Sinatra

Oh, this movie is a truly jewel! It stars Alfredo Landa (one of the greatest and most sadly underrated spanish actors) as a lonely, depressing and poor man who lives in Barcelona (specifically in a cheap motel) and whose job is to imitate Frank Sinatra in an also cheap cabaret (where Groucho Marx or Marilyn Monroe are also imitated). The movie follows this special character (who everybody calls Sinatra) on his meetings with weird people (the sex obsessed owner of the motel (Luis Ciges) or a troubled and "pregnant" teenager (Maribel Verdú) between others), his life in the motel and his misery.

This is not Ken Loach or that kind of realism, though. Is a very special movie, sometimes odd and strange (the religious psychopath for example) but wonderfully written, directed and acted and with a high level of nostalgy, loneliness and sadness. Just a brief and powerful scene summarizes the feeling that the movie leaves on you: Sinatra is walking on the Ramblas (a popular street from Barcelona) when some cops approach him thinking he's a junkie or something and begin to frisk him breaking his jacket. The image of poor Sinatra with his coat broken is one of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen on spanish cinema.

Movies like SINATRA leaves you with a strange and sad feeling...

Antonio Castro 'Sinatra' (Alfredo Landa) performs in Barcelona as a Frank Sinatra impersonator. His wife (Mercedes San Prieto) leaves him and 'Sinatra' ends up in a boarding house or Pensión in Chinatown run by Clementina (Queta Claver) , where he begins to work as a night porter . One night , Antonio sees an advertisement for a friendship club in a magazine and decides to become a member. From now on , he begins to receive letters and to have relationships with strangers who, like him, feel alone and lost in the big city.

A depressing mixture of drama and comedy (Dramedy) does not quite come together as it should , resulting to be an uneven film that works at times , above all due to Landa's great performance as the eternal loser, an intimate role in a curious contrast to the real Sinatra , as well as the excellent characterization of that world , being accompanied by great cast of notorious secondaries , such as : Manuel Alexandre , Luis Ciges, Queta Claver , Mercedes Sampietro, Julia Martínez, Antonio Molino Rojo and Joaquín Sabina himself playing Groucho Marx . It shows the seedy bars , and the slums full of prostitutes from the sleazy Chinatown , Barcelona , before Olympic Games 92 . ¨Sinatra" is a walk through the underworld of Barcelona led by the peculiar loser , role magnetically played by Alfredo Landa, a guy who -like the characters in Noir novels- wants to get out of his own misery , an impersonator of the legendary Frank Sinatra who acts in a seedy show along with other characters of dubious aspect.

Here Alfredo Landa really excels as a depressed man who works as an imitator of Frank Sinatra in a small local night club in Barcelona . Nevertheless, the film lacks some bite to finish working , which does not mean that it is not interesting enough. Worth noting is the soundtrack, composed by Joaquín Sabina -along with Pancho Varona- , who also makes a couple of appearances in the film , and which includes some of his unpublished songs , as well as others that would appear in a different version on his discographic albums . In fact, some of the brightest moments in the film are those in which the plot progresses while Sabina's highly narrative songs are performed , giving the film a certain appearance of a video clip.

However, when it wants to provide a certain humor to the story , it fails, some characters are too burdensome and troublesome , such as "Brother Blanco Sol" or the widow's son , who is completely implausible and expendable . As soon as the character of Ana Obregón appears things go wrong , as she was extremely criticized for her way of acting . Something more misplaced is the role of Maribel Verdú as a nutty , druggie teenager from which one expected more , despite the fact that she's a good actress here provides a lousy performance . The film also fails to present Sinatra's character in his cabaret in such an elliptical way, we barely see him , although it is true that the little that comes out is good , especially thanks to characterization that Landa makes along with Joaquín Sabina as Groucho Marx.

But the film is acceptable as a whole , the choice of the night is completely correct to be able to follow it in a more convincing way with that world of bingos , swindlers , prostitution and insecurity. Images like the Cine Coliseum from Barcelona with the luminous sign of "Pal Joey" with Frank Sinatra , Rita Hayworth , Kim Novak and Landa watching , catch us and we end up taking a certain affection for him .

In short , a failed film but also with a certain dignity made by Betriu who demonstrates his skills but lacks something , either because footage was reduced or he was forced to incorporate scenes to dedramatize the film. The motion picture was well produced by Enrique Viciano , being regular but professionally directed by veteran filmmaker Francesc Betriu . He directed a series of award-winning movies firmly establishing him as one of the best Spanish filmmakers . Betriu was an expert on literary adaptations , he worked from the 60s , being his first one : Tinto con amor (1968) , following the following ones : Corazón solitario , Furia española , La plaza del Diamante , Los fieles sirvientes , La viuda andaluza , Sinatra , La Duquesa Roja , Una Perfecta Pareja, El paraíso ya no es lo que era, among others and his greatest hit was Requiém para un campesino Español . Rating : 5.5/10. Only for hardcore Alfredo Landa fans.