Hola, ¿estás sola?

"Hello, are you alone?" or Hola, ¿estás sola?(1995) concerns Nina (Silke), a 20-year-old girl from Valladolid who lives with her divorced father, a conservative authoritarian. Trini (Candela Peña) is the same age and has lost her mother. Their families and hometown have nothing to offer It tells their friendship of these two 20-year-old girls with a common past of lack of affection. Together they decide to embark on a trip with the purpose of getting rich. So they go on a risky voyage to the Costa del Sol (Málaga) in southern Spain and stop in Madrid to search for work and independence. After several events, they rent an apartment in Madrid, without furniture. There, they meet Pepe (Álex Angulo), an unemployed, half-bald and mature man, and the handsome Olaf (Arcadi Levin), a young Russian on vacation, with whom they can barely communicate because he does not speak Spanish. Through Pepe, and despite their anger towards each other and vice versa, they are offered the opportunity to open a beach bar on the Costa del Sol. Mariló (Elena Irureta), Niña's mother, is the organizer of all.

An enjoyable and sensitive film contains youth social manners, friendhip, interesting dialogues and brief doses of humor. It is easy to forget the defects in the editing and framing of the aspiring filmmaker, to let yourself be carried away by the freshness of a benevolent look at two young people whose unbreakable friendship is, ultimately, the great strength that will allow them to overcome the emotional deficits of their families. It received numerous awards, including: Goya Award nomination for best new director, award at the San Jordi festival for best first film, Audience award at the Valladolid festival and award for best director and best film at the Peñiscola festival. The plot is fun and simple, a slight story in which friendship, disappointment, and defeat are the main plot. Star two young acresses: Silke and Candela who won the award for best actress at the 1996 Peñiscola Festival, both of whom give sympathetic acting.

The first feature film by Icíar Bollaín, in the casual form of a peculiar female road movie in which attractive characters are torn between the desire to settle down and get out of an unfortunate life. Resulting to be a chronicle of the emancipation and affirmation of two young women faced with their own family pains. In this first feature film we find the freshness and freedom of Spanish youth and a good sense of pace with characters who do not seek to make history, but simply live and have fun . Unlike his later films, Icíar Bollaín does not capture the social conflicts of the great story, nor historical figures, but instead develops female characters who carry their own destiny and where men are not essential since they can disappear from one moment to the next. With style and subtlety, Icíar Bollaín outlines vulnerable and moving characters who advance in the face of danger, among them the discovery of an effervescent Candela Peña in the role of her faithful friend, who continued her collaboration with the filmmaker in subsequent films-

The sobriety of the plot is the main active, dealing with an unforgettable female friendship through the conviction of the actresses' performance and, more specifically, of Candela Peña, who radiates splendidly throughout the film. There's also a number of actors who will continue to develop prosperous film careers just as: Alex Angulo, Elena Irureta, Daniel Guzmán, and today indispensable Antonio de la Torre.

The motion picture was originally directed by Iciar Bollain . She has worked as a leading actress in selected films a ¨The South¨ (1983) by 'Victor Erice', ¨Malaventura¨ (1988) by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón , ¨Land and Freedom¨ (1995) by Ken Loach, it became an acclaimed audience's and critics' choice ; ¨Leo¨ (2000) by 'Jose Luis Borau' that won the Best Actress nomination Goya Spanish Academy Awards and ¨Nos Miran¨ (2002) . She is a prestigious producer , writing and directing since then both documentaries and fiction films. In 1995, she wrote and directed her feature film debut, ¨Hola, ¿estás Sola?¨ (1995), awarded with Best New Director in Valladolid Festival and was nominated for Best Directorial Debut by the Spanish Film Academy. The film became one of Spain's 1996 box office hits. ¨Flowers from another world¨(1999), was her second feature film and was awarded at Cannes Film Festival 1999, Best Film in the International Critics' Week ; ¨Take my eyes¨, 2003, was her following film as writer and director, winner of 7 Goyas Spanish Academy Awards, including Best Film, among many other international awards. Her next feature film was ¨Mataharis (2007)¨ , subsequently , ¨Katmandu¨ and finally ¨El Olivo¨ at her best . Rating Hola, ¿estás sola?(1995): 6.5/10. Well worth watching.

Both Candela Peña and Silke are fantastic as "Trini" and "La Niña", two girls who decide to run away together to get rich. Whilst they don't quite achieve their financial aim, they do discover a lot about themselves, deal with several personal issues weighing them down, and cement their friendship through learning to rely on each other. Silke is utterly believable as the girl who resents the fact that her mother abandoned her and her father as a child, and Candela Peña plays the role of an orphan who so desperately needs a mother she is willing to borrow Niña's. The two laugh, cry and make love to a Russian across the Spanish plain, and we are fortunate enough to become a part of their world for the film's duration. I thoroughly enjoyed it, a great debut effort by Icíar Bollain - ¡enhorabuena, guapa!

Fresh comedy directed by former actress -now more centered in the work behind the camera- Iciar Bollain. The movie mixes -with the magic of simplicity and crude dialogues- the drama of two girls looking for sense in their lives. Candela Peña showed here she's the natural substitute of Carmen Maura in Spain for this kind of tragicomic roles. Silke, making her debut here too, magnetized the audiences with her mysterious personality. Alex Angulo, usual actor of Alex De la Iglesia's movies, is great too here. Good time guaranteed!

Hola, Estás Sola? (1995) Is the directorial debut of Iciar Bolaín, known for her films Take My Eyes and Even The Rain. This movie features Silke as La Niña and Candela Peña as Trini, two twenty-year old best friends moving from city to city around Spain on a whim, making and breaking relationships as they go. They encounter La Niña's mother, Mariló, played by Elena Irureta, Pepe, played by Álex Angulo, and a Russian named Olaf who doesn't speak Spanish (played by Aracdi Levin). From Valladolid, to Madrid, to la Costa de Sol, and back to Madrid they do what they want, with their friendship remaining the only constant throughout. Primary themes include friendship, independence, youth, and mother-daughter relationships.

The film was released in 1995 and takes place around the same time. The 90s are easily identifiable by Silke's haircut, low rise jeans, and baggy red T-shirt, as well as Trini's bright colors, scrunchies, and choker necklaces. The 90s were an active period for Spanish tourism after Spain integrated with the European Union in 1986. This boom in tourism is shown in the movie during Trini and Niña's work at a beach resort where they lead vacation activities for English Speaking tourists. We also see graffiti in Madrid referencing "el paro," high levels of unemployment which started to lower in the late 90s and early 2000s. These girls seem to have no problem finding assorted jobs in the service industry, and Mariló even starts her own business, but they certainly don't have money to spare. They live in an apartment sparsely furnished by dumpster diving and steal glasses for their kitchen, but none of this seems to matter in the face of the thrill of independence.

The cinematography is bright and can be divided into two foci, intimate conversations in the home and broad moving landscapes, often including trains which capture the journey and physical movement of the film. The music is equally light and full of movement. The acting is frank and intends to show carelessness of youth, Bollain wanted to show a realistic experience of young women in 1990s Spain. Overall, the creative aspects of this film come together to show a lighthearted exploration of youth and modern society as newly independent women.

If you grew up in the 90s, I have no doubt that this film will bring up some nostalgia. It's a lighthearted coming of age film that makes you want to travel the world. I would recommend this film to any fans of Bollaín's other work. As her first film, It offers a window into her self-discovery as a director. The film is fun, but the plot is not particularly exciting. This might be intentional, because it intends to show the lack of planning and regard for the future in these twenty-year old minds. I am glad I watched it, but I don't feel drawn to watch it again any time soon.