The Dead Mother

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The Dead Mother
Theatrical release poster
SpanishLa madre muerta
Directed byJuanma Bajo Ulloa
Screenplay by
  • Juanma Bajo Ulloa
  • Eduardo Bajo Ulloa
Starring
CinematographyJavier Aguirresarobe
Edited byPablo Blanco
Music byBingen Mendizábal
Production
company
Gasteizko Zinema
Release dates
  • September 1993 (1993-09) (Venice)
  • 5 November 1993 (1993-11-05) (Spain)
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

The Dead Mother (Spanish: La madre muerta) is a 1993 Spanish drama film directed by

Silvia Marsó. Together with Bajo Ulloa's debut feature Butterfly Wings (1991), it contributed to the creation of an aura of cult auteur around the director.[1]

Plot

A girl, Leire, ends up as mentally impaired after being shot in the head in a domestic rob attempt by Ismael, who also kills Leire's mother (a restorer of religious images). The plot primarily concerns the ambiguous relationship between Ismael and Leire, after Ismael kidnaps Leire years later.[2][3]

Cast

Production

The film is a Gasteizko Zinema production.[6] It was primarily shot in Vitoria-Gasteiz.[7]

Release

The film was presented at the 50th Venice International Film Festival's 'Venetian Nights' section in September 1993, later screening at the Montreal Film Festival.[8] It was theatrically released in Spain on 5 November 1993.[7]

Reception

Ángel Fernández-Santos of El País deemed the film to have a lower quality than it appears to display at first glance, writing that "it holds up as an exercise in the mechanics of violence by a very skilled director, but it lacks a system for embodying that violence in believable human beings", dragged by bad writing and poor dialogues.[9]

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
1993 Montreal Film Festival Best Director Juanma Bajo Ulloa Won [10]
1994 8th Goya Awards Best Director Juanma Bajo Ulloa Nominated [6]
Best Cinematography Javier Aguirresarobe Nominated
Best Editing Pablo Blanco Nominated
Best Special Effects Hipólito Cantero Won

See also

References

  1. ^ García, Julián (11 October 2020). "Juanma Bajo Ulloa: "Vivimos en la dictadura perfecta"". El Periódico de Catalunya.
  2. ^ Roldán Larreta 1997, pp. 335–336.
  3. ISSN 1941-2622
    .
  4. .
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Vera 2005, p. 16.
  6. ^
    Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España
    . Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  7. ^
    eldiario.es
    .
  8. ISSN 1131-5350
    .
  9. ^ Fernández-Santos, Ángel (15 January 1994). "El cine como engaño". El País.
  10. .