''Black Tears'' ( es, Lágrimas negras, links=no) is a 1998 Spanish romantic drama film directed by

Ricardo Franco Ricardo Franco (24 May 1949 in Madrid – 20 May 1998 in Madrid) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director. Biography Nephew of Jesús Franco. He died at 49 years old when he filmed ''Lágrimas negras (film), Lágrimas negras''. He wrote ...

and Fernando Bauluz. Ricardo Franco's

swan song The swan song ( grc, κύκνειον ᾆσμα; la, carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful so ...

, filming was unfinished upon Franco's death and then completed under assistant director Fernando Bauluz. It stars

Ariadna Gil Ariadna Gil Giner (; born 23 January 1969) is a Spanish actress. She is known for her performances in films such as ''Belle Époque'' (for which she won the Goya Award for Best Actress), ''Black Tears'' and ''Pan's Labyrinth''. Career Film dire ...

and

Fele Martínez Fele Martínez (born Rafael Martínez; 22 February 1975) is a Goya Award-winning Spanish actor. Early years Martínez was born in Alicante, Spain. A product of the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático in Madrid, he began to act and direct theater ...

alongside

Elena Anaya Elena Anaya Gutiérrez (born 17 July 1975) is a Spanish actress. She garnered public recognition in Spain for her performance in ''Sex and Lucia'' (2001), which also earned her a nomination to the Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress. She sta ...

, Ana Risueño and

Elvira Mínguez Elvira Mínguez (born 23 July 1965) is a Spanish actress. Mínguez has appeared in such films as '' La cacatúa verde'' (1990), '' El carro de heno'' (1991), ''The Lucky Star'', ''Tapas'' (2005) and '' El desconocido'' (2015). Her television cre ...

Plot

The plot tracks Andrés, a photographer engaged to his long-time girlfriend Alicia who falls romantically for a mentally-ill woman, Isabel (under the guise of 'Ana'), some time after their first encounter when the assault on Andrés by Isabel together with another woman, Cinta—as well as Andrés' ensuing kidnapping, humiliation and rape—took place.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was penned by Ricardo Franco and

Ángeles González Sinde Angeles may refer to: Places *Los Angeles, the largest city in California and the Western US *Angeles City, the most populous city in Central Luzon, Philippines *Angeles National Forest, a national forest on the outskirts of Los Angeles ** Angel ...

, based on an original story by Ricardo Franco and Dionisio Pérez Galindo. The plot has a backdrop of autobiographical elements reportedly inspired by Ricardo Franco's relationship with

Jean Seberg Jean Dorothy Seberg (; ; November 13, 1938August 30, 1979) was an American actress who lived half of her life in France. Her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film ''Breathless'' immortalized her as an icon of French New Wave cinema. Seb ...

while the latter was married to

Romain Gary Romain Gary (; 2 December 1980), born Roman Kacew (, and also known by the pen name Émile Ajar), was a French novelist, diplomat, film director, and World War II aviator. He is the only author to have won the Prix Goncourt under two names. He i ...

. Produced by Sogetel and Aurum, the film featured a 300 million ₧ budget. Director Ricardo Franco died in the midst of the shooting and filming was thus completed by assistant director Fernando Bauluz. Shooting wrapped in June 1998 in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. was responsible for cinematography and for the music.

Release

The film screened at the 43rd

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

(Seminci) in October 1998. It also screened at the

49th Berlin International Film Festival The 49th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 February 1999. The festival opened with ''Aimée & Jaguar'' by Max Färberböck. The Golden Bear was awarded to Canadian-American film '' The Thin Red Line'' directed by ...

(Berlinale) in February 1999. It was theatrically released in Spain on 26 February 1999.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" , 1998 , , 43rd

, , Silver Spike for Best Actress , , Ariadna Gil , , , , align = "center" , , - , align = "center" , 2000 , ,

14th Goya Awards The 14th Goya Awards were presented at L'Auditori in Barcelona, Spain on 29 January 2000. It was the first Goya awards ceremony to have taken place outside of Madrid. ''All About My Mother'' won the award for Best Film. Winners and nominees Maj ...

, ,

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

, , Ariadna Gil , , , , align = "center" ,

References