Open Your Eyes (1997) Abre los ojos (original title)

Director:

Alejandro Amenábar

Writers:

Alejandro Amenábar
Mateo Gil

Release Date:

19 December 1997 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Love | Friend | Suicide | Nightmare

Awards:

5 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Eduardo Noriega	...	César
Penélope Cruz	...	Sofía
Chete Lera	...	Antonio
Fele Martínez	...	Pelayo
Najwa Nimri	...	Nuria
Gérard Barray	...	Duvernois
Jorge de Juan	...	Encargado L.E.
Miguel Palenzuela	...	Commisario
Pedro Miguel Martínez	...	Médico Jefe
Ion Gabella	...	Recluso paranoico
Joserra Cadiñanos	...	Guardia
Tristán Ulloa	...	Camarero
Pepe Navarro	...	Presentador T.V.
Jaro	...	Médico 1
Walter Prieto	...	Médico 2
Carola Angulo	...	Médico 3
Fanny Gautier	...	Secretaria (as Fanny Solorzano)
Luis García	...	Guardia jurado 1
Javier Martín	...	Guardia jurado 2
José Ángel Egido	...	Policía
Richard Cruz	...	Conductor
Raúl Otegui	...	Chico servicios
Pepe	...	Gato
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alejandro Amenábar	...	Laughing Guy in Disco Bathroom (uncredited)
Isabel Serrano	...	Voz celestial (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Alejandro Amenábar

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alejandro Amenábar
Mateo Gil

Produced by
Ana Amigo	....	associate producer
Fernando Bovaira	....	producer
José Luis Cuerda	....	producer
Andrea Occhipinti	....	associate producer
Alain Sarde	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Alejandro Amenábar
Mariano Marín

Cinematography by
Hans Burman

Film Editing by
María Elena Sáinz de Rozas

Art Direction by
Wolfgang Burmann

Set Decoration by
Carola Angulo
Ramón Moya		(setting)

Costume Design by
Concha Solera

Makeup Department
Elisabeth Adánez	....	assistant makeup artist
Paca Almenara	....	makeup designer
Susana Cortés	....	makeup artist trainee
Sylvie Imbert	....	hair stylist
Sylvie Imbert	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jesús Alonso	....	assistant production manager
José Antonio García Tapia	....	assistant production manager
Emiliano Otegui	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mateo Gil	....	assistant director
Mateo Gil	....	second unit director
Salud Gismera	....	trainee assistant director
Ignacio Gutiérrez-Solana	....	assistant director
Raúl Otegui	....	assistant director

Art Department
Emilio Ardura	....	upholstery
Pablo Arroyo	....	props
Ignacio Borja	....	graphic designer (as Nacho Borja)
Pedro Jesús De la Fuente	....	construction coordinator
José G. Donado	....	painter (as José Garcia Donado)
Antonio Gómez	....	carpenter
Luis Gómez	....	carpenter
Vázquez Hermanos	....	property master
De La Oliva	....	property master
José Luque	....	carpenter
Ricardo Mengíbar	....	property master
Natalia Montes	....	props
Natalia Montes	....	storyboard artist
Iñigo Navarro	....	sketcher
Óscar Romero	....	props
Sergio Rozas	....	assistant set decorator
Sergio Rozas	....	storyboard artist
Rafael Serras	....	set decorator trainee
Roberto Torralba	....	carpenter
Félix Álvarez	....	painter

Sound Department
Sergio Bürmann	....	boom operator
Juan Carlos Cid	....	boom operator
Juan Dibarboure	....	sound editor trainee
Jaime Fernández	....	sound re-recording mixer
Patrick Ghislain	....	sound mixer
Daniel Goldstein	....	sound designer (as Goldstein & Steinberg)
Pelayo Gutiérrez	....	sound editor
Julien Naudin	....	sound effects editor
Jaime Puig	....	sound stereo consultant: Dolby
Alfonso Raposo	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nacho Royo	....	sound editor
Ricardo Steinberg	....	sound designer (as Goldstein & Steinberg)
José Vinader	....	sound

Special Effects by
Reyes Abades	....	special effects
Colin Arthur	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Belén Arsuaga	....	visual effects
Félix Bergés	....	visual effects
Pedro Blanco	....	visual effects
Alberto Esteban	....	visual effects coordinator
Luis Guerra	....	visual effects
Ricardo Gómez	....	visual effects
Rafael Menéndez de Luarca	....	visual effects
Óscar Miranda	....	visual effects
Inés Montero	....	visual effects
Abraham Portolés	....	visual effects
Juan Antonio Ruiz	....	visual effects
Carlos J. Santos	....	opticals
Jacinto Soria	....	modeler
Aurelio Sánchez Herrera	....	visual effects
Adolfo Villalón	....	modeler

Camera and Electrical Department
Miguel Ángel Bardavio	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Hans Burman	....	camera operator
Wolfgang Burmann	....	director of photography: second unit
Pablo Bürmann	....	first assistant camera
Pablo Carrión Bautista	....	electrician
Juan Carrión	....	gaffer
Pablo Carrión	....	electrician
Roberto de Miguel	....	second assistant camera (as Roberto Miguel)
Domenech	....	camera rental
Pablo Hernández Smith	....	director of photography: second unit (as Pablo Hernandez)
Pedro López	....	electrician
Carlos Montero	....	camera trainee
Francisco Ramos	....	key grip
Ramiro Sabell hijo	....	first assistant camera: second unit
José Sacristán	....	electrician
Luis Sáenz	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Gregorio Sánchez	....	first assistant camera: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Humberto Cornejo	....	wardrobe
Ana Cuerda	....	assistant costume designer
Bubi Escobar	....	costumer (as María Isabel Escobar)
Concha Solera	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Natalia Sáinz de Rozas	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Enrique Camarasa	....	music recordist
Juan Carlos Cuello	....	music producer
Bartolomé Espadale	....	music production manager
Mario Klemens	....	conductor
Eduardo Ruiz-Joya	....	music mixer (as Eduardo Ruiz Joya)
José Vinader	....	music mixer

Transportation Department
Félix Fontal	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Emilio Ardura	....	tapestry
Javier Bellot	....	press attache
Amanda Castro	....	assistant to director
Mar de Frutos	....	location manager
Alberto García	....	production assistant
Mateo Gil	....	assistant to director
Juan Giraldez	....	location manager
Montserrat González	....	legal advisor
Rafael Hostelería	....	caterer
Alfonso Jadraque	....	location manager
José Miguel Mendiola	....	financial controller
Sofía Merlin	....	location manager
Eva Muslera	....	production accountant
José M. Méndez	....	legal advisor
Víctor Mínguez	....	production assistant
María Teresa Payero	....	production secretary
Juan Luis Pedrero	....	production accountant
Lola Pérez	....	legal advisor
Carlos J. Santos	....	title designer
Carmen Soriano	....	script supervisor
José Luis Sánchez	....	location manager
César Urrutia	....	press promotion

Thanks
Javier Aramburu	....	thanks
Olga de Bartolomé	....	thanks
Armand Basi	....	thanks
Fabrice Benoît	....	thanks
Fernando Cañas	....	thanks
Luis Dorado	....	thanks
Concha Doñaque	....	thanks
Andy Ferguson	....	thanks
Luis Fernández Inglada	....	thanks
Nieves Herranz	....	thanks
Luis A. López Calvo	....	thanks (as Luis Antonio López Calvo)
José Mercado	....	thanks
Ian Padrón	....	thanks
Nano de la Peña	....	thanks (as Fernando de la Peña)
Antonio Ramos	....	thanks
Ana Steinberg	....	thanks
Nacho Sáenz de Tejada	....	thanks
Tomás Zapata	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Canal+ España
• Las Producciones del Escorpión S.L.
• Les Films Alain Sarde
• Lucky Red
• Sociedad General de Televisión (Sogetel)

Distributors

• AFMD (1998) (France) (theatrical)
• Artisan Entertainment (1999) (USA) (theatrical)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (199?) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Cine Archivo (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (in association with)
• Helkon Filmverleih GmbH (2002) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Odeon (199?) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Redbus Film Distribution (2000) (UK) (theatrical)
• Sogepaq Distribución (1997) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1999) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (199?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment (1997) (UK) (DVD)
• Odeon Video (199?) (Greece) (VHS)
• Sociedad General de Televisión (Sogetel) (Spain)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• VCL Communications (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Videotrónica (199?) (Portugal) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Molinaro S.A.

Other Companies

• Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, The  orchestra
• Summit Entertainment  foreign sales

Also Known As:

"Abre los ojos" - Spain (original title)
"Permanent Midnight" - USA

MPAA:

Rated R for some strong sexuality, language and some violence

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

Spain | France | Italy

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Chile:18 | France:U | Germany:16 (video premiere) | Hong Kong:IIB | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Canal+ España

Trivia:

Penélope Cruz also stars in Vanilla Sky (2001), Cameron Crowe's remake of this film, playing the same character, Sofia.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: A crew member is reflected in the car window when César picks up Pelayo for tennis.

Quotes:

[Repeated line.]
Nuria:Open your eyes.

Movie Connections:

References The Wicker Man (1973)

Soundtrack:

Rising Son

Very impressive; if you can, PLEASE see this before Vanilla Sky!

"Vanilla Sky" turned out to be a moderate success and scored great reviews by most critics, and I liked it myself. But if you compare it to this film, there's almost nothing different! But of course, it's all Cameron Crowe's fault and not the fault of the director of this movie. Luckily, I haven't seen "VS" in a while, so certain surprises in the plot still intrigued me. And I was intrigued throughout the film, I think even moreso than with "VS."

Tom Cruise is a fine actor, and I have nothing against him. But I always appreciate seeing unknown actors (at least they're unknown to me; I don't live in Spain, so they might be superstars there) give fine performances. The actor who plays the main character in this film as just as effective as Cruise. He is an extremely attractive man and knows how to express a plethora of emotions. I've never been a big fan of Penelope Cruz's work in the states, because her English still isn't great and that clearly shows in the mangled expression of her dialogue. But in her native language she shows great talent. And since I find her much more attractive than I used to, I'm more appealed by her in the looks department. Plus, as a man I must reveal she has a great nude scene in the film.

One element of the plot that I don't think Crowe's "VS" expressed as well was the jealousy between the handsome main character and his best friend. I was able to connect with that portion of the story, since I have a best friend like the main character who's charming girls left and right, while I (the average guy) have virtually no appeal to the ladies. I know what it's like to possess that sort of envy, and so do the average guys all around who see handsome guys doing the same things we do, but get more favorable results just on account of their good looks. The film also expresses the theme that no matter how many times most attractive men claim their looks are of no importance to them, if their looks were one day to be stolen from them, they'd lose the will to live.

I'm sure if I saw "Vanilla Sky" after this movie, I'd enjoy it a lot less. This is sheer proof that the general American public is too lazy to read subtitles. Because if you were watching the DVD of "VS" and switched the language channels from English to Spanish, it's the same damn movie! And now I feel sorry for the director of this movie, since he's the genius behind this genuinely original story, but Cameron Crowe comes along and takes all the credit. I am not one of those grouches who hates remakes, but if you're going to remake a film, put your own spin on it! Don't take all the original ideas and conduct it with different actors! And wait a couple decades for God's sake! "Open Your Eyes" was released in 1997 and "VS" only four years later. So unless you're illiterate, please see "Open Your Eyes" before you even consider "Vanilla Sky"!

My score: 8 (out of 10)