''Don't Blame it on your Karma'' ( es, No culpes al karma de lo que te pasa por gilipollas) is a Spanish
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film based on a novel by Laura Norton.
Plot
In 1990's Sara (
Verónica Echegui
Verónica Fernández Echegaray (born 16 June 1983), known professionally as Verónica Echegui, is a Spanish actress. Since making her feature film debut as the title character of the 2006 drama ''My Name Is Juani'' she has featured in films su ...
) is a high school unpopular girl. She has a crush on the popular Aarón Humilde (
Álex Garcia), a senior high school who has a band. After Aarón leaves town unannounced they lose contact.
Now, 13 years later, she works with feathers, making hats, headdresses, bow ties, dresses and anything else that might require plumage. She is a genuine artist and has a small shop/workshop in a
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
neighbourhood where she just about manages to make a living. What a shame that her quiet, ordered world is about to collapse around her ears. Somehow, Sara will have to put up with a fleeing mother (
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 ...
), a depressed father (
Jordi Sánchez), a rebellious sister and her eccentric fiancé and, especially, a boyfriend she hasn't seen in ages who's about to make her the most absurd proposal in history.
Cast
*
Verónica Echegui
Verónica Fernández Echegaray (born 16 June 1983), known professionally as Verónica Echegui, is a Spanish actress. Since making her feature film debut as the title character of the 2006 drama ''My Name Is Juani'' she has featured in films su ...
as Sara Escribano.
*
Álex Garcia as Aarón Humilde, Sara's past dream boy who is engaged to Lucía.
*
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 ...
as Berta Milagros Rodríguez, Sara and Lucia's mother.
* as Lucía Escribano, Aarón' s fiancé and Sara's sister.
*
Jordi Sánchez as Arturo Escribano, an architect.
Production
The film is associate produced by Spanish pubcaster Televisión Española (TVE), its biggest pay TV operator,
Movistar Plus
Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by Telefónica, which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL and as well as with satellites such as ...
, regional state TV Televisió de Catalunya and Sony channel AXN España, a full flush of TV players which underscores the title's attractiveness. Spain's
ICAA Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute and the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises (ICEC) put up co-funding.
Verónica Echegui
Verónica Fernández Echegaray (born 16 June 1983), known professionally as Verónica Echegui, is a Spanish actress. Since making her feature film debut as the title character of the 2006 drama ''My Name Is Juani'' she has featured in films su ...
was not the first choice for the role of Sara. The role of Sara was originally played by
Clara Lago
Clara Lago Grau (born 6 March 1990) is a Spanish actress.
Career
Clara Lago Grau was born on 6 March 1990 in Torrelodones, Community of Madrid. Lago made her film debut at the age of 9 with the Spanish film ''Terca Vida'' (2000) (she had prev ...
but then she declined in favor to starring in the film 'Órbita 9'
The film was shot during seven weekends in
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, and
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
.
Soundtrack
The music created for the film is divided into two parts – Aaron's songs and the film score itself. The score itself is a mixture of kooky vintage, indie pop and funky nonsense that complements the very strong visual style of the film.
The soundtrack and original songs were composed by Simon Smith. The lead male character, Aaron, is a pop star and there are many musical scenes that needed original songs to establish the character's career and reveal his feelings. Victor Hernandez also provided help with lyrics and song development before shooting.
Alex Garcia, who plays Aaron, had never sung before and took intensive voice and guitar lessons and worked closely with Simon and Maria to develop the character.
The soundtrack has a fresh pop style, drawing on funk, jazz, pop, dub, dance music and electronic music. Simon also wrote several other songs for the score in English that reappear throughout the film, sung by Catalan singer
Maria Rodés
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
*170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
*Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...
, to represent the inner mind of the female lead character, Sara.
Release
The film was its world premiere was held at on 8 November 2016 in Madrid, Spain Sony Pictures has also acquired worldwide distribution rights.
This film is also featured in the 2017
Miami International Film Festival
The Miami Film Festival (formerly Miami International Film Festival) is an annual film festival in Miami, Florida, that showcases independent American and international films with a special focus on Ibero-American films. The competitive film fest ...
’s HBO Ibero American Competition Film Category and
Málaga Film Festival
The Málaga Film Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since 2017, ...
The film was nominated for Best Costume Design at
Goya Award
The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain.
The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sci ...
.
Box office
The film grossed $2,236,857 in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Home media
The DVD of ''Don't Blame the Karma'' was released on 15 March 2017, in both single-disc and two-disc deluxe editions and also released on VHS and UMD Video formats. In addition to the film, the deluxe edition contained featurettes and other bonus materials.
References
External links
*
*
*
* {{AllRovi movie, 671666
Spanish romantic comedy films
Films shot in Madrid
Films shot in Hong Kong
Spanish-language romantic comedy films
2016 romantic comedy films
2016 films
2010s Spanish films
2010s Spanish-language films
Films shot in the province of Guadalajara