The Shanghai Spell (2002)

Barcelona, 1948: An old man living with 14 y.o. Dani and his mom, arranges for Dani to draw the cute 15 y.o. Susana, bedridden with TB. Her dad's friend visits Susana and her sexy mom and tells about her dad and Shanghai.

Director:

Fernando Trueba

Writers:

Juan Marsé (novel), Fernando Trueba

Stars:

Fernando Tielve, Aida Folch, Ariadna Gil

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fernando Tielve	...	Dani
Aida Folch	...	Susana
Ariadna Gil	...	Anita / Chen
Fernando Fernán Gómez	...	Capitán Blay (as Fernando Fernán-Gómez)
Eduard Fernández	...	Forcat
Antonio Resines	...	Kim
Rosa Maria Sardà	...	Betibú (as Rosa María Sardá)
Jorge Sanz	...	Denis
Juan José Ballesta	...	Finito Chacón (as Juanjo Ballesta)
Cristina Dilla	...	Madre Dani
Joan Borràs	...	Dr. Barjau (as Joan Borrás)
Götz Otto	...	Omar
Féodor Atkine	...	Michel Levy (as Feodor Atkine)
Antonio Dechent	...	Capataz
Philippe Beglia	...	Lambert

Storyline

A fourteen year old lad discovers his first love at the point of his pencil whilst drawing the portrait of a sickly but coquettish fifteen year old girl. In the neighbourhood an old freedom-fighter pits himself against bad types, a pretty cinema-ticket girl takes to the streets at night and a young anarchist dedicates himself to telling tall stories. Far away, in Shanghai, a hero of the Republic meets a beautiful femme fatal with oriental eyes. Reality and fiction become fused in an embrace.

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Plot Keywords:

girl | narrator | tale | old man | 14 year old | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Was originally a Victor Erice project, but differences between him and producer Andrés Vicente Gómez ended up with his refusal to make the movie.

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Connections

References Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

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Soundtracks

Canción y danza nº6
Written by Frederic Mompou

User Reviews

Another great story by Trueba

Fernando Trueba knows how to tell a story. And more importantly for cinema lovers, he also knows how to make it visually compelling. The story might be a bit twisted, you might have a bit of difficulty to follow exactly what's going on, but the movie is still worth watching. The cast is superb. Fernando Fernán Gomez is great as the old captain who's more lucid than he appears to be. Ariadna Gil is sublime in her role. Both Fernando Tielve and Aida Folch are to be remembered, because I'm sure we'll see more of them in the future. Another thing I liked about this movie is the photography. Trueba makes good use of black and white and keeps shifting the screen format from one scene to the other. And I really liked the ending. See for yourself.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on March 4th, 2006.

82/100 (***)

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

Spain France UK

Language:

Spanish Catalan

Release Date:

12 April 2002 (Spain)

Also Known As:

A sanghaji varázslat

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,152,695

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antena 3 Televisión, Eurimages, Lolafilms

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color (Eastmancolor)