City of Prodigies ( La Ciudad de los prodigios ) ( Le Ville des prodiges )

City of Prodigies (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: La Ciudad de los prodigios
Alternate Title: Le Ville des prodiges
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Goya Awards
Montreal World Film Festival

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
146 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen

Special Features:
Biographies
Filmographies
Interactive Menu
Making Of
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 1999 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )
Portugal ( Spain, Portugal )
Spain ( Spain, Portugal )

Directed By:
Mario Camus

Written By:
Mario Camus
Esther Cases

Actors:
Olivier Martinez ..... Onofre Bouvila
Emma Suarez ..... Delfina
François Marthouret ..... Braulio
José María Sanz 'Loquillo' ..... Efrén Castells
Tony Isbert ..... Odón Mostaza
Joaquín Díaz ..... Humbert Figa
Francesc Garrido ..... Joan Sicart
Ramón Langa ..... Marqués de Ut
Diogo Dória ..... Santiago Beltall
Montserrat Carulla ..... Micaela Castro
Lluís Homar ..... Padre Onofre
Héctor Colomé ..... Alexandre Canals
Isabel Rocatti ..... Madre Onofre
Boris Ruiz ..... Puncella
Marián Aguilera ..... Margarita Figa

Synopsis:

A time and place described through the life of Onofre Bouvila, this film is based on a famous novel exposing the 20 or so year time frame which transformed Barcelona, starting in the late 1880s. Onofre is a youngster down on his luck, abandoned by his fortune seeking father to a life of poverty and misery, alone with his mother. Once an adult, he also decides to seek fortune, and travels to Barcelona on the eve of the Universal Exposition of 1888, which so transformed the city. He immediately falls in love with Delfina, daughter of the owner of the hotel he moves into. Onofre searches for a job in this teeming city full of violence, criminals, sickness and poverty. He finds nothing. Unable to pay the hotel, he accepts a suggestion from Delfina: to produce and distribute pamphlets, during the Exposition, in support of the anarchists - a group she actively promotes, in the defense of the workers. Their relationship quickly turns into passion. But police repression dissuades him from political activity, and he returns to his original ambition of seeking fortune, at odds with Delfina's values. This transition will not only change his socio-economic standing, but will represent a political break which may turn Delfina away from him.

One of the finest filmmakers of Spain, Mario Camus turns his lens to a joyful and sad period of Spanish history in this historical drama about one man's struggle for a better life towards the end of the 18th century. Onofre Bouvila (Olivier Martinez) is a young man who has not had much luck in his short life. His father abandoned the family to make his fortune in Cuba and the boy grew up in misery with his suffering mother. Now grown up, he decides to make it in the big city and arrives in Barcelona on the eve of the Universal Exposition of 1888. He is immediately attracted to his landlord's beautiful daughter, Delfina (Emma Suarez), who has other plans for him. While the city is drowning in poverty and disease, the criminal gangs are having a field day. Onofre's attempts at finding a job fail. He is thrown out of his lodgings for lack of money to pay the rent. Just at that moment, Delfina appears with an answer to the problem. She puts him to work distributing revolutionary pamphlets for her anarchist organization to the workers at the Exposition. The relationship between the two young people soon turns into a passionate one, but a violent encounter with the police brings back unpleasant memories of the domestic misery Onofre left behind. He realizes that politics will not help him in his quest for fortune, which was the reason he came to Barcelona in the first place. The only thing standing in the way of social climber Onofre is his deep love for Delfina, and he is caught between ambition and love. La Ciudad de los Prodigios (The City of Marvels), which is based on Eduardo Mendoza's best-selling novel, was in competition at the 1999 Montreal World Film Festival.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 16 June, 2009.

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