Double Feature

Story

Synopsis

Director José Luis Garci has turned his camera inward on filmmakers and screenwriters to portray them as so self-absorbed in the creative process that there is no other world, no other human relationship that can compete. As José (Adolfo Marsillach) and Federico (Jesus Puente) work together on a new screenplay, their interactions with their family (José's teen daughters, Federico's wife) disappear under the all-consuming task of creation. The daughters give up and go off on their own, and the wife joins a convent while Federico barely notices. And when the producer is interrupted by profound grief at the sudden death of his older son, he almost automatically returns to thinking about the film project when the funeral has ended. Garci honors many great directors at the beginning of this film, and the film continues to play out as an elaboration on this homage -- an illustration both of the dedication and the cost of filmmaking, no judgments given.

Director

José Luis Garci

Writers

Horacio Valcárcel, José Luis Garci

Language

Spanish; Castilian

Country

Spain

Release date

22 June 1984

Ensemble

Cast

• 

  Adolfo Marsillach

  José Manuel Varela

• 

  Jesús Puente

  Federico Alcántara

• 

  María Casanova

  Graciela dos Santos Varela 'La Mala'

• 

  José Bódalo

  Dionisio Balboa

• 

  Encarna Paso

  Pili

• 

  Emma Suárez

  Sonia

• 

  Rafael Hernández

  Empleado de producciones Balboa Films

• 

  Juan Calot

• 

  Víctor Valverde

  Actor que representa a 'El ministro'

• Patricia Calot

  Actriz que representa a 'La estudiante de filosofía'

• Pablo Hoyos

• 

  Yolanda Ríos

  Amelia