The Night of the Sunflowers (Spanish: La noche de los girasoles) is a 2006 rural thriller-drama film directed and written by Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo. The cast features Carmelo Gómez, Judith Diakhate, Celso Bugallo, Manuel Morón, Mariano Alameda, Vicente Romero and Walter Vidarte. It is a Spanish-French-Portuguese co-production.
| The Night of the Sunflowers | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Spanish | La noche de los girasoles |
| Directed by | Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo |
| Screenplay by | Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Ángel Iguácel |
| Edited by | Pedro Ribeiro |
| Music by | Krishna Levy |
Production companies |
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Release dates |
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| Countries |
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| Language | Spanish |
Plot
editSet in the village of Angosto, in the heart of rural Spain, the plot follows Esteban and Pedro (two speleologists) and Gabi (Esteban's girlfriend), as Cecilio, an elderly villager, is killed in the wake of a misunderstanding in the aftermath of the attempted sexual assault on Gabi by a salesman and ensuing violent confrontation.[1][2]
Cast
edit- Carmelo Gómez as Esteban[3]
- Judith Diakhate as Gabi[4]
- Celso Bugallo as Amadeo[5]
- Manuel Morón as Miguel[4]
- Mariano Alameda as Pedro[6]
- Vicente Romero as Tomás[7]
- Walter Vidarte as Amós[8]
- Cesáreo Estébanez as Cecilio[4]
- Fernando Sánchez-Cabezudo as Beni[7]
- Petra Martínez as Marta
- Nuria Mencía as Raquel[5]
- Enrique Martínez as Julián[9]
Production
editThe Night of the Sunflowers is a Spain-Portugal-France co-production.[10][11] Production companies included Alta Producción, Stop Line Films, The Film SAS and Arte France Cinéma.[12] Locations in the province of Ávila (San Bartolomé de Béjar and Becedas) doubled as the fictional village of Angosto.[13]
Release
editThe film was theatrically released in Spain on 25 August 2006.[10][14] It also screened at the Venice Days section of the 63rd Venice International Film Festival in September 2006.[15][10]
Reception
editJonathan Holland of Variety deemed the film to be a "gripping, assured debut", managing to find an "unlikely home for film noir in the forgotten hinterlands of the Spanish interior".[5]
Accolades
edit| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 62nd CEC Medals | Best Film | Nominated | [16] | |
| Best Director | Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo | Nominated | |||
| Best Actor | Carmelo Gómez | Won | |||
| Best New Artist | Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo | Won | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Celso Bugallo | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Ángel Iguácel | Nominated | |||
| Best Editing | Pablo Ribeiro | Nominated | |||
| 21st Goya Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo | Nominated | [12] | |
| Best New Director | Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo | Nominated | |||
| Best New Actor | Walter Vidarte | Nominated | |||
| 16th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actor in a Minor Role | Manuel Morón | Won | [17] | |
| 51st Sant Jordi Awards | Best Debut Film | Won | [18] | ||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Whittaker, Tom (2013). "La noche de los girasoles/Night of the Sunflowers (Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo, 2006): palimpsests of genre, palimpsests of violence". In Delgado, Maria M.; Fiddian, Robbin (eds.). Spanish cinema 1973-2010. Auteurism, politics, landscape and memory. Manchester University Press. pp. 158–159. ISBN 978-0-7190-9658-7.
- ^ Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (2021). Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study (2nd ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-4766-8649-3.
- ^ Mitchell, Paul (2016). "Spectral Spanish Heritage: The Hauntology of La noche de los girasoles (The Night of the Sunflowers)". In Paul, Paul; Stone, Rob (eds.). Screening European Heritage. Creating and Consuming History on Film. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 132. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-52280-1. ISBN 978-1-137-52279-5.
- ^ a b c Mitchell 2016, p. 134.
- ^ a b c Holland, Jonathan (10 September 2006). "The Night of the Sunflowers". Variety.
- ^ Mitchell 2016, p. 133.
- ^ a b Mitchell 2016, p. 139.
- ^ Mitchell 2016, p. 138.
- ^ Mitchell 2016, p. 132.
- ^ a b c "'La noche de los girasoles', un 'thriller' ambientado en la España rural, llega a la Mostra de Venecia". El Mundo. 4 September 2006.
- ^ Asión Suñer, Ana (2018). Cuando el cine español buscó una tercera vía (1970-1980): testimonios de una transición olvidada. Zaragoza: Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza. p. 185. ISBN 978-84-17358-97-6.
- ^ a b "La noche de los girasoles". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ Whittaker 2013, p. 160.
- ^ Vidal, Nuria (29 May 2008). "La noche de los girasoles". Fotogramas.
- ^ "Venice Days 3rd Edition - La noche de los girasoles (Angosto)". venice-days.it. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ "Medallas del CEC a la producción española de 2006". Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018.
- ^ "Juan Diego y 'Pe', premiados por la Unión de Actores". El Mundo. 13 February 2017.
- ^ ""El laberinto del fauno", galardonada con el Sant Jordi". Diario de León. 22 March 2007.
External links
edit- The Night of the Sunflowers at ICAA's Catálogo de Cinespañol
- The Night of the Sunflowers at IMDb
- The Night of the Sunflowers at AllMovie
- The Night of the Sunflowers at Rotten Tomatoes