EL ABUELO / THE GRANDFATHER by José Luis Garci: Film Review
October 2nd, 2004 by Andre Soares
El Abuelo / The Grandfather (1998)
Director: José Luis Garci. Screenplay: José Luis Garci and Horacio Valcárcel, from Benito Pérez Galdós’ 1904 novel. Cast: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, Rafael Alonso
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
El Abuelo / The Grandfather is a film with a pedigree. It is based on a novel by Benito Pérez Galdós, considered by many the greatest Spanish writer of the 19th century; its director, José Luis Garci, has won an Academy Award (for his 1982 film Volver a empezar / Beguin the Beguine); and its star, the veteran Fernando Fernán Gómez, is one of the most admired actors in Spain. Add to that the stunning work of cinematographer Raúl Pérez Cubero and Manuel Balboa’s evocative score, and the sum total should be a cinematic masterpiece. Well, not quite.
Garci has perhaps been watching too many Mexican soap operas, for that is the feel he gives to this tale of greed and prejudice set near the turn of the 20th century. Even though Garci’s soapish touch doesn’t manifest itself through crass melodrama — in the sedate El Abuelo, no one throws him or herself to the floor in screaming agony — it is clearly palpable in the film’s cheesy sentimentality (which is not helped by some highly artificial post-synch dubbing). That said, El Abuelo works the way some Mexican soaps work. One ends up enjoying it despite oneself.
But then again, how could one resist Fernando Fernán Gómez’s star turn as the grouchy grandpa, betrayed by those he had helped in the past, and torn between ancient traditions and his love for his granddaughters - one of whom is an illegitimate child? And if Garci’s touch is often stilted, El Abuelo is immensely helped by Cubero’s magical lens and by Balboa’s haunting score, both of which perfectly evoke the spirit of the rugged coast of northern Spain. With their assistance, El Abuelo magically transports us to a time and a way of life that have long since disappeared.
Synopsis
After his son’s death, the elderly and now-impoverished aristocrat Don Rodrigo (Fernando Fernán Gómez), el Conde de Albrit, returns from the Americas to his small town in the Asturias, in northern Spain. There, he discovers that his son had left a letter stating that one of his two daughters was actually the product of his wife’s affair with a (now also deceased) painter.
Intent on discovering the identity of his real granddaughter, the one who shall perpetuate the family’s bloodline and honor, Don Rodrigo clashes with his widowed daughter-in-law, Doña Lucrecia Richmond (Cayetana Guillén Cuervo), a foreigner he had never liked. Not only does Lucrecia refuse to divulge the identity of her bastard child, but she also tries to commit Don Rodrigo to a monastery against his will. Living like a mendicant, Don Rodrigo still manages to teach a lesson or two on dignity and honor to both the bourgeois and the religious leaders who have taken control of the area.
But sooner rather than later, the elderly patriarch will have to come to terms with his own self-righteousness. What is more important: his love for both of Doña Lucrecia’s young daughters or his views on family honor?
LES CHORISTES / THE CHORUS: Film Review
MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004): Film Review
Ramon Novarro’s Lloyd Wright House
Leave a Reply
Note: All comments are moderated, and may be edited at the discretion of the moderator. Different views and opinions are welcome, but abusive/bigoted remarks, and both flaming and generic (spam) comments will NOT be approved. Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has NO contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog or any information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
