Luz de domingo (2007)

Director:

José Luis Garci

Writers:

José Luis Garci (writer)
Horacio Valcárcel (writer)

Release Date:

16 November 2007 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

5 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Álex González
Paula Echevarría
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Toni Acosta
Eva Almaya	...	Laura
Víctor Anciones	...	Pipo
Adolfo de Grandy
Manuel Galiana
Fernando Guillén Cuervo
Hevia
Alfredo Landa
Carlos Larrañaga
Iker Lastra
Ramón Lillo
Kiti Manver
Valentín Paredes
Sergio Peris-Mencheta
Enrique Villén

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Avilés, Asturias, Spain

Company:

Nickel Odeón Dos

Actually pretty good

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

In 'Luz de domingo' a young graduate arrives in a small Asturian town to work as a civil servant and falls in love with a local beauty. As a result of a grudge between families his girlfriend is raped and impregnated a few days before marriage. The couple simply moves to a different town and later emigrate to America. Eventually her grandfather avenges her.

The story flows and keeps your interest throughout its duration. Since it is narrated by one of the characters decades later a voice-over is used to introduce explanations and ellipses that help speed up the narration. As usual, the script and humour are rather naive and childish but suit the film's overall tone.

The setting is superb and the film manages to convey what life in small rural towns is like. The choice of landscapes and scenarios is also excellent. Yet again anything resembling local cultural traits are ignored and Castilian accents is all you will hear.

It was nice to see Garci attempting to provide a balanced approach of Spanish politics. His portrait of rural "caciciques" is devastating although the other side is (more subtly) criticized as well. For instance, one of the 'democrats' announces that Halley's Comet is going to kill them all (mocking today's global warming craze).

The film is definitely much more than I expected and I would recommend giving it a go.

5/10