks until the final outrage .

Moving thriller plenty of emotion , suspense , intrigue , delusions , plot twists , nudism and a strange love story . Despite being somewhat of a cinematic cliché, rarely has a feature been so aptly deserving of its description as a thriller picture along with some elements from Noir film , action , politics and bloody terrorism . Good acting by Carmelo Gomez as a killer member of the ETA terrorist organization who feels a strong attraction for a junkie well played by Ruth Gabriel . It is an entertaining picture in which suspense is well developed from start to finish , though crammed with abundant erotic scenes -in softcore style- between Carmelo Gomez and Ruth Gabriel who holds several nude scenes . Imanol Uribe , also writes the script along with Juan Madrid , based on his novel , filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the thought-provoking issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . Hard-edge thriller/drama centers around terrorist conflicts and a peculiar love story . However , the film relies heavily in the rare romance among protagonists and on a motley group of displeasent characters , as there appear terrorists , whores , junkies , panderers , peddlers , drug dealers and nasty policemen . Because the story needs a vibration more real than the one offered in this sometimes slow-moving flick , though also contains interesting scenes , thrilling images and sensitive moments . Anyway, its is compensated with the great performances from main cast , and nice support cast , interpreters who provided a considerable boost to the result . Imanol is a great director of actors and the main players are complemented by a good cast of secondaries ; all of them forming a powerful human group and giving excellent interpretations such as Karra Elejalde , Candela Peña , Elvira Minguez , Pepon Nieto and special appearance by Javier Bardem . Atmospheric musical score by Jose Nieto who composes a stirring soundtrack by means of synthesizer . Including a spotless pictorial cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space ; being rightly filmed in Madrid . Aguirresarobe subsequently would make a prestigious career in Hollywood such as ¨Fright night , ¨The twilight saga: eclipse¨, ¨The road¨ , ¨The others¨ and many others . The movie achieved 27 wins and 16 nominations ; being nominated and winning several Goya Awards 1995 such as Best Film , Best Director Imanol Uribe , Best Actor Carmelo Gómez , Best Supporting Actor Javier Bardem , Best New Actress Ruth Gabriel ,Best Adapted Screenplay Imanol Uribe , Best Editing Teresa Font ,Best Make-Up and Hairstyles , Best Special Effects Reyes Abades , among others .

This Andres Santana production was professionally written , produced by Imanol Uribe who also directed , though has some flaws and resulted to get big success at Spanish Box office . Uribe who lived and had a son with actress María Barranco , gained fame early in his career for his controversial socio-political portraits of the Basque people , such as ¨Fuga Segovia¨, ¨Muerte Mikel¨ and he turned to thriller as ¨Adios Pequeña¨, , ¨Plenilunio¨ , ¨Carta Esferica¨ , ¨Dias Contados¨ or ¨Running out of time¨and drama as ¨Bwana¨ , ¨Rey Pasmado¨ and ¨Extraños¨ .

An ETA member comes to the city of Madrid to commit some terrorists actions, there he will start a relation with a prostitute addicted to the heroine. This love will overlap his mission and will involucrate him in other problems. The story is about an ETA activist, but it's not an story about ETA. It's a thriller about heterogenous relationships and non-hopes; because none of the characters have any future.

Días Contados or Numbered Days in English isn't a bad movie in this genre, certainly not for that time when ETA terrorism was still fresh in our minds. It's also interesting to see a younger Javier Bardem, even though he's not the main character in this movie. The movie is entertaining, contains some nudity that might shock some Americans (certainly for a movie from the nineties) but it's not really a big deal for others. The acting is good and that from the whole cast. I wouldn't say it's a movie I would want to watch a second time but it's certainly good enough to watch once, plus it's always good to learn some Spanish.

Touching the terror topic in Spain (maybe all around the world these days after Sept 11) is somehow dangerous. Uribe probably knows this and thus focuses the plot on human relationships presenting two different character types: joint by marginality we can find an ETA activist (Carmelo Gómez) going to Madrid to prepare a bomb attack and, on the other hand, a group of really marginal characters that represent the lowest class and conditions in a big metropolis such as Madrid; a couple of prostitutes (Ruth Gabriel and Candela Peña)and an incredibly played junkie called Lisardo(in according to my opinion best role ever played by the now worldwide famous Javier Bardem). Apart from the fact that the plot of the movie is well sketched and the characters quite credible (although Carmelo Gómez's character is probably not as well presented as the rest), this movie is worth-a-watch just for Bardem himself. After this, any of Bardem films are interesting, but none of his performances were better than this.