Trece campanadas (2002)

Director:

Xavier Villaverde

Writers:

Juan Vicente Pozuelo (writer)
Curro Royo (writer)

Release Date:

17 January 2003 (Spain)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

Jacobo is a young sculptor that returns to native city, Santiago of Compostela, to see his mother, locked...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Juan Diego Botto	...	Jacobo
Marta Etura	...	María
Luis Tosar	...	Mateo
Elvira Mínguez	...	Carmen
Rosa Álvarez	...	Aura
Laura Mañá	...	Claudia
David Álvarez	...	Young Jacobo
Diogo Infante	...	Raúl
Gonzalo Uriarte	...	Priest
Ernesto Chao	...	Inspector
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mayka Braña
Arantxa Villar	...	Figurante

Also Known As:

Thirteen Chimes (Europe: English title) (literal title) (International: English title)
13 Curses (USA) (DVD title)
13 campanadas (Spain) (alternative spelling)
Trece badaladas (Spain: Galician title)
When the Bell Chimed 13 (International: English title)

Runtime:

Spain:108 min | Argentina:108 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Spain:13 | USA:NC-17 | South Korea:18 | Germany:16 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Company:

Antena 3 Televisión

Movie Connections:

References Vertigo (1958)

Mental Goosebumps

I'm not the one to go and watch scary movies. I bought this title on the internet and the synopsis did not tell anything about the anguish that runs throughout the story. It only told about a young artist that goes back home to see his mother who is in a mental health hospital, and back there he has to tackle unresolved questions about his childhood. If I had read about what the unresolved questions were about, and how Jacobo tackled them I would have not bought this movie, and it would have been a pity.

I liked this movie a lot. It was written so well you don't understand if Jacobo's father is really there hurting his son or not until the very end of the movie, you just see the escalating fear, anger and pain in Jacobo's face as in Marìa's eyes as a reflex. The physical violent scenes, which have to be present in thrillers, are not too many and are scattered throughout the movie to help in reaching the climax of the action and they are not too scary. It's the mental status of the two main characters that frightens the viewer. The cathedral's setting adds to it and, also, the weather which is mainly dark and raining as to stress on the fact that Jacobo as big black clouds filling his mind.

I think that this movie, which is not related so much to Spain as a cultural region, might be of interest to a wide audience.The setting might have been any cathedral in the western world, and the story theme is universal: how and if an abused child can grow up and move past a devastating mental illness. And, it's a great movie about friendship and love, as well. Marìa risks a lot to help Jacopo. She quits an affair with a well known and stable psychiatrist and she goes against her mom's advice not to get involved because those who have been hurt often hurt others as hurt is the only thing they know .

Both Marta Etura and Juan Diego Botto were great, but Luis Tosar was astonishing. He could look tender and caring and a few moments after he was looking so frightening and mean.