7.4 /10 1 Votes
3.5/4 Roger Ebert Produced by Fernando Trueba Edited by Carmen Frías Director Fernando Trueba | 7.2/10 IMDb 3.1/5 AlloCine Cinematography José Luis Alcaine Initial release 4 December 1992 (Spain) Producer Fernando Trueba | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Rafael AzconaJosé Luis García SánchezFernando Trueba Starring Jorge SanzPenélope CruzFernando Fernán GómezMiriam Díaz ArocaAriadna GilMaribel Verdú Music by Antoine DuhamelGuillermo Fernández-ShawFederico Romero Music director Antoine Duhamel, Pablo Sorozábal, Federico Romero, Guillermo Fernández-Shaw Awards Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Cast Penélope Cruz, Maribel Verdú, Jorge Sanz, Ariadna Gil, Fernando Fernan Gomez Similar Secrets of the Heart (film), All About My Mother, The Sea Inside | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Belle Époque is a 1992 Spanish comedy-drama film directed by Fernando Trueba. The title does not derive from the period in French history known as the Belle Époque ("The Beautiful Era") but from the days before the Spanish Civil War. Belle Époque received the Goya Award for Best Film along with eight other Goya Awards and was named Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards.
Contents
Plot
The year is 1931. Spain is politically divided between Republicans and Traditionalists and on the verge of the Spanish Second Republic. Fernando, a young soldier, deserts. He befriends Manolo (Fernando Fernán Gómez), an old man with a large house in the country. Fernando meets and is enchanted by Manolo's four daughters. As he meets each of the first three one by one, he falls in love and has sex with each of them, determining to marry but with each one a complication arises: Clara (Miriam Díaz-Aroca), a widow who only recently lost her husband and who seeks solace with Fernando; Violeta (Ariadna Gil), a lesbian who is only attracted to Fernando when he is dressed as a woman for a costume ball and Rocío (Maribel Verdú), a social climber who is about to marry into a royalist family for the security it would provide and who only momentarily succumbs to Fernando's charms. Heartbroken each time, the father of the girls encourages him to have patience. Each of the daughters is beautiful and represents a different aspect of feminine sexuality. The youngest of the family, Luz (Penélope Cruz), represents naïveté. While Fernando is pursuing her sisters, Luz gets progressively angry and jealous but eventually Fernando realizes that she is the best one of the four to marry.
Cast
Critical reception
Belle Epoque received positive reviews getting a 93% on rottentomatoes.com. The film is mentioned in the 2010 American film The Fighter.
Awards
Nominations
