The film is set in the bourgeois environment of Spain during General Franco era. The main character is physician Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez, who has a hypocritical personality and also sexual inhibition. One day he meets his childhood friend, Pablo, who has married a much younger woman. Jose feels attracted to beautiful Elena, especially since he thinks they have met once before and he still remembers that impression. At first it seems that Elena is falling for him, but it is only a false pretence, and Jose’s interest in her becomes obsessession. Because Jose can not get her, he starts transforming his medical help, Ana, into a copy of Elena. Ana is in love with her employer and willingly agrees to his ideas, not quite understanding what they mean to Jose.
This is the first film that Carlos Saura made with Geraldine Chaplin. She plays both female roles in the movie, Ana and Elena. Then Geraldine Chaplin became Saura’s wife and starred in many of his movies. The film was well developed and beautifully directed, although rather in the convention of horror than the drama. There is a great atmosphere and the actors gave great performances, especially the main character, well-chosen for this role Geraldine. There are also some humoristic accents and a lot of strange and grotesque scenes. This film is considered to be the first of the three parts of the so-called "the family trilogy", which Saura made together with Geraldine Chaplin. But this film drew attention to Saura among foreign critics and audience outside Spain.
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Peppermint Frappe |
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as Ana | |
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as Julian | |
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as Pablo | |
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as Elena | |
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as Julian’s mother |
