His Master's Voice

I caught up with this film on cable. Director Emilio Martinez Lazaro brings this tale of revenge and conflict between ETA, the Spanish Basque separatist movement in its war against those people who they deem are exploiting the people in the region.

At the center of the story is a corrupt Portuguese business man, who takes his body guard under his wing, but never reveal what really is behind his motives. He even entrusts his daughter, the lovely Marta to stay away from the impending danger, to Charli.

The Spanish film industry favors this type of film, which will confuse anyone that is not from that country. The casual viewer will feel a bit out of touch watching the movie because of the politics and the tactics employed.

Joaquim de Almeida, Eduard Fernandez, Silvia Abascal and Imanol Arias are the principals in a film that asks a lot of questions that are unanswered by its director.

Ever since `La Fuente Amarilla' (qv) I have been looking forward to the development of Silvia Abascal as a serious actress in demanding character roles, where her obviously beautiful charms are not necessarily the driving force and the raison d'etre of the film, but her ability to express interpretive skills.

In `La Voz de su Amo' her potential as a serious actress is evident, but the film itself is not the appropriate vehicle for bringing out her latent dramatic possibilities. Silvia Abascal is blessed with an exquisitely expressive face: the camera just laps her up; she is the essence of how to fill the screen, and her eyes can transmit feelings with magnificent naturalness. She is beautifully sensual without even having to take off any clothes (though she does so in this film). She is articulate, lending grace and charm to her presence on screen. But when, might I ask, will somebody offer her a role in which she can project her real serious acting abilities. Indeed, I would say she had more possibilities in `La Fuente Amarilla' than in this film. I wrote there that when this actress really takes off, Penelope Cruz will have to make way for Silvia Abascal. She desperately needs directors like Trueba, Garci, Armendáriz, Almodóvar, Isabel Coixet, for example, with a serious story line to bring out her qualities as a first-line actress, and not simply be another sexy bombshell.

Since her debut in a popular TV show in 1993 when she was 14, a decade has gone by, and the little girlishness aspects should no longer be applicable.

Besides that, I can only feel deep jealousy and envy, when actors like – in this case – Eduard Fernández get into bed scenes with such luscious young ladies. It is just that I insist that this young lady is capable of going much further in more complicated characterization; then, and only then, she can take off all the clothes she feels like, and everyone delighted, no doubt.

Entertaining, but nothing else, the film itself narrates occurences in Euskadi (Basque Country) set against the background of ETA terrorist activity. Fernández has the lucky job of looking after the rich man's daughter, who, wily as a cat, seduces him (not vice-versa) and he falls in love with her.

So would I.

Set in Bilbao in the 80s, an environment full of blackmails, kidnapping, corruption and Eta terrorist organization .As it stars Charlie, Eduardo Fernández , the trusted man and friend to corrupt entrepreneur Oliveira , Joaquin de Almeida. Oliveira decides to put his adolescent daughter, Silvia Abascal , under Charlie's guard. Then,they fall in love,but things go wrong. As when Oliveira is kidnapped Charlie investigates the issue in order to free the abducted entrepreneur. Charlie becomes involved into a maze crammed with treason, murders, deceives and lies.

This is a thriller drama in which when a series of threats and attempts on people's lives happen, a teen is protected by a good guy. From now on, everything becomes complicated, as betrayal , twists, and violence generates more violence. An acceptable thriller with elements of film Noir , suspense, violence and a little bit of action.The picture is plenty of twists and turns, as friends result out not to be What they seemed to be, and there are lots of surprises and unexpectable consequences. The movie relies heavily on the enjoyable love story between the mature man well played by Eduardo Fernandez and the beautiful teen finely performed by Silvia Abascal. Support cast is frankly excellent such as Imanol Arias, Pepe oliva ,Manuel de Blas, Ana Otero , ,Aitor Mazo , Alicia Agut and special mention for Joaquin Almeida as the cunning entrepreneur of Portuguese origin engaged in dark business.

Stirring and adequate musical score by Roque Baños . Colorful and Atmospheric cinematography by Javier Salmones , showing the urban city of Bilbao and surroundings of the eighties, when this town was really sad as well as abandoned. The motion picture was well directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro . Emilio is a fine director who has made some nice dramas as 13 Rosas, Carreteras Secundarias, Lulu De Noche , Palabras de Max . But he is especially expert on comedies as El juego más divertido, Amo Tu cama rica, El otro lado de la cama, los 2 lados de las cama and his greatest hits : ocho apellidos vascos, and ocho apellidos catalanes. Rating 7. Well worth seeing.

The film is an amusing political thriller plus an impossible love story and it's worth it just for the fact that Eduard Fernández appears in it. His performance is simply astonishing. He plays the bodyguard of a Portuguese business man threatened by the terrorist band ETA. Everything complicates when he falls in love with the daughter of the business man. The movie loses much of its power as the story approaches its political side. It leads us to the common places that we're used to hear about the terrorism in the Basque Country. Nothing new. The author (although he seems to have good intentions) has lost a good chance to show another view.