Ok, generally we’re not excited about the new directorial effort from the guy who helmed “Martian Child,” Menno Meyjes, but this first look at his new movie, “Manolete,” from Collider is intriguing if only because of the cast (but hold the phone…)
We’ll admit, this is the first time we’ve heard about this film (there’s a reason for this), but with Penelope Cruz and Adrien Brody, this story about Spain’s most famous and revered bullfighter could be interesting. We’re not sure if it’s Oscar-baity, we’re just going off photos (and with Meyjes career, just ok pictures like “Max” it seems doubtful), but it appears to be a step in the right direction for Brody who’s Oscar-winning career has been sidetracked by a lot of B-movie dreck.
This extraordinary film tells the true story of Spain’s most famous bullfighter, Manuel ‘Manolete’ Rodriguez, whose original style and tragic death in the bullring at 30 years old turned him into a legend. The film centres around the bullfighter and his obsessive love for Lupe Sino – an actress and social beauty who becomes the love of Manolete’s life, despite fierce opposition and jealousy from those closest to him. In Manolete’s world, it is considered bad luck to befriend a woman, let alone fall in love with one. Lupe and Manolete couldn’t be more different from each other. She is in love with life and he is in love with death. Their love for each other is passionate, explosive, dangerous and ultimately tragic. On the last day of Manolete’s life, after a bitter argument with Lupe, he enters the bullring for the last time filled with sadness and rage. He has lost the will to fight. Having shown Manolete how to live, Lupe ultimately also shows him how to die.
But uhh, here’s where we sort of lose our interest already (that was fast). This film has been sitting around since 2007 and still hasn’t even gone the film festival route, which is not a good sign. As some have noted, there’s a lot of chum at AFM, the American Film Market where these images come from (in fact some recent “new” images are for films that already came out and are on DVD and Blu-Ray, see “The Tournament”), so this might be a final salvo in trying to get someone buyers interested in a film that no one originally was. In fact, “Manolete” was actually shot before “Martian Child” and still the latter film came first. In fact, a trailer for the film has been available on YouTube since 2006 and it looks terrible.
The best unintentionally funny (perhaps truthful) moment in the trailer? Cruz looks on lovingly to Brody and says, “you really the most beautiful ugly man I have ever seen.” Funny.
Does not bode well. Maybe at this point, they’re just trying to sell it to the AFM DVD market. It’s a total possibility.
