The Law of the Frontier

The Law of the Frontier
Theatrical release poster
Spanish	La ley de la frontera
Directed by	Adolfo Aristarain
Screenplay by	Adolfo Aristarain
Story by	Miguel Anxo Murado
Produced by	José Luis Olaizola Rafael Díaz-Salgado
Starring	Pere Ponce Aitana Sánchez-Gijón Achero Mañas Federico Luppi Fernando Valverde Enrique San Francisco Agustín González Antonio Gamero
Cinematography	Porfirio Enríquez
Edited by	Iván Aledo
Music by	Bernardo Fuster Luis Mendo
Production companies	Central de Producciones Audiovisuales Shazam
Distributed by	United International Pictures
Release date	23 August 1995 (1995-08-23) (Spain)
Countries	Argentina Spain
Language	Spanish

The Law of the Frontier (Spanish: La ley de la frontera) is a 1995 Argentine-Spanish adventure film directed by Adolfo Aristarain. It stars Pere Ponce, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Achero Mañas, and Federico Luppi.

Plot

Set around 1925, in the Galician-Portuguese border, the plot follows the adventures of Galician working-class deserter Xan, Portuguese upper-class renegade seminarist Joao, The New York Times journalist Bárbara, and bandit "El Argentino".[1][2][3]

Cast

• Pere Ponce as Joao[4]
• Aitana Sánchez-Gijón as Bárbara[5]
• Achero Mañas as Xan[5]
• Federico Luppi as Argentino[5]
• Fernando Valverde as sargento de la Guardia Civil[5]
• Enrique San Francisco as recaudador[5]
• Agustín González as capitán de la Legión[5]
• Antonio Gamero as barbero[5]
• María Adánez as María[5]
• Francisco Merino [es] as maragato [es][5]
• Tony Zenet [es] as Octavio[6]
• Felipe Vélez [es] as cabo guardia[5]
• José María Sacristán as administrador [5]
• Emiliano Redondo as prior convento[5]
• Ramiro Alonso as guardia civil 2[5]
• Raquel Sanchís as mesonera[5]
• Rubén Tobías as alcaide[5]

Production

The film is a Spanish-Argentine co-production by Central de Producciones Audiovisuales and Shazam, with the collaboration of Adai Filmes, TVE, Canal+, and Producciones Palermo.[7]

Release

Distributed by United International Pictures,[2] it was released theatrically in Spain on 23 August 1995.[6]

Reception

Jonathan Holland of Variety described the film as "a bighearted, fast-paced '20s adventure story of multiple pursuits and disguises, deploying all the usual ingredients".[2]

José Luis Sánchez Noriega [es] mentioned the presence of dubious dialogue, multiple anachronisms and the lack of a Portuguese and Galician accent on the part of the characters of, respectively, Joao and Xan, unlike El Argentino's Argentinian accent, while conceding that, as an adventure, the film is still "entertaining".[3]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1996	10th Goya Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Federico Luppi	Nominated	[8]
		Best Costume Design	María José Iglesias	Nominated

See also

• List of Argentine films of 1995
• List of Spanish films of 1995

References

1. Benavent 2000, pp. 332–333.
2. Holland, Jonathan (14 January 1996). "The Law of the Frontier; la Ley de la Frontera)". Variety.
3. Sánchez Noriega, José Luis (2002). "La ley de la frontera: Entre la aventura y la utopía. (Adolfo Aristaráin, 1995)". Críticas de cine español. Alicante: Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
4. Devesa, Dolores; Potes, Alicia (2003). "Federico Luppi, Filmografía" (PDF). Nosferatu. Revista de Cine (43): 101. ISSN 1131-9372.
5. Devesa & Potes 2003, p. 101.
6. Benavent 2000, p. 332.
7. Benavent, Francisco María (2000). Cine español de los 90. Diccionario de películas, directores y temático. Bilbao: Ediciones Mensajero. p. 332. ISBN 84-271-2326-4.
8. Viaje al cine español. 25 años de los Premios Goya (PDF), Lunwerg, 2011, p. 278, ISBN 978-84-9785-791-8