Airbag (1997)

Mommy's boy Juantxo is engaged. Dragged to the party by his friends Konradin and Paco, he loses his expensive wedding ring inside the body of a prostitute. Mafioso whorehouse owner ... See full summary »

Director:

Juanma Bajo Ulloa

Writers:

Karra Elejalde (screenplay), Juanma Bajo Ulloa (screenplay)

Stars:

Karra Elejalde, Fernando Guillén Cuervo, Alberto San Juan

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karra Elejalde	...	Juantxo
Fernando Guillén Cuervo	...	Konradín
Alberto San Juan	...	Pako
Manuel Manquiña	...	Pazos
Maria de Medeiros	...	Fátima do Espíritu Santo
Francisco Rabal	...	Villambrosa
Rosa Maria Sardà	...	Aurora
Luis Cuenca	...	Souza
Pilar Bardem	...	La Herme
Karlos Arguiñano	...	Serafín
Albert Pla	...	Sacerdote
Vicenta N'Dongo	...	Vanessa
Raquel Meroño	...	Araceli
Fernando Sansegundo	...	Touriño
Aitor Mazo	...	Pintinho

Storyline

Mommy's boy Juantxo is engaged. Dragged to the party by his friends Konradin and Paco, he loses his expensive wedding ring inside the body of a prostitute. Mafioso whorehouse owner Villambrosa finds the ring. Meanwhile Villambrosa's rival gangster Souza sends "femme fatale" Fatima to check things out. Juantxo and his friends are trying to get the ring back and in the process get involved in the war between gangs..

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Plot Keywords:

cocaine | whorehouse | reference to starsky and hutch | car chase | road movie | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Spain Portugal Germany

Language:

Spanish Portuguese

Release Date:

20 June 1997 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Airbag - Jetzt knallt's richtig!

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asegarce Zinema, Canal+, Degeto Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 132 min (extended cut)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Javier Bardem was considered for the role of Pako, but was committed to Dance with the Devil (1997) for the same dates. He eventually ended up making a cameo appearance as the star of a soap opera shown on a TV set. Viggo Mortensen was also considered for Pako, but his Argentinean accent was deemed not suitable for a character who had to sound genuinely Spanish.

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Goofs

The wrecked Ford Mustang is switched to a Ford Capri for the explosion scene.

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Quotes

Candidato Paiño: All this is a lie, it's clearly a complot, they set me up, man. How could I know that girl was 10 years old? Blame it on their parents! They dress them as whores!

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Connections

Referenced in Black Tears (1998)

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Soundtracks

Getrunken Express
by Los Coronas

User Reviews

Lavish and up-roaring action/comedy , filled with laughs , entertainment , amusement and fun things

This outlandish and ironic film was a big commercial hit in Spain . This is a fast crazy movie with lot of nutty situations , antics , bemusement and with a bunch of very hilarious roles . It deals with Juantxo (Karra Elejalde) who is engaged Araceli (Raquel Meroño) and he is about to celebrate the wedding . Dragged to a wild party by his friends Konradin (Fernando Guillén Cuervo) and Paco (Alberto San Juan) , he loses his valuable wedding ring inside the ass of a whore called Vanessa (Vicenta N'Dongo) . Mafioso whorehouse owner Villambrosa (Francisco Rabal) finds the ring and blackmails Juantxo . Meanwhile , Villambrosa's rival mobster , the mean dope lord Souza , (Luis Cuenca) sends "femme fatale" Fatima (Maria De Medeiros) to check things out . Juantxo and his friends are attempting to get the ring back and in the process get involved in a dangerous war among several factions that fight for a drug smuggling and a huge cash . As three Spanish suspected felons soon find dangers themselves in over their heads when they stumble with a bunch of gangsters and a violent war between two powerful bands of prostitution and drugs .

Big-budgeted action film results to be a hilarious hallucinogenic comedy , with plenty of parody , surrealist events , bad taste , extreme spoof and gross-out but also with some brief moments being bold and funny . This disconcerting and overlong film includes various bizarre ironies that are fun , diverting and sometimes shocking . It is a comical and sometimes embarrassing account of a trio of unfortunate young people who set out in a bachelor party with unexpected consequences . Sitting in a strange middle ground between the completely absurd and the stylishly cool, this one is one of a hundred and one movies to try and capture the vibe of America's Quentin Tarantino . It turns out to be pleasantly fun that offers no intellectual stimulus whatsoever ; an exercise in pure amusement in which entertainment and fun are guaranteed . The characters are all odd , grotesque and weird and the film races on at incredible speed . Humor turns out to be sometimes cheesy and gross-out with numerous naughty and picaresque situations such as ridiculous jokes , blasphemy and adult scenes . However , it also contains uneven comedy , piggy humor , profanity and grossed issues . ¨Airbag¨ is followed by ¨Año Mariano¨ realized in similar style , also written and starred by Fernando Guillen Cuervo and Kara Elejalde , full of quirk roles , amazing events , abundant craziness and strange situations ; but there was also a larger theological question about ¨people manipulation¨ . The ensemble cast has some nice moments in the film , with three attractive and sympathetic players : Alberto San Juan , and Kara Elejalde , Fernando Guillen Cuervo , both of whom writers along with Juanma Bajo Ulloa . The secondary interpreters are pretty good and full of cameos , such as : Ramón Barea , Rosa Maria Sardà , Javier Bardem , Pilar Bardem , Luis Cuenca , Albert Pla , Santiago Segura , Vicenta N'Dongo , Manuel Manquiña , Manuel Tallafé , David Trueba , among others . And Francisco Rabal , a notorious and prestigious actor , he is one of the best reasons for watching the movie and the rest responded pretty well .

The cinematography is glimmer as well as evocative , shot in several locations from Portugal , Madrid , Pamplona , and Gran Casino of Santander , Cantabria . This adequate photography was well made by Gonzalo Berridi , a good expert and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameramen . In his long career , Gonzalo has photographed successes such as ¨El Viaje De Carol¨, ¨Amantes Circulo Polar¨ , ¨Ardilla Roja¨ , ¨Camaron¨ and ¨8 Apellidos Vascos¨. Director Juanma Bajo Ulloa had a lot of success in the way the film satirizes the peculiar roles ; however here abounds absurd and ridiculous moments . Juanma Bajo Ulloa is a nice but little prolific filmmaker . In 1989 he filmed his first movie in 35 mm , "The kingdom of Victor" that won the Goya of the Spanish academy to the best short movie . His first long film was the successful ¨Butterfly wings¨ in which appears a brief cameo by Karra Elejalde as a neighbour , this movie achieved numerous national and international prizes . As it won 3 Goyas of the Spanish academy , such as best first movie , actress and original screenplay . In 1993, he realized his second picture , ¨La Madre Muerta¨ or ¨Dead mother¨ , it won prizes in several Festivals like Venice and Montreal and considered to be his best by many of his aficionados . As it was released in the Festival of Cine of San Sebastian it won the first prize and subsequently won awards in many international festivals . In 1996 , he shot his third movie , "Airbag" , an action road-movie , became the biggest Spanish box-office hit of all time , being a real international success . However this success , he has been unable to make any other movie in the last 8 years . He attempted to adapt the Spanish comic hero "Capitán Trueno" but the producers turned him down , and being finally realized by Antonio Hernandez . Others projects couldn't be financed due to creative differences with producers. In 2004 he filmed in secret, and with his own money, his fourth movie, "Fragil", that will be released in 2005 but was a commercial flop . ¨Airbag¨ , rating : 5/10 . Acceptable and passable but excessive .