Malena Is a Name from a Tango
1996 film
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Malena Is a Name from a Tango (Spanish: Malena es un nombre de tango) is a 1996 drama film directed by Gerardo Herrero from a screenplay by Senel Paz based on the novel by Almudena Grandes. It stars Ariadna Gil.
| Malena Is a Name from a Tango | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
| Spanish | Malena es un nombre de tango |
| Directed by | Gerardo Herrero |
| Screenplay by | Senel Paz |
| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Alfredo Mayo |
| Edited by | Carmen Frías |
| Music by | Antoine Duhamel |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Alta Films |
Release date |
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| Countries |
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| Language | Spanish |
| Box office | 188 million ₧ (Spain)[1] |
Plot
The plot concerns about the romantic and sexual endeavours of Malena, a victimised and rebellious woman contrasting to her twin sister Reina (who always was the model girl in the family), and then about the mother-son relationship of Malena with her son. Malena was gifted however a talisman by her grandfather back when she was 10.[2][3]
Cast
- Ariadna Gil as Malena[4][5]
- Marta Belaustegui as Reina[4]
- Carlos López as Fernando[4]
- Luis Fernando Alvés as Santiago[6]
- Isabel Otero as Magda[4]
- Dafne Fernández as Malena niña[7]
- Rebeca Fernández[8]
- Alicia Hermida as Paulina[4]
- Alicia Agut[8]
- Marina Saura[8]
- Roman Luknár[8]
- Miguel Palenzuela as abuelo[4]
- Jesús Ruyman[8]
- Susi Sánchez[8]
- Juan Carlos Vellido[8]
- Consuelo Trujillo[8]
- Mariví Bilbao[8]
Production
An adaptation of the novel by Almudena Grandes, the screenplay was penned by Senel Paz. It is a Spanish-French-German co-production by Alta Films, Tornasol Films, Blue Dahlia Production, La Sept Cinema, and Road Movies Produktionen.[8][3] Shooting locations included the San Julián estate (La Hoya, Lorca), Mula, Águilas, and Madrid.[9]
Release
Distributed by Alta Films, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 12 April 1996.[8][5]
The film was the fifth highest grossing Spanish film of the year with a gross of 188 million Spanish Pesetas ($1.31 million).[1]
Reception
Jonathan Holland of Variety deemed the film to be a "well-intentioned, provocatively moralizing women's pic that ends up as second-rate melodrama".[3]
Luis Martínez of El País deemed that, efforts from a "magnetic" Ariadna Gil notwithstanding, the films "ends up as an uneven and quite chatty journey into the interiors of this disease called life".[10]