La niña de tus ojos

OK, I've never been a great fan of Penelope Cruz, but I was going to take my Spanish exams two weeks before I watched this film and I thought it would be good practice. I was pleasantly surprised! The movie takes place in 1938 and shows the story of a Spanish film crew, one that is funded by Franco, which is invited by Goebels to Germany to make a Spanish and a German version of the film "La Nina De Tus Ojos" (freely translated into something like "The Girl Of Your Dreams"). And when they arrive at the studios of UFA, the mayhem begins! First of all, I would like to note that this is a great production. It's obvious that plenty of money were thrown into it, a thing that is obvious in some scenes. There are some scenes that are very funny and some characters in general make you laugh from the moment they appear on screen. Personally I will never forget that dog in the beginning! You will know when you'll see it.

Trueba's directing is very good. Although I had heard his name before, I hadn't had the chance to watch some other movie of his before this one. I will try to in the future. He managed to keep the whole thing running, never making the viewer get bored at a single moment. And well, at those moments when the plot had started getting a bit slow, he threw in Penelope Cruz's breasts! What I didn't like was the political statements this movie tried to make. They seemed completely out of place and most of them were childish. First of all, all those arguments about the Jews that Cruz's character made hardly had anything to do with what was going on at the moment and they seemed as if they were forced. In fact, I can't understand why the Jewish character was there. He is the only one among the gypsies that were brought to the studio, or at least they don't show us any more. But the Germans didn't place Jews and gypsies in the same concentration camps! Anyway... Some times it just felt as if the producers hoped that they could sell this film to Hollywood (I hope you understand the connection). And of course the way they portrayed Goebels was way too cartoonish. Of course I know this is a comedy and Goebels had indeed some very ridiculous things going on about him and, yes, he did sleep with many actresses but well, they show him way too silly most of the times...

But if you set aside the moments where the story tries to make itself look really serious, this is a good and very enjoyable film. In fact, sometimes you will be surprised by the skill Trueba shows here. Spanish cinema has been giving us many gems in the last few years and I hope it will continue this way!

The cast is excellent and the movie is quite funny and moving. Not to mention based on historical facts. (Spanish actors doing movies at the UFA studios in the thirties). The setting, the costumes and photo -brilliant. However there's one big draw back: The plot goes "Thummpph!" after an hour and suddenly becomes a French farse (people banging doors, hiding in closets and becoming hysterical) and it all falls apart. It does pick up at the end though. It's not the greatest film ever made but it's watchable. And Penelope Cruz...what can I say? She's fabulous.

Penelope Cruz is so good in this movie she carries it; you really want to see what happens next. She has some great musical numbers and some excellent dramatic scenes. I also found the set design and scenery superior, as well as just the visuals who contrast the small, swarthy Spaniards against the Aryan ideal. The DVD I rented had two versions, in Castillian Spanish and Mexican Spanish, with English sub-titles, which was interesting when the characters spoke in German, as that was not translated unless a translator actually did it in the film. Actually there was even a little Russian. The supporting cast gets a little slapstick at times, but I found the film well worth it as a Cruz vehicle--she is quite a beautiful actress. 8/10.

A rather unusual Spanish film, to say the least: an Andalucían theatre group go to Nazi Germany to make a film and get swallowed up in all the nasty things going on there, which in itself is rather cute, given all the nasty things that had been going on back in Spain.

The mixture of drama with a quizzical farcical touch of Spanish black humour thrown in does not quite work with me, I'm afraid. Fernando Trueba, as ever, has done his job well. The scene-setting is truly exceptional; the dialogues at times are really good but at others tend to jar on the ear making me wonder if this is the same Rafael Azcona (Logroño, 1926) as in other far better scripts; and hearing Penélope Cruz with an Andalucían accent is definitely something not to be missed at any price…….!! Oh, she's from Madrid, by the way, and that city has its own dialect. I've never had much sympathy for Antonio Resines, despite having to acknowledge that in this film he is pretty good and I should say the same of Loles León who I have seen a few times in very trivial TV paraphernalia. Rosa María Sardá is of course splendid, her live-theatre upbringing lending a good hand to the occasion.

So the ingredients are more or less right, but the whole just does not convince me; perhaps the story-line, perhaps the rather strange sense of humour in bizarre situations...

Well, never mind: Penelope Cruz is `La Niña de Mis Ojos' (The Girl of My Eyes) whenever and wherever she pops up, which, thank goodness, is nice and frequent.

The Spanish spoken is rather difficult and so is for people at an advanced level; otherwise the film should be seen dubbed or with subtitles.

One may wonder if "La niña de tus ojos" really deserves all the nominations and awards it got. It is not "Belle époque" and there are some obvious clichés but it's still a very enjoyable film. The colours are vibrant and the black humour is piquant though not everyone (especially the English-speaking audience, and Asian audiences not exposed to this sort of humour) may appreciate it. Of course, the fabulous Penelope Cruz will make one overlook whatever faults there are in the film. As usual, she's brilliant. The interplay of dialogue in Spanish, German and Russian is hilarious. Liked it very much.