Aunque tú no lo sepas (2000)

Director:

Juan Vicente Córdoba

Writers:

José Manuel Benayas (writer)
Antonio Conesa (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Lucía's heart misses a beat when she sees a man of her age, Juan in a department store. Without hesitating...

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Silvia Munt	...	Lucía
Gary Piquer	...	Juan
Andrés Gertrúdix	...	Juan, de joven
Cristina Brondo	...	Lucía, de joven
Daniel Guzmán	...	Santi, de joven
Eloy Azorín	...	Nacho
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Miriam Acebo	...	Conchi joven
Román Alonso	...	Munster
Ricardo Amador	...	Miguel
Teresa Arbolí	...	Madre de Lucía, de joven
Enrique Asenjo	...	Chico Manifestación
Cristina Baeza	...	Espectadora Fnac
Mariví Bilbao	...	Madre de Lucía, de mayor
Eduardo Blanco	...	Matón 2
Txema Blasco	...	Benito
José Antonio Bracamonte	...	Nando
Antonio Campaña	...	Bruno Enke
Sara Castro	...	Camarera
Paco Catalá	...	Capataz
Marc Cistaré	...	Chico Pintada
Yohana Cobo	...	Ana
Pau Cólera	...	Matón 1
Secun de la Rosa	...	Compañero del mudo (as Secundino de la Rosa)
Rafael Delgado	...	Conductor Coche Toreros
Bernabé Fernández	...	Alumno 3
Jonathan Flores	...	Quino
Ada Francoy	...	Presentina
Apolinar Gallardo	...	Hippy
Luisa Gavasa	...	Madre de Juan
Laia Gayet	...	Amante de Juan
Chelo Gil	...	Chica Pintada
Victor Gutiérrez	...	Alumno 2
Roberto Hernández	...	Ginés
Victoria Herrera	...	Cati
Concha Hidalgo	...	Fidela
Óscar Jaenada	...	Cacique
Juan León	...	Matón 3
Emilio Linder	...	Padre de Juan
Celso López	...	Profesor
Luchi López	...	Toñi
Ruth Márquez	...	Dependienta Fnac
Angélica Martín	...	Loli
Ismael Martínez	...	José
Javier Mas	...	Padre de Lucía, de joven
Lorenzo Milá	...	Himself
Manuel Morón	...	Santi
Ángel Muñoz	...	Peque
Laura Murcia	...	Masajista
Gema Nieto	...	Enfermera
Juan Carlos Ollana	...	Portero del teatro
Francisco Olmo	...	Mario
Darío Paso	...	Kike
Domingo Pereiro	...	Sordo
María Reyes Arias		(as María Reyes)
Lorena Rosado	...	Laura
José Carlos Ruiz	...	Alumno 1
Susi Sánchez	...	Ángela
Julio San Juan	...	Mudo
María Seyer	...	Eva
Esther Toledano	...	Ángela joven
Consuelo Trujillo	...	Conchi

Also Known As:

What You Never Knew (International: English title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Spain:7

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Enrique Cerezo Producciones Cinematográficas S.A.

Soundtrack:

Yo te lo digo cantando

Silent dialogues

Such was the romantic Madrid of the 70s in the so-called popular neighbourhoods, romances floated over the balconies; from such a simple and short story by Almudena Grandes, Juan Vicente Córdoba has constructed and recreated an amazingly attractive story.

Having been badly bitten by Bigas Luna's fantasies based on fetiche-laden novelas by Almudena Grandes - `Las Edades de Lulú' (1990) (qv) - and Gerardo Herrero's `Malena es un Nombre de Tango' (1996) (qv) - it might well have been a good idea to miss this one given the material from which the film originates. However, one should not condemn a priori and out of hand, whatever one's instincts may be for steering clear of anything to do with the aforementioned writer. Almudena Grandes is definitely not my cup of tea; however `Aunque tú no lo sepas' is very much Sr. Córdoba's story, loosely based on and recreated from `El Vocabulario de los Balcones' by Grandes.

Young love may well flutter across balconies, though twenty years later on in life, such passions do not tend to waft about over city streets as easily as erstwhile. From there, a beautifully constructed story develops, jumping back and forth over the twenty year interval, filling in different moments of the young Lucía and Juan as they recall the past.

Silvia Munt and Gary Piquer offer deep-felt performances; even their wordless dialogues express so much more than mere words, such that you almost see their innermost thoughts amid the silence or that beautiful little leit-motif. Poignant, masterfully captured for the screen. Ever since Colometa in `La Plaza del Diamante' (1981) based on the book in Catalonian by Mercè Roboredo, derived from a TV series of the same name and not included on IMDb, I have tried to keep contact with Silvia Munt, but have only had the luck to find her on a few occasions, most memorably in `Alas de Mariposa' (1991) and in that lovely little masterpiece `Secretos del Corazón' (1997) (qv) by Montxo Armendáriz.

`Aunque tú no lo sepas' did very well in bringing back memories of Spain in the mid seventies - all those 2cv and 850 cars, including a splendid Citroën DS21, and some very authentic Derbi motorcycles (I had one myself!), combined with `L'Estaca' sung by Joan Manuel Serrat, with contributions from José Luis Perailes, a very brief extract from Los Pekinikes, and footage from the second channel's TV news programme and the splendid series `El Hombre y La Tierra' (specifically `El Lobo') by Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (qv), serve admirably as a backdrop in this film.

More than admirable is Ángel Illarramendi's musical contribution: a fragile melody in form of a leit-motif appears on a cello, but later is transformed into various instruments and even orchestrated. Carefully present at strategic moments this musical theme enhances visual concepts, lending harmonious colouring to the film's poignant moments. Superbly intelligent use of what is basically a simple melody but which goes through variations and different treatments.

This is excellent cinema for the discerning, very definitely a film which I must see again. Slightly above 8/10 on my scale - and that is a very high recommendation in itself.