MY GREAT NIGHT: Profile of Director Álex de la Iglesia

"Who, me? 'Super-talented?'"

Spanish director Álex de la Iglesia's My Great Night (aka, My Big Night, aka, Mi Gran Noche) premieres tonight, but it's not Iglesia's first appearance at TIFF. Iglesia's scary clown movie / meditation on the Spanish Civil War, The Last Circus premiered at TIFF. Since 1993, four of his films have played Midnight Madness: Accion Mutante (1993); The Day Of The Beast (1995); Perdita Durango (1998); and Witching & Bitching (2013). And Iglesia produced last year's harrowing Vanguard film, Shrew's Nest (2014), directed by Esteban Roel & Juanfer Andrés. Iglesia's films have won multiple Goya awards, Spain's national film award presented by the Academia de las Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas de España.

The first film Iglesia directed was his own short, "Mirandas Asesinas" in 1991. And then, Pedro Almodóvar produced Iglesia's Accion Mutante, giving Iglesia his first big break while simultaneously hurting the brains of at least forty cinephiles. (Hopefull,y they have recovered by now).

But while Iglesia's films have a unifying darkly comedic sensibility and a similar aesthetic, Iglesia has worked in a wide variety of genres from horror to an homage to Spaghetti Westerns, 800 Bullets, to a comparatively restrained thriller, The Oxford Murders (2008). Also, again, terrifying clowns. 

 

"Never mention the terrifying clowns, Elijah. Never mention Sammy Petrillo, either."

And before he had even written My Great Night, he had released Dying of Laughter (1999), a dark satire about comedy duo, Nino and Bruno. They were very successful in the 1970s, but boy do they hate each other now. (If this seems familiar to you, maybe you're thinking of Martin & Lewis or maybe you saw it during the Iglesia retrospective at TIFF Bell Lightbox last winter. God help you if you're thinking of Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo). And their envy and hate comes to a head at... a big live television extravaganza! 

Jazz Hands!

Iglesia himself worked in television, early on as a production designer, and now as director, screenwriter and producer. He's done several shorts, including, "The Tragedy of Francisco Franco." And he even had his own television series,  Plutón B.R.B. Nero (2008-9), in which having turfed the Earth, humanity seeks another habitable planet. 

Let's take a look!

So enjoy tonight's screening of My Great Night, and ponder how much of the film, which Iglesia both wrote and directed, comes from Iglesia's personal experience. I don't expect bumbling spacemen,  mutants, Perdida Durango or even terrifying clowns. Well, maybe terrifying clowns. But there will be hilarity, amazing hair and the famous Spanish singer, Raphael.

These ladies are ready. Are you?

MY GREAT NIGHT screening times:
Sep. 11, Friday, 7:15 pm, SCOTIABANK 2
Sep. 13, Sunday, 4:30 pm, SCOTIABANK 2
Sep. 20, Sunday, 9:00 pm, SCOTIABANK 14

SHREW'S NEST: TIFF Twitter Buzz!

Don't look so sad, Montse. There's still one more chance for everyone to see Shrew's Nest. 

It's been a busy opening weekend for the Festival and with so many movies premiering, it's hard to make decisions. If you've caught the first or second screening of Shrew's Nest, though, we have to say you're making the right decision. This twisted, macabre tale has been keeping audiences on the edge of their seat. Check out some of the Twitter buzz that's been, uh, buzzing (sure?) around. And after that since we know you'll be dying to catch it, we've listed the final screening information below. That's right, you have one more chance to see this darkly beautiful film! Don't mess this up!

Shrew's Nest is screening at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Vanguard Programme. You can check out more Vanguard films on the official Festival website. 

SHREW'S NEST screening times:

Sunday, Sept 14th 6:30 PM TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 2

SHREW'S NEST: Profile of Actor Macarena Gómez

In Shrew's Nest, Macarena Gómez plays Montse, an agoraphobic seamstress. Devout and protective of her sister, Montse hides her own pain and her own secrets till she has dug herself in so deep she can never dig herself out. It is remarkable and intense performance from Gómez. A terrifying one in fact. Born in 1978 in Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain, Gómez started in television and continues to play roles in tv series and work in short films. But she's appeared in a fascinating variety of films, including her first, Dagon.

"What do you mean you don't want to convert?"

Dagon (2001)

Her first film role was as the beautiful sorta mermaid Uxía Cambarro, a beautiful sorta mermaid...or octopus-maid... quadro... cephalopod-maid? Anyway, as in Shrew's Nest, she is very much the homebody, staying in bed as much as she can. Though she is less crippled by emotional tragedy than just unable to get around very well on dry land. (You'd think the people of Imboca would build some fishpeople friendly canals given the number of fishpeople and Deep Ones in town). Directed by Stuart Gordon and adapted from H.P. Lovecraft, Dagon is a story of star-crossed love as Uxía becomes very attached to a young man who comes to stay at her house, but cruelly breaks her heart.

Her hot pants are deadlier than her guns.

Sexykiller / Sexykiller morirás por ella (2008)

In Miguel Martí's Sexykiller, Gómez is Bárbara,  a college student, horror enthusiast, doll collector and fashionista serial killer. As she tells the audience, the question is not why does she kill, it's, "Why not?" And she does have many provocations, from mean girls to ill-mannered male students in the women's locker room to jerks in flashy cars. And she has a mission we at the Vanguard Blog can get behind: eliminating sexism in the serial killer world. Then Bárbara meets Tomás, who she thinks is a serial killer, too. Will they have a romantic spree set to mid-Aughts pop and astonishing fashions? Is Tomás the one? Or will the fact that Tomás is actually investigating her murders interfere with True Love? Will zombies impede love's progress? 'Cause zombies are totally jerks about love.

I'm finally doing something for me!

 Witching & Bitching (2013)

Directed by Shrew's Nest producer Álex de la Iglesia, Witching & Bitching is a comedy about some nice ladies who are just trying to live their lives without people messing with them. Of course, every movie needs conflict and this one has José (Hugo Silva) and his ne'er-do-well friends. José is behind on his alimony payments to Silvia (Gómez) and holds up a cash-for-gold shop. stealing thousands of wedding bands while dressed like Jesus. And he brought their son along, too. Next thing you know, he's running from the law and his commitments and smack into a coven of witches. Meanwhile, Silvia starts to set up a new life for herself.

Watson is already smitten. All part of the plan.

Holmes And Watson: Madrid Days (2012)

I haven't seen Holmes And Watson: Madrid Days, but I have made a series of deductions based on the trailer, Gomez' other films, web research--which can always be trusted--and my own talent for rampent speculation. First, I deduce that Gómez plays Berna an assistant and assassin in a vast continental empire of crime controlled by Irene Adler (Belén López). And I further deduce that Berna is an ambidextrous master of bartitsu who does not partake of spirits. She becomes the second woman to earn the respect of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, I believe that her love affair with Dr. John Watson (José Luis García Pérez) will be cut tragically short by consumption. She was just too far along for modern science to save. Watson did all he could. No need to blame yourself, Watson. No need to blame yourself.


But maybe with Shrew's Nest love will find a way.

SHREW'S NEST screening times:

Thu., Sept. 4th, 8:45 PM, SCOTIABANK 2

Fri. Sept. 5th, 3:00 PM, BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA

Sun., Sept. 14th, 6:30 PM, TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 2

SHREW'S NEST Premieres Tonight!

The first Vanguard premiere of the year is here! Juanfer Andrés and Esteban Roel's Shrew's Nest premieres tonight at Scotiabank Theatre 2 at 8:45 PM. Head over to our previous posts to see the poster and trailer, and profile of producer Álex de la Iglesia.

Tickets can be purchased:

• ONLINE: TIFF.net's Ticket Product List Page
• BY PHONE: 416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.8433 (Toll-free) 
• IN PERSON
• Festival Box Office; 225 King St. West
• Scotiabank Theatre, 259 Richmond Street West

Further information about Shrew's Nest can be found on the Festival website, as well as on the film's website, IMDB page and Twitter accounts for directors Juanfer Andrés and Esteban Roel.

SHREW'S NEST screening times:
Thurs., Sept. 4, Scotiabank 2 8:45 PM
Fri., Sept. 5, The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema 3:00 PM
Sun., Sept. 14, TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 2 6:30 PM

SHREW'S NEST First Look: Poster and Trailer

Midnight Madness favourite Álex de la Iglesia (Accion Mutante (1993), The Day of the Beast (1995), Perdita Durango (1997), Witching & Bitching (2013)) has turned from director to producer for Shrew's Nest, the feature film debut from Juanfer Andrés and Esteban Roel. Set in 1950s Spain, an irresponsible neighbour (Hugo Silva) trips down a stairwell and finds himself taken in as a nurse by two recluse sisters (Macarena Gómez and Nadia de Santiago), bringing their psychological childhood trauma to the forefront at the expense of their injured guest. With shades of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Misery, this horror thriller's finale is sure to be one that will be hard to forget.

Below are the poster and trailer for Shrew's Nest, which plays this year's Toronto International Film Festival within the Vanguard programme.

Further information about Shrew's Nest can be found on the Festival website, as well as on the film's website, IMDB page and Twitter accounts for directors Juanfer Andrés and Esteban Roel.

SHREW'S NEST screening times:
Thurs., Sept. 4, Scotiabank 2 8:45 PM
Fri., Sept. 5, The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema 3:00 PM
Sun., Sept. 14, TIFF Bell Lightbox Cinema 2 6:30 PM