17/06/2005

Two French dramas, a Belgian thriller and a short incursion into Spain's recent past are released this week in Spanish theatres. They will start their box office battle with Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, expected to be one of the Summer's blockbusters .

From a French point of view we find two films selected in previous editions of the Cannes Film Festival: André Tachiné's Les Égarés and Exils, a Princes Films' production for which Tony Gatlif was awarded the prize for best director in Cannes 2004. Two projects made by directors with very different styles, added to which is the Flemish Tha Alzheimer Case [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (De Zaak Alzheimer) by Erik Van Looy, distributed by Flins & Pinículas in the Spanish Theatres.

However, the most awaited European release of the week is Pasos, the first film directed by Argentinean actor Federico Luppi (El espinazo del diablo by Guillermo del Toro). Set in 1981, the film follows the life of three couples who celebrate Coronel Antonio Tejero's failed coup d’etat. But Pasos is no more about the 23rd of February coup than Bertolucci's The Dreamers was about May 68. The historical context of a country recently freed from Franco is but a pretext to portray the way social changes (divorce, feminism, abortion…) affect the life of the characters performed by Ana Fernández (Solas by Benito Zambrano), Alberto Jiménez, Ginés García Millán, Eva Cobo, Fabián Vena, Jordi Dauder and Susana Hornos, who debuts as an actress and also wrote the script. In competition at the last Malaga Film Festival, Pasos is produced by Didac Films, Igeldo Komunikazioa and Malkina Producciones. Alta Films is responsible for local distribution while Didac Films handles the international sales.