Oviedo Express

Oviedo Express
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGonzalo Suárez
Written byGonzalo Suárez
Produced byJuan Gona
Starring
CinematographyCarlos Suárez
Edited byCelia Cervero
Music byCarles Cases
Production
company
Gona Cine y Televisión
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • 31 October 2007 (2007-10-31)
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

Oviedo Express is a 2007 Spanish comedy-drama film directed and written by Gonzalo Suárez. It stars Carmelo Gómez, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Maribel Verdú, Najwa Nimri, Jorge Sanz, Bárbara Goenaga and Alberto Jiménez.

Plot

The plot was reportedly inspired on Stefan Zweig's Fear, although barely anything of the work (the nexus with the intrigue if at all) is identifiable in the film.[1][2] A troupe of thespians moves to Oviedo to stage a play based on La Regenta. Mariola Mayo is the leading actress performing the stage role of La Regenta/Ana Ozores.[3] The Mayor of Oviedo has an affair with journalist Bárbara Ruiz.[4][5] Emma (a nod to Madame Bovary's character), the scorned spouse of the Mayor of Oviedo and a young scholar preparing a PhD dissertation on La Regenta, portrays a sort of Regenta-like in-fiction character.[5] Emma has sexual intercourse with Benjamín Olmo, the leading actor of the play.[6][1]

Cast

Production

The project was originally titled Érase una vez Oviedo.[10] The film was shot in Oviedo in 2006.[10]

Release

The film was theatrically released in Spain on 31 October 2007.[11]

Reception

Alberto Bermejo of El Mundo rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing that "above many other things, 'Oviedo Express' is very funny, even though it is much more than a comedy", with additional superimposed layers of farce, vaudeville, melodrama, and caricature, also featuring a cast of actors taking risks "in unusual registers" delivering the elaborated and "highly personal" dialogues of Gonzalo Suárez.[12]

Jonathan Holland of Variety deemed the film to be "a typically eccentric dramedy" and (so much) "over-the-top", featuring a "bunch of fine Spanish actors overacting for all they're worth".[4]

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2008 22nd Goya Awards Best Original Screenplay Gonzalo Suárez Nominated [13]
Best New Actress Bárbara Goenaga Nominated
Best Production Supervision Teresa Cepeda Nominated
Best Cinematography Carlos Suárez Nominated
Best Original Score Carles Cases Nominated
Best Art Direction Wolfang Burmann Nominated
Best Makeup and Hairstyles Lourdes Briones, Fermín Galán Nominated
17th Actors and Actresses Union Awards Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role Jorge Sanz Nominated [14][15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Melloni, Alessandra. "La Regenta: circuitos intersemióticos" (PDF). p. 37 – via Centro Virtual Cervantes.
  2. ^ Pérez, Marta (28 October 2017). "El director se venga de «La Regenta» con el personaje de Aitana Sánchez-Gijón". La Nueva España.
  3. ^ Nogueira Soto 2018, p. 304.
  4. ^ a b Holland, Jonathan (3 December 2007). "Oviedo Express". Variety.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Nogueira Soto 2018, p. 305.
  6. ^ Nogueira Soto 2018, p. 310.
  7. ^ Nogueira Soto 2018, p. 308.
  8. ^ Nogueira Soto 2018, p. 311.
  9. ^ a b "La película Oviedo Express, seleccionada para el Festival Español de Cine de Nantes". 20minutos.es. 28 February 2008.
  10. ^ a b c Neira, Susana (1 August 2016). "El rodaje de 'Oviedo Express' en una «ciudad de cine»". El Comercio.
  11. ^ "«Oviedo Express» arrasa en grandes ciudades". La Nueva España. 8 November 2007.
  12. ^ Bermejo, Alberto (6 November 2007). "Fabular y actuar o viceversa". Metrópoli – via El Mundo.
  13. ^ "Oviedo Express". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  14. ^ "'Las 13 rosas' y las series TVE, favoritas en los premios de la Unión de Actores". 20minutos.es (in Spanish). 18 January 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  15. ^ "La saga Bardem triunfa en los premios de la Unión de Actores". El Mundo (in Spanish). 1 April 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2021.

Bibliography