Piedras (2002)

Director:

Ramón Salazar

Writer:

Ramón Salazar (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 February 2002 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

"In life, we first organize large stones (Piedras) such as love, friendship, family, and a career." In this way...

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title

Awards:

6 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Antonia San Juan	...	Adela
Najwa Nimri	...	Leire
Vicky Peña	...	Maricarmen
Mónica Cervera	...	Anita
Ángela Molina	...	Isabel
Lola Dueñas	...	Daniela
María Casal	...	Martina
Daniele Liotti	...	Kun
Rodolfo De Souza	...	Leonardo
Enrique Alcides	...	Joaquín
Nacho Duato	...	Podólogo
Andrés Gertrúdix	...	Javier
Santiago Crespo	...	Víctor
Manuel de Blas	...	Empresario
Geli Albaladejo	...	Araceli

Also Known As:

Stones (International: English title)

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Denmark:7 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Almada, Almada, Portugal

Company:

Alquimia Cinema

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the second scene at the chiropodist, a cameraman can be seen reflected in the glass window.

Movie Connections:

References Pretty Woman (1990)

Cinderellas in Madrid

Several story lines are interwoven here around different women characters. The shoes they wear serve as an indication of their troubled lives. All are transformed at the end of the movie. Adela (Antonia San Juan) leads a brothel; Her daughter Anita (Monica Cervera) is retarded and has a restricted life. Leire (Najwa Nimri) is a shoe designer with problems and loses her boyfriend; Maricarmen (Vicky Peña) has lost her husband and now raises the children from his deceased former wife. Isabel (Ángela Molina) is a bored rich lady.

Other characters are used to connect the five main women characters. In storytelling not everything is given away in the beginning: Some connections are established surprisingly late in the movie and that adds to the experience. The shoe-theme is driven to extremes: For example when Leire as a shoe-designer and working in a shoe store where she steals her shoes faints, she breaks one of her heels.

In editing small connections are made between the scenes. A telephone rings, a cigarette is lit, a song, etc. are used to make the connection and fast cuts. Frequent change of storyline keeps it from being boring or reaching TV-levels. It is strongly music-driven to set tone and atmosphere. The cities of Madrid and Lisbon serve as the backdrop for the stories, and shots of those cities are used to extend the story beyond the characters. One of the more moving shots is when Anita, who makes the same walk every day, widens her walk and restricted life from the relative calm of her street to the busy main road: How the restriction of space is visually translated is well done. As with most Spanish movies a lot of storytelling is done visually, using the soap-like stories as the simple backdrop. There is a poetic ending that is somewhat romantic and sentimental but is still beautiful.

As Ramón Salazar is too much in love with his own material it is overlong. Some scenes are kitsch and on the soap level, including the acting (Adela's love life, Isabel's doctor). The shoe-theme is exaggerated and is a weak metaphor.

This is often compared to Magnolia because the structure is the same. But they are different. Magnolia is more technically competent, but somewhat mechanical. This has more the ability to translate emotion and atmosphere visually. After seeing this, you are inclined to immediately move to the new movie-city: Madrid.