''The Color of the Clouds'' ( es, El color de las nubes, links=no) is a 1997 Spanish drama film directed by

Mario Camus Mario Camus García (20 April 1935 – 18 September 2021) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He won the Golden Bear at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival with '' La colmena''. His 1987 film ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' wa ...

which stars

Julia Gutiérrez Caba Julia Gutiérrez Caba OAXS MML (born on 20 October 1934 in Madrid) is a Spanish theatre and film actress. Biography She is the daughter of actors Emilio Gutiérrez Esteban and Irene Caba Alba and sister of the actress Irene Gutiérrez Caba ...

Ana Duato Ana Consuelo Duato Boix (born 18 June 1968) is a Spanish actress, who is best known of portraying Mercedes Fernández López in the television series ''Cuéntame cómo pasó''. Biography Ana Consuelo Duato Boix was born on 18 June 1968, in Va ...

, Antonio Valero, and José María Doménech.

Plot

The plot revolves around a house in a

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

n village owned by Doña Lola, from which a series of intertwined subplots spawn. Lola and her niece Clementina agree on hosting a Bosnian refugee child (sabotaged by impostor kid Bartolomé), an old fisherman and Lola's friend (Colo) finds a drug cache nearby, the former house owner's son tries to evict Lola, and Clementina develops a romance with a lawyer (Valerio).

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Urbana Films alongside Sogepaq. It was shot in

Release

Selected in the 45th

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in th ...

's official selection, the film premiered in September 1997. Distributed by Lauren Films, it was theatrically released in Spain on 3 October 1997.

Reception

Jonathan Holland of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' deemed the film to be Camus' best for some years, "a complex but uncomplicated, lyrical but hard-edged adventure-cum-mood piece, with the kind of luminous maturity and compassion to seduce offshore arthouse auds".

Ángel Fernández-Santos Ángel Fernández-Santos (1934–2004) was a Spanish film critic and screenwriter. Born in Los Cerralbos, province of Toledo, in 1934, he was the younger brother of Marxist philosopher . He studied for a brief spell at the in the early 1960s. As ...

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 Camus manages to "firmly hold on a fairly complex but fragile storyline", with the result of a "noble and solid Spanish film".

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "6" align = "center" , 1998 , , rowspan = "6" , 12th Goya Awards , ,

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 aw ...

, , Julia Gutiérrez Caba , , , , rowspan = "6" , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Antonio Valero , , , - , Best New Actress , , Blanca Portillo , , , - , Best Cinematography , , Jaume Peracaula , , , - , Best Editing , , José María Biurrun , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Antonio Cortés , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Color of the Clouds, The Films shot in Cantabria Films set in Cantabria 1997 drama films Spanish drama films 1990s Spanish-language films Films directed by Mario Camus 1990s Spanish films