Bigas Luna 1946 - 2013

Spanish filmmaker Bigas Luna, who discovered actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, has died at age 67 after a private battle with leukemia. The director, writer, producer leaves behind some 20 films, including the classics 'Jamón, Jamón' and 'Las edades de Lulú.' Despite his illness, he worked until the end on his latest project: 'Segundo Origen.'

José Juan Bigas Luna was born on March 19, 1946 in Barcelona, although he later settled in the village of La Riera de Gaia, where he died yesterday. After studying architecture and interior design, Luna started working in film in the 70s. He directed his first feature, 'Tatoo,' in 1976. He initially gained recognition in 1978 for his movie 'Bilbao,' which was selected to compete in the Cannes Film Festival. 

In 1990 the director shot to international fame with the then controversial movie 'Las Edades de Lulu,' adapted from the novel of the same name. Javier Bardem has a small part in the film, one of his first appearances on screen.

In 1992 came 'Jamón, Jamón,' the film which gave Bardem and Penelope Cruz their first starring roles. For this picture Luna was awarded the Jury Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. In 1994 he returned to Venice with 'La Teta y la Luna' and won the Golden Osella for best screenplay. In 1998 he won another prize for his writing, this time a Spanish Academy Award (Goya) for the script of 'La femme de chambre du Titanic.'

Luna gave other actors big breaks, including Elsa Pataky, Jordi Molla, Ariadna Gil, and Veronica Echegui. His most recent films were 'Yo soy la Juani' (2006) and 'Di Di Hollywood' (2010), which starred Echegui and Pataki, respectively.

Besides Spanish and Catalan, Luna made films in English, ('Reborn' 1981 and 'Anguish' 1987), Italian (Bámbola 1996), and French ('La femme de chambre du Titanic 1997').

In addition to being a filmmaker, Luna also achieved notoriety as a painter, designer and a conceptual artist. His works in all mediums typically contained high doses of sensuality, eroticism and references to food, all mixed together in dazzling combinations.

Luna reportedly worked tirelessly to the end. The film he was working on at the time of his death, 'Segundo Origen,' was perhaps his most ambitious project. It is a post-apocalyptic tale filmed in 3D with a budget of about ten million euros. According to Spanish media reports, his family has announced that the film will be finished and will be dedicated to Luna's recently born grandson. 

In keeping with his wishes there will be no public funeral or memorial event. Luna will be buried in Tarragona, Spain.

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In today's El País newspaper there are tributes from several people, including Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. In his article, entitled, 'Papá Bigas' Bardem says:

I do not know what to say, or how. And much less write it. To Bigas I owe a woman I love, two soul mates and a career that I never dreamed I could have. What can I add to the eternal and profound gratitude I feel towards him? Only the immense love I have for someone who was always noble, free, good, loving and light ... That emotional lightness of Bigas that many of us envied! An intelligent man who I remember always choosing a smile, love, and a good piece of ham over drama and anguish in the face of any difficulty. How marvelous that light soul with the body of a bear...*

In 'La Película Que Me Cambío La Vida' (The Film That Changed My Life) Cruz remembers going to the casting call for 'Las Edades de Lulu' at age 14:

A man with a mischievous look came out of a room. He was called Bigas Luna and I (secretly) had already seen some of his films. The first thing Bigas asked me was my age. I said I was 17 and he laughed in my face, as always very gently and without making me feel bad, and said: “Well, you can't make this movie but I'll call you for another when you're older.”

I went home thinking that, of course, he'd never call me, but also pleased by the respect and affection with which this man who looked like a bear had treated me. The big surprise came nearly three years later. The phone rang and I got a call that made me believe in miracles. Bigas remembered me and wanted me for his next film. The film that changed my life.*

* Translations mine.

The Goyas: Benecio, Carme, Penélope, Jordi, Santiago, Juan and Javier

What a great Goya night! It was an evening of firsts, including an acting award for an American and directing honors for a Spaniard of African descent.

Benicio del Toro won the best actor award for his role in the Steven Soderbergh film, "Che." The native of Puerto Rico was greeted warmly by the audience, including shouts of, "¡GUAPO!" Del Toro thanked Soderbergh, the movie's director, as well as Sean Penn for his help and support.

A veteran of the Spanish cinema industry, Carme Elías, won her first Goya as best actress for her role in "Camino." This controversial movie about the final days of the terminally ill daughter of a religious family is “inspired” by real events. It won 6 awards in total, including best supporting actor for Catalan, Jordi Dauder.

Penélope Cruz won her third Goya for her role in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." This was the first time she won the award as supporting actress, rather than best actress, and her first Goya for a non-Spanish speaking role. Cruz, who is also nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar, had to fly out immediately after the award show in order to attend an event honoring Academy Award nominees in Los Angeles on Monday.

The best new director nod went to Santiago Zannou for "El Truco de del Manco." ("The One Armed Trick.") The film tells the story of a disabled young man who, with the help of a friend, tries to realize his dream of opening a music studio. Zannou, the first Afro-Spaniard to win a Goya, also wrote the script. The production won three awards in total, including best song and best new actor, Juan Manuel 'El Langui' Montilla.

Screenwriter and director Javier Fesser collected awards for best original screenplay and best director for the previously mentioned "Camino." "Camino" also won the Goya for best film of the year, beating out "The Oxford Murders," "Los Girasoles Ciegos," and "Sólo Quiero Caminar."

The Goya's are awarded each year by the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences. (Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España.)

For a complete list of Goya winners, click here.

Hasta la proxima, amig@s,

Carloz

Penélope Cruz nominated for an Oscar

The nominations for the 81st annual Academy Awards were announced a short while ago, and Penélope Cruz was one of the names called out. Pe is nominated for best supporting actress for her role as a troubled painter in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." This is Pe's second Oscar nomination, having previously been a best actress nominee for "Volver" in 2006. This year she will face previous supporting actress winner Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler"), Amy Adams ("Doubt") and Oscar first-timers Viola Davis ("Doubt") and Taraji P. Henson ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button").

The only other Hispanic to receive a nomination was the USA's Frank A. Montaño, for best sound editing on the film "Wanted." Montaño shared the nomination with his colleagues Chris Jenkins and Petr Forejt.

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis and former best actor Oscar winner Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland") announced the nominees today just before dawn in Los Angeles. The Oscars will be presented Feb. 22 and televised worldwide. Actor Hugh Jackman will be this year's host.

For a complete list of the nominations, click here.

Award Season's Greetings from Goya, Oscar, et al

With another Christmas and New Year's celebration gone by, film fans are now enjoying the festive annual award season. So far we have been treated to presentations from Golden Globes, Critics Choice and various circles, guilds and groups, in what amounts to the big build up to the Oscars, whose nominations have not even been revealed yet.

Here in España, meanwhile, the contenders for Los Premios Goya, Spain's Academy Awards, were announced in December. The Spanish statuettes, small bronze busts of the artist Francisco de Goya, will be handed out to winners during a televised awards show on February 1st.

As a preview to that event, last weekend the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences) held its traditional reception to honor the nominees, which this year include Mexico's Benicio del Toro, for best actor in “Che: El Argentino,” and Penélope Cruz, for best supporting actress in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Although neither of those two internationally known stars were at the late night gathering in Madrid, hundreds of Spain's cinema industry members attended the event to mix, mingle, plug and pose.

The most photographed seem to have been good friends and best actress rivals, Ariadna Gil and Maribel Verdú. (See photo above.) In comments about the Goyas, Gil ("Sólo Quiero Caminar") gave reporters the classic, “the nomination is what is important,” line, while Verdú ("Los Girasloes Ciegos") added an equally traditional "a nomination always surprises." She then went on to predict that neither of them would win: "I believe that this year they are going to give it to Carme Elias" for her role in “Caminar.”

Other attendees included all of this year's best director nominees Álex de la Iglesias ("The Oxford Murders"), Javier Fesser ("Camino"), José Luis Cuerda ("Los Girasloes Ciegos"), and Agustín Díaz Yanes (Sólo Quiero Caminar). De la Iglesias was quoted as saying he was "frankly pleased" with the six nominations for "Oxford," which was filmed in Britain with an English script, and a mostly non-Spanish cast and crew. He failed, however, to shed any light on how such a tepid thriller could be singled out for any honors, in any country.

More understandable are the multiple nominations received by four other films. "Los Girasoles Ciegos" garnared a total of 15 nominations, while "Solo Quiero Caminar" picked up 11, and "Camino" and “Sangre de Mayo” each received seven.

"Los Girasoles Ciegos" (“The Blind Sunflowers”), which stars Maribel Verdú and Javier Camara, is based on a popular novel by the same name. This post-Spanish civil war tragedy tells the story of a priest who romantically pursues a war widow. This movie received nominations in all of the major categories, as well as in a number of technical ones such as costumes, editing, make-up and sound.

"Solo Quiero Caminar" (“Just Walking”) is a visceral crime thriller about four female bank robbers (Pilar Lopez de Ayala, Ariadna Gil, Victoria Abril, and Elena Anaya) whose latest caper leads them into a confrontation with Mexico City's crime syndicate. Mexico's Diego Luna is the male lead in this one.

"Camino," (“The Way”) is about the final days of the terminally ill daughter of a religious family. The story was “inspired” by a real child, Alexia González Barros, who in 1985 died of a rare illness at the age of 14, and who is currently in the Catholic church's canonization process. Its nominations include best film, director, original script, and new actress, Nerea Camacho. (Each year the Goya's honor a best new actress and best new actor, as well as a best new director.)

“Sangre De Mayo” ("The Blood of May") is a period piece set during the Madrid street uprising against Napoleon's troops that started on May 2, 1808. The movie was released during the bicentennial observance of this event. Among its seven nominations is one for best supporting actress for Tina Sainz.

The best actor and actress categories are being watched closely, since the co-stars of two of 2008's biggest films are all in competition. This has pit Maribel Verdú and Raúl Arévalo of “Los Girasoles Ciegos” against Ariadna Gil and Diego Luna of “Sólo Quiero Caminar.”

The best supporting actress category is also generating a lot of interest, and not only in Spain. This is, of course, due to the nomination of Penélope Cruz, or “Pe” as she is affectionately known by the Spanish media. The Goya nomination is one of several others she has received this year, all of which contribute to the Oscar buzz she has been getting for her performance in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." (By the way, if there is an award anywhere for worst movie title, don't you think this one deserves a nod?)

Pe, who already has two best actress Goya's for La Niña de Tus Ojos (1998) and Volver (2006), has so far this season won honors from critics' associations in Boston, Los Angeles and New York, as well as from the USA's National Board of Review of Motion Pictures; then this past Thursday she was nominated for a BAFTA, Britain's Academy Award. However, with her recent losses to Kate Winslet at the Golden Globe and VH1 Critic's Choice awards, some may wonder if her momentum has slowed.

On January 22nd, when the American Academy Award nominees are finally announced, her fans will learn if Pe makes the Oscar cut. Then on February 1st we will see who receives Spain's top film industry accolades, including whether or not Pe will collect her third Goya -- this time for a supporting role in an English language film.

Hasta entonces amig@s,

Carloz

P.S. For a list of Goya nominees, click here.