''Scent of a Crime'' ( es, El aire de un crimen, links=no) is a 1988 Spanish rural crime drama film directed by

Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi Lasa (22 March 1927 – 28 September 2017) was a Spanish film director and producer. Isasi-Isasmendi began working in the production firm Emisora Films as an assistant manager, film editor, scriptwriter, lead producer, a ...

consisting of an adaptation of the novel ''El aire de un crimen'' by

Juan Benet Juan Benet (7 October 1927 – 5 January 1993) was a Spanish novelist, dramatist and essayist who also worked as a civil engineer. Early life Benet was born in Madrid. At the start of the Spanish Civil War, his father was killed, and he left for ...

. The cast features

Paco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Ra ...

, Maribel Verdú, Chema Mazo,

Fernando Rey Fernando Casado Arambillet (La Coruña (Spain), 20 September 1917 – Madrid (Spain), 9 March 1994), best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and television actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States. A suave, i ...

and

Germán Cobos Germán Sánchez Hernández-Cobos (7 July 1927 – 12 January 2015) was a prolific Spanish actor in a variety of European films. He was married to Visitación Peralta. He was born on 7 July 1927 in Sevilla. He was known for playing Arturo Torres ...

, among others.

Plot

Set in 1950s Spain, the plot tracks the developments after a corpse belonging to a stranger is found in the village of Bocentellas, located in the territory of 'Región'. Upon the arrival of the magistrate, the corpse has been replaced by a different one.

Cast

Production

The film is an Isasi PC production. Shooting locations included Calatayud (

province of Zaragoza Zaragoza (), also called Saragossa in English,''Encyclopædia Britannica''Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)/ref> is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also th ...

) and the neighbouring .

Release

The film was presented at the 36th San Sebastián International Film Festival's official selection in September 1988. Distributed by Tripictures, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 28 October 1988.

Reception

Octavi Martí of ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' considered that the overly "flat" cinematography "does not always do justice to the locations and characters", adding up to other flaws that underpin a somewhat "dusty scent" relatable not just to a film set in the 1950s, but to a film shot then too.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" , 1988 , , 36th San Sebastián International Film Festival , ,

Silver Shell for Best Actor The Silver Shell for Best Actor (Spanish: ''Concha de Plata a la Mejor Interpretacion Masculina''; Basque: ''Aktore onenaren Zilarrezko Maskorra'') was one of the main awards presented at the San Sebastián International Film Festival to the Best A ...

, , Fernando Rey , , , , align = "center" , , - , align = "center" , 1989 , ,

3rd Goya Awards The 3rd Goya Awards were presented in Madrid, Spain on 21 March 1989. ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' won the award for Best Film. Winners and nominees Major award nominees Other award nominees Honorary Goya * Imperio Argenti ...

, ,

Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, , Gabriel Castro, Antonio Isasi Isasmendi, Jorge R. Álamo , , , , align = "center" ,

References

{{authority control 1988 films Spanish crime drama films Films set in Spain 1980s Spanish-language films Films set in the 1950s Films shot in the province of Zaragoza Films based on Spanish novels