Solas (1999)

8/10

Excellent drama, undeservedly overlooked

khatcher-227 February 2001

Unfortunately rather overlooked as this film came out the same year as Almodóvar's 'Todo Sobre mi Madre' which went on to reach fame and glory. However, if you liked Almodóvar's excellent drama you will also like 'Solas'. The two films have certain similarities inasmuch that also in 'Solas' the accent is very much on strong characterisation, profound human feelings, though perhaps a little less intense here than in Almodóvar's film.

Ana Fernández is magnificent, playing just right the rather confused, unlucky thirty-five year old young woman a bit given to alcohol, not overplaying her part; María Galiana as her mother shows even at her age that she has come from good theatre, as no less does Carlos Álvarez-Novoa as the lonely neighbour. Benito Zembrano - as Almodóvar - , not only directs his film but is also responsible for the script, which is truly magnificent, especially taking into account certain Andalucian styles of speech. The Andalucian accent may at times cause a bit of a problem if you know Spanish a fair amount and watch this film without any subtitles. Try it, anyway: it is well worth the effort.

An excellent piece of drama which certainly deserves more recognition than it has got. Curiously both films end with a remarkably similar dedication at the end: 'A mi madre; a todas las madres' - To my mother; To all mothers.

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7/10

Seldom is so much accomplished with so little

=G=18 January 2004

"Solas" spends its 100 minute run digging deep into the character of Maria (Fernández), an attractive 35 year old brittle pessimist who bears the scars of childhood abuse at the hands of her father, drinks too much, and works as a janitor. A somber, plodding, plaintive character study, "Solas" fleshes out its small ensemble of characters well, illuminating the dark corners of Maria's hopelessness with an unlikely combination of her visiting mother's quiet courage and the friendship of an old man in a neighboring apartment. An award winning film hailed by the critics and an exemplar for American Indie makers, "Solas" will appeal most to more mature audiences into Europix. Those who enjoy this film may want to check out "El Abuelo" (1998). (B)

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8/10

Never give up hope

MultiMediaHouse18 December 2003

A very touching movie. During the movie you almost start wondering if there are only sad people around. But even the saddest ones (and they now, because they have had a fight about who the saddest one was) can shift to a better life.

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10/10

A rare, deeply moving film.

Peegee-328 October 2000

Many thanks to Benito Zambrano for this beautiful delineation of human dilemmas humanely faced. Maria Galiana, as an elderly Spanish woman caught in the trap of a very bad marriage, but able to maintain her generosity and ability to love, is superb and inspiring. Her grown daughter, played with passion by Ana Fernandez, is more sophisticated and bitter. She has allowed herself to be used by a man, not unlike her unfeeling father, and her protrayal makes us sympathize with her, particularly when she finds she's pregnant and the man refuses to help her. And then there is the daughter's neighbor, played by Carlos Alvarez-Novia...a lonely old man with only his amazing dog for companionship. How he and the mother establish a tender, but "proper" relationship is a piece of rare and subtle film-making. I see no similarity between Zambrano's movie and the work of Mike Leigh (who apparently inspired him). Real people, yes, but the values demonstrated by Zambrano far surpass, in my estimation, those of Mike Leigh. My highest recommendation to anyone interested in a film that has soul, without sentimentality or grossness.

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10/10

Quietly masterful

Jim-Eadon22 November 2003

Solas is a Spanish story of the interrelationships between a hard drinking thirty five year old woman, her saintly mother, her wicked father and a lonely neighbour. The initial themes deal not only with motherly concepts, but with desperation, alienation and loss of happiness caused by an anonymous world. The tale seems stark and slow at first, and you think, O Lordy, this is a bit bloody grim! But at some indifinable point, you're hooked! Solas is one of the most moving films I've seen. The acting, characterisation and dialogue (as far as I could tell from the subtitles) is priceless. Solas is quietly masterful, a rewarding work of passion. Simply recalling how the characters started out and comparing that with how they ended up is awe inspiring. 10/10

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Silently moving

jespereilertsen7 June 2004

I was moved by this one, and I'm a rock. Even though I did not like one of the morals of the story - that if you get a child, you can overcome alcoholism and lead a better life. Unfortunately that's a romantic dream challenged by many an alcoholic as an escape route, and I've seen many try and fail with the children caught up in the mess as victims.

But it's beautifully acted. The story is a tragic one, but it's told in a wonderful "laughter-through-tears" way.

Very nice framing too, and silent and emotional shots - not boring at all. Deeply moving. Thanks for this one.

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7/10

Thorough the Spanish province - Excellent

silviopellerani26 February 2001

Nowadays it is not so easy to find a film that hits directly your heart and sentiments. Benito Zambrano gives an opportunity to recover all those sentiments that are well hidden in your subconscious.

Carmona is a small town too close to Seville to have a real identity and is the frame for a difficult and impossible relationship between a daughter, mother and father. Zambrano shows how difficult is to grow up in this outcast and bit farmer town with the leit-motiv of these three characters that join back together due to the father's illness. The father is marked rude and impolite, used to hit the wife or the daughter to show his total dominance and authority. The wife was totally subjected to this situation and the opportunity to find some understanding and heat with their neighbour is accepted with detachment by her. This side relationship with a lonely man brings back love to this sad and destroyed family. The daughter is even worse, alcoholic and in love with a truck driver who does not care of her pregnancy.

The loneliness of the void with a breach of optimism is well expressed in this simple but very effective and straight film.

Rating: 7/10

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10/10

A Mother's Love

antonio_von_cuesta12 February 2005

When I saw this movie, nobody told me his plot. I just watched it and at the end, my heart was broke, but was too stunned. The story is so hard of tell, and Benito Zambrano, the director, does it slowly, showing all the sensitive possible, and making cry everybody.

But... what wants to show this movie? Only one thing: A mother's love. The performance of Maria Galiana is absolutely PERFECT. Ana Fernandez and Carlos Alvarez Novoa are correct, but Maria Galiana is better than they. I cried watching the movie because of the end, just look the scene when the mother's sleeping in front of the sunset. Just beautiful.

The powerful of the images and the impact of the performances make of SOLAS the best movie of 90s in Spain.

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7/10

A brooding and thought-provoking film concerning thorny themes

ma-cortes23 March 2021

This is a bold and nice film about a woman on the edge of depression and nervous breakdown and who finally finds a purport in her thunderous life . It deals with a thirty and some year old woman : Ana Fernández who lives in the noisy city by working badly in cleaning jobs . When her mother : Maria Galiana comes to town to care her ill father at hospital , she stays at her home. Both of whom meet a sympathetic elderly neighbour : Carlos Álvarez Novoa who befriend and help them. Things go wrong when Maria is pregnant and her boyfriend wants she aborts.

A thoughtful and sad film about three lost souls attempting to give each other love as well as strength to start over , dealing with poorness , loneliness , abusiveness , desperation and ultimately redemption. It is a pretty good film , though some dowbeat and depressing , however , the final part results to be very sensitive and touching . The cast is frankly excellent , giving terrific interpretations . Ana Fernández is top-notch as the woman who moves to city to find a fateful destination , while Maria Galiana is awesome as the passive and kind mother .Special mention for Carlos Álvarez Novoa as the likeable neighbor who lives as a recluse and whose only company is his dog . They are finely accompanied by a good support cast with brief appearances from Juan Fernández as the egoistic boyfriend , Antonio Dechent as a doctor , Paco Tous , Maria Alfonsa Rosso, Mariana Cordero, Rosario Pardo and Cuca Escribano .

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Benito Zambrano and it won various Spanish Goyas . As it was Goya winner : Best supporting actress Maria Galiana , Best New Acress Ana Fernández, Best original screenplay and Best new director Benito Zambrano , Best original score Antonio Meliveo , Best Production Manager Eugenio Santana , Best Sound and Best Film Antonio P. Pérez , Maestranza Films . And Tokyo International Festival winner Best actor award Carlos Alvarez Novoa , Winner Best actress award Maria Galiana , and Turia Awards 2000 Winner Best Spanish film , Best actress Ana Fernandez . Furthermore , other prizes in multiple Festivals as Angers European First Film Festival , Ariel Awards Mexico , Asecan , Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards , Berlin International Film Festival, Bogotá Film Festival , Brussels International Film Festival, Cartagena , Chicago International Festival, Fotogramas De Plata , Cinema Writers Circle Awards Spain , among others . Andalucía-born Benito Zambrano is a good filmmaker who has made a few but prestigious films such as : Habana Blues , La Voz Dormida , Intemperie and this big hit : Solas. Rating :7/10 . Notable . Better than average. Well worth watching . Essential and indispensable seeing .

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10/10

A Little Gem from Spain

groggo31 May 2007

Writer/director Benito Zambrano has delivered a brilliant observation of real situations in the lives of a broken family and lonely people who only want to feel useful again.

It infuriates me that I cannot see this kind of film -- nothing even remotely approximating it -- from the Hollywood celluloid factory. Given over to LaLaLand, this would have been yet another throwaway melodrama drenched in its own soapiness. In Zambrano's hands, this low-budget gem eschews sentimentality and high-tech wizardry, digs deeply into characterization and shows us a view of the world we wouldn't know existed if we depended on Hollywood to show us. Zabrano's dialogue is just deadly accurate and very 'real'.

The acting is uniformly superb, but Maria Galiana as the long-suffering, illiterate, sturdy Earth Mother is astonishing. She ambles on and off the screen with a weary, brilliant light. She has sacrificed her entire life in the service of a husband who doesn't deserve to lick her shoes. She does it because, well, that's the way it is for women of her generation.

Carlos Alvarez-Novoa is equally brilliant as the the old neighbour who offers his considerable heart to the mother and to her pregnant-and-confused daughter Maria, beautifully played with passion and rage by Ana Fernandez.

Both Galiana and Alvarez-Novoa give us faces and gestures of old and tired people who know too well the unfairness of life for the poor. There is a wonderful scene between the two when Alvarez-Novoa has an attack of diarrhea and Galiana insists on helping him. He resists, telling her he reeks of excrement. Galiana handles the situation as casually as she would the copious body wastes of the pigs she keeps back home in her native village. This tiny touch of humanity is the kind of scene one sees frequently in European films (and rarely, if ever, in flicks from Hollywood).

Benito Zambrano has done a masterful job here. Like other politically conscious writers and directors working in Europe, he takes the reality of proletarian existence and makes it into something very real, all without sappiness. This is one terrific film.

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6/10

Skip the first 60 minutes

TheOtherFool14 September 2002

This movie is about 3 relationships: between the mother and her daughter, the mother and the neighbour, and resulting from the first two, the daughter and the neighbour. The first two aren't really that interesting, but the movie springs to light once the neighbour and the daughter start talking during a game of cards. What comes next are 30 minutes of excelent film-making which keeps you tied to your seat right through the ending. Too bad for the first (boring) hour though... In the end I gave it a 6/10.

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9/10

The best of the recent spanish cinema

Josh2019 June 2002

"Solas" is a wonderful movie with a great plot and great actors.Maria Galiana as an old and rural woman that goes to the city to see her daughter and her illness husband made me cry.Is an special movie with a good screenplay.I'm an andalusian boy and movies always has been unfair with Andalusia.In all those movies,andalusian were funny and stereotyped people of the flolcorical Spain.This movie show us how is the life of very rural women in my country.Also,"Solas" is one of the best movies about the relationship between a mother and her daughter that i've ever seen.As loneliness' portrait ,"Solas" os powerful too.Is a movie that insinuate more than what show it,as all good movies.For all those whose dreams are not come true,this movie show us that the loneliness is not the best way to do.

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3/10

Symphony of staged misery

anna-394 June 2005

Funny how opinions can be different. I perfectly respect that many people found this movie a masterpiece, but I found it pretentious, dishonest, an external exhibition of "misery" full of stereotypes (and quite a conservative undertone). The fallen angel girl that goes through resurrection, the Madonna mother, bad (really really b a d) father, abusive and violent self-centered boyfriend, etc. All too calculated, staged for my taste - there are so many other films that I find more honest in their portray of poverty and misery (but with dignity). And then above all the fairy-tale end. It seemed so much like an imagined poverty by someone who has never experienced it.

The only thing that I really enjoyed of that film was the erotic electricity between two older characters that is a rare thing to see in a movie. In my opinion, that gives an extra start to this movie.

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9/10

A brilliant gem!

madshy10 November 2001

If you where run over by the Miramax foreign film juggernaut, then you missed this brilliant gem tucked away in one those twenty seats cinema theater.

A film is very much like a painting, meant to be seen not discussed or explained. So let us just leave it at 'see it'.

Benito Zambrano's talent on the other hand merits more than a discussion. A sensitive director and a poignant writer. In many ways 'Solas' reminded me of another gem in the dust 'Heavy'.

Benito managed to keep the movie so simple, that it hurts. His flare for observing and then relaying in his film the raw human angst, is inspiring.

The actors for there part, rose to the greatness of the moment.

BZ makes us cling to hope by our finger nails while steadily adding to our feet the weight of reality. But then, isn't that life!

To look for hope in 'Solas' is to look for simplicity in 'Guernica'. It's there, you just need to see it.

And like all good things in life this one is elusive too. No video or a DVD release yet.

Once again, it lives up to it's name.

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9/10

Go deep, fear nothing, look for escape and be brave.

secondtake26 December 2011

Solas (1999)

A purely effective entry into the private worlds of several very lonely people in contemporary Spain. Tenderly filmed, acted with understated and honest passion, and written in a way that makes you believe it.

And that's the point. You really care about first the lonely old woman, then increasingly about her troubled daughter, and finally about the old man who is a neighbor living alone. What some people need, other people need to give. But they don't always know it, or if they know it they still resist, trapped by promises made or by convention.

It's an interesting dose of reality that there are a couple of truly bad people here, as well, both men, both abusive in different ways to their woman. One, an older man in the hospital, remains bitter even as his health declines, and he reveals in a key passage that what he cares about is whether he was the kind of man society and tradition had expected him to be. Nothing else. It's sad, but not as tormenting as the younger selfish man who almost glories in his selfishness.

What makes the movie strike deep, though, is how the women put up with this. We aren't sure if it is because they too are caught up in society's traditions, or if they have some emotional need to be abused, however that gets started. But what we are sure of is how familiar this sounds--if not in our own relationships, at least in those around us, somewhere.

As powerful as this movie is, it is never overpowering, and never sentimentally driven (until, alas, the very end, which is a disappointing but understandable wrap up). What works so well is how subtle the emotional highs and lows are. It's all written and directed by people who understand what is going on in life, beyond the deceptions of the silver screen.

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10/10

Meant to get "Solaris"--glad I got this!

xavrush8916 October 2003

This film seems like a downer at first glance but there are some sublimely subtle comedic moments, despite the gravity of the situations. Maria Galiana is delightful in all her scenes. Too say more would be revealing too much. This film proves that "heartwarming" doesn't have to equal "schmaltzy." In fact, for some reason the melodrama reminded me of "Far From Heaven," only grittier. Ana Fernandez is like a Spanish Jennifer Jason Leigh, only with more conventional beauty (which she masks as best she can).

Warning: Have some tissues on hand! If you liked "Central Station." you'll like this. (Or if you like this, try "Central Station.") Grade : A+.

P.S. There's also a nice song over the end credits by late 80's/early 90's singer Neneh Cherry.

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10/10

Very touching. Great acting.

dihudi18 November 2007

This movie reminds me of the themes in "One Hundred Years of Solitude." It deals with being isolated even though you have family. The movie has very touching themes and is focused on relationships between people. The ending is especially touching and poetic, as it shows how the ones we think of as lonely may be the only ones who can teach us to connect with others and have faith in humanity.

The acting was wonderful. The mother's eyes exuded such a deep sadness and yet so much love and patience. The old man was instantaneously lovable. Even the dog did a wonderful job. The woman's fiery personality was completely believable, and her lover was realistically a jerk. This movie has so much going for it, and it's refreshing to see a movie that touches on the distinctly human qualities, both good and bad, and carry them across so realistically. The movie never gets tiring, and I always felt I was personally invested in the lives of all the characters. Highly recommended.

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9/10

Profoundly moving

SiSi-315 November 1999

Before showing this film at the London Film Festival, the producer introduced it and thanked Mike Leigh for being an inspiration. Mike Leigh was in the audience and described it as 'profoundly moving'. I can add little more to this.

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4/10

A collection of stereotypes

Turin_Horse26 April 2013

Benito Zambrano's Solas offers us a collection of stereotypes which are of little credibility and make of this film a hard and boring view. It is basically the account of a few weeks in the lives of some personages, in the particular circumstance that the father of a family is in hospital and his wife has to move to the city to stay with him.

No hint of sensitivity, or even humanity, is to be found in the ogre- like personage of the father, of whom we know through patches of conversation that is alcoholic (a vice inherited by his daughter), violent, family abuser and wasteful. To this father's attitude, the wife and the daughter adopt completely opposite attitudes; totally submissive the wife, whom might well have been depicted with an aura of holiness around her head; rebel and contemptuous towards her father the daughter, who hates him undisguisedly.

Social groups are portrayed under fixed stereotypes too: all affluent people are egoist, thoughtless towards others and bad; all poor people have a good heart, but life circumstances may make them behave not so honestly; all men are thoughtless, brute, women chasers, football lovers and sex-obsessed, but for one of the characters of the film, a neighbor which seems to share with the wife the gift of holiness; and all women are... well, they are a bit more fleshed out in the film and considered as individuals, rather than as a bulk indistinguishable from one another.

I cannot recommend watching this film to anybody, but maybe for those whom may feel reassured in their convictions about human stereotypes in case they are coincident with those depicted in the film. Only one scene seemed to me of cinematographic value: when the daughter is watching through a passing train a bag lady carrying her trolley; as the different carriages pass by we can see in very short flashes the increasing expression of sorrow, desperation and realization of the bag lady desperate condition. Ana Fernández is fine in her role as the daughter.

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9/10

A pleasant surprise

bburns2 December 2000

Warning: Spoilers

Warning: this review contains spoilers.

My experience with foreign films has generally not been very good. What happens is that all the professional movie critics will absolutely rave about a certain foreign movie, and my more intellectual friends will convince me to go see it with them. Then, when I'm actually watching the film, it will turn out to be about physically unattractive middle-aged people smoking cigarettes and discussing abstractions. After about twenty minutes of reading subtitles that could have been taken from a philosophy textbook, I fall asleep for the rest of the film. This is not because I am an ugly American. I spent my childhood in Canada, and I have the same reaction to Canadian films. I just happen to think most foreign movies that make it to America (like most American movies that make it to America) are dull. The reason I keep going to these films, however, is that occasionally there will be a pleasant surprise. "Life is Beautiful" is a good example. So is this film.

This movie is about an old woman's first experience in the big city. Her abusive husband has fallen ill and has had to go to the big city hospital for treatment. The only other person in the city she knows is her daughter Maria.

Maria is an overly-cynical alcoholic who hates her father. She resents having to work as a cleaning lady and blames all her woes on being poor. She lashes out in hostility to anyone who is kind to her and she thinks her mother's ideas about doing unto others is woefully naive. Things get worse when she gets pregnant and her self-centered bully of a boyfriend refuses to take responsibility.

The real center of the movie, however, is not Maria, but her mother and her relationship with the kindly old man who lives in Maria's building. The old man lives alone with only a German shepherd named Achilles to keep him company. The mother and the old man strike up a friendship, and the old man falls in love with her. And when she visits her husband in the hospital, her husband sniffs her and tells her she stinks of other men.

I found this movie extremely engaging and engrossing. What I particularly liked was that although it didn't give in to Maria's cynicism, neither did it pull any punches as to the way the world really works. I rooted for the mother to leave her husband for the old man, but I knew it would never happen (despite the fact that she admits that the old man is a better human being than her husband). I wanted Maria's boyfriend (who isn't all bad) to be a good boyfriend and a good father, but I knew it wouldn't happen either.

This film is touching without being schlocky. It's heart-warming without being syrupy. The film's only real flaws were at the very start and the very end. At the start, I felt like I was just coming in at the middle since so much had apparently already happened that wasn't shown. And I thought the film's last twenty minutes could have been cut to ten without losing their impact.

My original stance on foreign films stays as is: they tend to be overrated by critics simply because they weren't made in a Hollywood movie factory. But occasionally one comes along like "Solas" where the praise is justified. 9 out of 10.

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A very moving film

timcaines23 August 2002

A combination of an 'eye-opening' plot and superb acting make this film a wonderful piece of art and a powerful depiction of how some women led and perhaps still lead their lives today.

This film can make you cry. I think this film deserves much recognition for such a moving drama.

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9/10

A masterpiece of international cinema

operez31 September 2008

A masterpiece of international cinema that tranceeds all unnatural boundaries as it deals with human emotions which know no boundaries. Maria Galana who plays an old woman in the sixties from a village in South Spain. Her four sons have moved away as soon as they could to the north.

Her husband is admitted to one hospital in the city where she finds herself a bit out of place. Her daughter lives in the same city whom her husband hates as she has gone beyond the cultural limitations and has studied. The daughter played by Ana Fernandez is a character who wants to be rich and hates the way her mother has lived her life like one obidient wife.

The movie comes to its real essence when Ana becomes preganant and her boyfriend refuses to take up the responsibility and asks her to abortion. Parallely her monther meets Ana's neighbour-a man in his sixties as well who is as "solas" as Maria even after being married and Ana even after doin what she wanted. Ana's struggle with her identity and her crave to have the child with the fight for her self respect is very well carried by the script.

How the things turn up and how Ana realises the importance of her mother and her life, how her mother manages herself intelligebily between all those who hardly want to see each other, the old man wants to be with lady and the story itself which is itself a pillar in the movie are to be watched out for.

I say its a best movie when one cannot jus leave his/her seat, its when you feel every bit of the characters are going through, its when every node of the music makes your herat beats.... You can expect everything from it that you expect our of a classic!!

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9/10

Keeps you interested 'till the end!

dscheers11 March 2002

Excellent movie, I expected a good drama but it was much more than that,a pleasant surprise! It's not your typical Hollywood-tear-jerker but it's sensitive (and hard) in it's own European way. Go and see it,you won't be disappointed,unless you are mainstream,that is!

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8/10

A hard movie

Karok-210 March 2000

The beginning of the film, is kind a slow, but is not annoying. It doesn't last so long, so you don't get tired. What the movie says is the hard side of life, and there aren't many movies that shows it the way Zambrano did. Is sad that Solas and Todo sobre mi madre had such a strong competition. For the Goyas, for the Oscar. Is sad Spain couldn't present both! They would probably leave the Shrine with an ex-aequo award!

The characters of Solas are very well written and definite. The huge heart of Rosa (the mother). And the also big heart but with more bad mood heart of María. A lady that seems to give up, until she understands that it could be even worse!

The movie makes you feel lucky in some ways! And is sad to think that many people are having such similar problems, and is so horrible to think that there are millions of people out there that wish at least have the house Maria had! So Benito Zambrano has shown us a hard side of life, but not the worst!

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10/10

gut-wrenchingly resonant

jean-cave21 December 2004

I only just watched this film for the first time. Saw it on my laptop. I just adored this movie ...everyone in it and the way it was made. The first great thing about it was how totally simpathico I felt with the mum. The so unhollywood adorable mum. Everyone in the film reminded me of someone I know. To tell you the truth I was blubbering wreck by the end because there was so many resonances with my own life, with the relationship I have with my own daughter, with the way men behave in real life. I checked out the database for further films made by the director but there were none.???? I cant believe that after such a wonderful debut Benito Zambrano hasn't gone on to make it big in the film world. There is a gaping void out there waiting to be filled by directors of his calibre. Can I make plea for more movies in this genre please. Also on a very personal level it is a knitting movie and I am collecting them so it instantly goes into my top ten.

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