Belle Époque (film)
Belle Époque[n. 1] is a 1992 comedy-drama film directed by Fernando Trueba. Consisting of a fable-like story, primarily displaying a warm tone,[2][3] and set in an idyllic countryside location during the transition to the Second Spanish Republic, the film features Jorge Sanz, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil, Penélope Cruz, Miriam Díaz Aroca, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Gabino Diego and Chus Lampreave, among others.
| Belle Époque | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Fernando Trueba |
| Screenplay by | Rafael Azcona |
| Story by | Rafael Azcona José Luis García Sánchez Fernando Trueba |
| Produced by | Andrés Vicente Gómez |
| Starring | Jorge Sanz Penélope Cruz Fernando Fernán Gómez Miriam Díaz Aroca Ariadna Gil Maribel Verdú |
| Cinematography | José Luis Alcaine |
| Edited by | Carmen Frías |
| Music by | Antoine Duhamel |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
| Countries |
|
| Language | Spanish |
| Box office | $11 million |
It received the Goya Award for Best Film along with eight other Goya Awards and was named Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards.[4] It is a joint production among companies from Spain, Portugal and France.
Plot
In February 1931, some weeks after the failed Jaca uprising and the likewise failed Cuatro Vientos uprising, Spain is on the verge of the proclamation of the Second Republic. Fernando, a deserting private with Republican leanings and former seminarist, is on the run from his assignment at the Cuatro Vientos base. After escaping from two Guardia Civil officers, he reaches the outskirts of a village, befriending Manolo, an old man with a semblance of a "Dickensian observer of life".[5] Manolo owns a large house in the countryside, where Fernando stays for a while. Upon the arrival of Manolo's four daughters in a train, Fernando is enchanted by them all. As he meets each of the first three one by one, he falls in love and has sex with each of them, determining to marry. With each one, however, a complication arises: Clara, a widow who only recently lost her husband and who seeks solace with Fernando; Violeta, a lesbian who is attracted to Fernando only when he is dressed as a woman for a costume ball and Rocío, a social climber who is about to marry to Juanito into the village's richest family (with Carlist leanings) for the security it would provide and who only momentarily succumbs to Fernando's charms. Heartbroken each time, the father of the girls encourages Fernando to have patience. Each of the daughters is beautiful and represents a different aspect of feminine sexuality. The youngest of the family, Luz, represents naïveté. While Fernando is pursuing her sisters, Luz gets progressively angry and jealous. Eventually Fernando realizes, however, that Luz is the best one of the four to marry.
Cast
- Jorge Sanz as Fernando[6]
- Fernando Fernán-Gómez as Manolo[6]
- Maribel Verdú as Rocío[6]
- Ariadna Gil as Violeta[6]
- Penélope Cruz as Luz[6]
- Miriam Díaz Aroca as Clara[6]
- Gabino Diego as Juanito[6]
- Agustín González as Don Luis[6]
- Chus Lampreave as Doña Asun[6]
- Mary Carmen Ramírez as Amalia[6]
- Michel Galabru as Danglard[6]
- Jesús Bonilla as Guardia Civil[6]
- Juan José Otegui as El cabo[6]
- María Galiana as La Polonia[6]
- Joan Potau as El alguacil[6]
- Manolo Huete as Un lugareño[6]
- José Antonio Sacristán as Rorro[6]
- Marciano de la Fuente as El alcalde[6]
- Félix Cubero as Palomo[6]
Production
A Spanish-Portuguese-French co-production, Belle Époque was produced by Fernando Trueba PC, Lola Films, Animatógrafo and French Production with collaboration of Sogepaq and Eurimages.[7] The film was shot in the summer of 1992 in several villages of Portugal.[8]
Release and reception
Box office
In Spain it was the highest-grossing Spanish film of 1992 with a gross of over 725 million Spanish pesetas ($5.58 million).[9] In the United States and Canada it grossed $6 million[10] for a worldwide gross in excess of $11 million. The film was theatrically released in Spain on 4 December 1992.[11]
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 22 reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10.[12] The film is mentioned in the 2010 American film The Fighter.
Year-end lists
- Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Mike Mayo, The Roanoke Times[13]
- Honorable mentions – Mike Clark, USA Today[14]
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 43rd Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Bear | Nominated | [15] | |
| 7th Goya Awards | Best Film | Won | [16] | ||
| Best Director | Fernanro Trueba | Won | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Fernando Trueba José Luis García Sánchez, Rafael Azcona | Won | |||
| Best Actress | Ariadna Gil | Won | |||
| Best Actor | Jorge Sanz | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Chus Lampreave | Won | |||
| Mary Carmen Ramírez | Nominated | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Fernando Fernán-Gómez | Won | |||
| Gabino Diego | Nominated | ||||
| Best Cinematography | José Luis Alcaine | Won | |||
| Best Editing | Carmen Frías | Won | |||
| Best Art Direction | Juan Botella | Won | |||
| Best Production Supervision | Cristina Huete | Nominated | |||
| Best Costume Design | Lala Huete | Nominated | |||
| Best Makeup and Hairstyles | Ana Ferreira, Ana Lorena | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Score | Antoine Duhamel | Nominated | |||
| Best Sound | Alfonso Pino, Georges Prat | Nominated | |||
| 1994 | 66th Academy Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | ||
| 1995 | 48th British Academy Film Awards | BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language | Nominated | [17] | |
See also
Notes
- The plot is not set in the period of French history known as the Belle Époque ('The Beautiful Era'), but during the dawn of the Second Spanish Republic.
References
- "Belle Epoque (1992)". Lumiere. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- "Festival.- 'Belle Époque' se viste de gala en el Festival de Málaga al cumplirse los 25 años de su estreno". La Vanguardia. 20 March 2017.
- Macciuci, Raquel (2006). "La Edad de Plata: algo para recordar. Sobre Belle Époque, guión original de Rafael Azcona". Cuadernos del Lazarillo: Revista literaria y cultural (31): 16–25. ISSN 1134-5292 – via Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
- "The 66th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- Alegre, Luis (2017). "Belle Époque. Una película de Fernando Trueba" (PDF). Málaga: Festival de Cine de Málaga e Iniciativas Audiovisuales, S.A. pp. 12–13, 111. ISBN 978-84-617-8751-7.
- Alegre 2017, p. 71.
- Alegre 2017, p. 70.
- Alegre 2017, p. 35.
- "Top 10 grossers in Spain". Variety. 4 October 1993. p. 66.
- "The Year In Pictures". Variety. January 9, 1995. p. 8.
- Boquerini (14 December 2017). "Y de repente, Trueba se volvió impresionista". El Correo.
- "Belle Epoque". Rotten Tomatoes. 1994-02-25. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
- Mayo, Mike (December 30, 1994). "The Hits and Misses at the Movies in '94". The Roanoke Times (Metro ed.). p. 1.
- Clark, Mike (December 28, 1994). "Scoring with true life, 'True Lies' and 'Fiction.'". USA Today (Final ed.). p. 5D.
- "Berlinale: 1993 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
- "Belle Époque". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- "BAFTA: Film in 1995". bafta.org. Retrieved 2011-05-30.