I'm So Excited! (2013)

When it appears as though the end is in sight, the pilots, flight crew, and passengers of a plane heading to Mexico City look to forget the anguish of the moment and face the greatest danger, which we carry within ourselves.

Director:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writer:

Pedro Almodóvar

Stars:

Javier Cámara, Pepa Charro, Cecilia Roth

3 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Antonio Banderas	...	León
Penélope Cruz	...	Jessica
Coté Soler	...	Operario 2 (as Cote Soler)
Antonio de la Torre	...	Álex Acero
Hugo Silva	...	Benito Morón
Miguel Ángel Silvestre	...	Novio
Laya Martí	...	Novia
Javier Cámara	...	Joserra
Carlos Areces	...	Fajas
Raúl Arévalo	...	Ulloa
Pepa Charro	...	Piluca (azafata 1)
Nasser Saleh	...	Joven étnico
Concha Galán	...	Señora clase turista
José María Yazpik	...	Infante (as José Mª Yazpik)
Guillermo Toledo	...	Ricardo Galán

Storyline

A technical failure has endangered the lives of the people on board Peninsula Flight 2549. The pilots are striving, along with their colleagues in the Control Center, to find a solution. The flight attendants and the chief steward are atypical, baroque characters who, in the face of danger, try to forget their own personal problems and devote themselves body and soul to the task of making the flight as enjoyable as possible for the passengers, while they wait for a solution. Life in the clouds is as complicated as it is at ground level, and for the same reasons, which could be summarized in two: sex and death.

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Plot Keywords:

pilot | spain | binge drinking | passenger jet | airliner | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content including crude references, and drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are many references to Pedro Almodóvar's universe throughout the film. The name of the plane is Chavela Blanca, in clear reference to Pedro's beloved singer and friend Chavela Vargas and to another of his most cherished friends, the late Blanca Sánchez. The air company Peninsula is shortened in the plane top wing as Pe, Penélope Cruz's renowned nickname.

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Goofs

It is stated that the aircraft can't get permission for an emergency landing at any airport. The problem with this is twofold. First, it's hard to find a reason why no Spanish airport would allow an emergency landing of an aircraft with damaged landing gear (it would be somewhat reasonable in case of, say, an epidemic outbreak aboard the plane, but not in the case of a mechanical malfunction). Second, even if the Spanish authorities for some convoluted reason won't give the crew a permission to land, a flight from Madrid to Mexico City has enough fuel on board to reach literally hundreds of available airports throughout Europe, including some of the largest airports in the world (Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, Paris-CDG, Frankfurt or even Istanbul-Ataturk) perfectly prepared to deal with an A340 with mechanical problems.

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Crazy Credits

at approx 6 minutes, the words UNA HORA Y MEDIA DESPUÉS seem to come out of the airplane's exhaust, as the plane flies across the screen.

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Connections

Featured in Projector: I'm So Excited! (2013)

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Soundtracks

I'm So Excited
Written by Anita Pointer, Ruth Pointer, June Pointer, and Trevor Lawrence
Performed by The Pointer Sisters
(p) 1982 by Anita Pointer Publishing / Leggs Four Publishing / Ruth Pointer Publishing / EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC.
Autorizada para España a EMI MUSIC Publishing Spain S.A.
All rights reserved. International Copyright secured.

User Reviews

A subtle reminder of how far the Spanish identity has since evolved in the post-Franco years

I'm So Excited is every frame a Pedro Almodóvar film (Talk to Her, Volver, The Skin I Live In): bizarre characters are painted in warm, luscious hues; politically incorrect dialogue are infused with a hint of cheerful irreverence. This saucy Spanish comedy revolves around three gay stewards, two bisexual pilots and a flurry of passengers bound for Mexico.

The main narrative occurs against the backdrop of the plane interior itself. When the landing gear of Peninsula Flight 2549 malfunctions, sexual tensions escalate and inhibitions are shed in tandem to the knowledge of impending death and doom.

We meet the trio of raging queens Joserra (Javier Cámara of Talk to Her), Fajas (Carlos Areces ) and Ulloa (Raúl Arévalo), chief pilot and Joserra's married lover Alex, his co-pilot and one-night-stand Benito. Seven passengers venture in-and-out of the cramped and narrow-spaced cockpit to interrupt this nervous dynamic. Hyper sensitive virgin psychic Bruna (Lola Dueñas) reacts to her powers of ESP and detects the "smell of death" in certain parts of the plane. Norma (Cecilia Roth), a demanding corporate highflyer in business class has mysterious connections to the oligarchs of Spanish society; she fears the malfunction is an assassination attempt to bury the secrets she knows as a high-end dominatrix. A mysterious and nameless Infante, scandalous middle-aged celebrity Ricardo, troubled husband and father Sr. Más and a pair of dopey, drug smuggling newly weds occupy the rest of Flight 2549's fuselage.

Attempts to communicate with family and loved ones ground below are made possible by the only cabin handset that functions — but conversations can be heard over the PA system. This narrative device connects passengers in the plane to various characters on the ground; thus giving shape to back stories that serve to stress and accentuate the panicky mood unfolding within the plane.

This latest offering by Almodóvar is an unbridled, satirical film with flashes of political and sexual humour. In many ways, I'm So Excited is a valuable testament to the hedonistic cultural wave of La Movida Madrileña (the famous Spanish 80s) where freedom of expression, transgression of taboos imposed by the Franco Regime, use of recreational drugs all exist to celebrate a new spirit of freedom in the streets of Madrid.

Far from existing in a farcical vacuum, it would be prudent to consider the historical undertones in this excellent film — it is a subtle reminder of how far the Spanish identity has since evolved in post-Franco years.

cinemainterruptus.wordpress.com

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

8 March 2013 (Spain)

Also Known As:

I'm So Excited!

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

EUR5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$97,328, 30 June 2013

Gross USA:

$1,368,119

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,245,677

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Deseo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1