''Heart of the Warrior'' () is a 2000 Spanish action-adventure film directed and written by

Daniel Monzón Daniel Monzón Jerez (born 1968) is a Spanish film writer and director. Biography He was born in Palma, Majorca in 1968. He started as a film critic, collaborating with the magazine ''Fotogramas''. He also featured alongside as reviewer in the ...

, which stars

Fernando Ramallo Fernando Ramallo (born 3 April 1980 in Madrid) is a Spanish actor. Roles Films *'' Donne-moi la main'' (Give Me Your Hand) (2008) *''Ejecutores'' (2008) *'' El corazón de la tierra'' (2007) *''WC'' (2005) *''Mola ser malo'' (2005) *''Donde n ...

Joel Joan Joel Joan i Juvé (; born 2 November 1970) is a Spanish actor, screenwriter and director. Biography Joan studied dramatic arts at Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. He began his acting career on the stage, appearing in productions directed by ...

and

Neus Asensi María de las Nieves Asensio Liñán known as Neus Asensi (born 4 August 1965, in Barcelona) is a Spanish actress. She had a very complete training to become an actress. She studied classic dance for 5 years and jazz-dance. She studied drama in ...

, also featuring

Santiago Segura Santiago Segura Silva (born 17 July 1965) is a Spanish filmmaker and actor. He also worked to a lesser extent as a television presenter, voice actor and comic book writer, as well as being a collector of original comic books. At 12, he began ...

Adrià Collado Adrià Collado (born 3 August 1972) is a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than fifty films since 1994. Selected filmography Films * 1999: ''Why Not Me? (film), Why Not Me?'' * 2000: ''The Art of Dying (film), The Art of Dying'' as Carlos * 200 ...

, and Javier Aller, among others.

Plot

Playing with Don Quixote tropes, the plot follows the story of Ramón, a teen from

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 ...

obsessed with

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...

fiction. Ramón creates an alternative self as the warrior Beldar, who partners with warrior princess Sonya.

Cast

Production

It is Monzón's debut film. He also wrote it.

Gerardo Herrero Gerardo Herrero Pérez-Gamir (born 28 January 1953) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. He is a prolific promoter of international coproductions and collaborations between Spain and Hispanic American countries. From 1993 to ...

took over production duties. A Tornasol Films and Creativos Asociados de Radio y Televisión production, the film had a 500 million peseta budget. The score was composed by

Roque Baños Roque Baños López is a Spanish music composer. Baños graduated from Boston's Berklee College of Music in 1995 and has since scored both Spanish and English-language films. He has received numerous awards for his compositional work, including t ...

. Filming took 11 weeks.

Release

The film was screened in

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

in December 1999 during a film industry meeting with European distributors. It was theatrically released in Spain on 21 January 2000.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "4" , 2001 , , rowspan = "2" ,

15th Goya Awards The 15th Goya Awards were presented in Madrid, Spain 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 t ...

, ,

Best New Director ''Best New Director'' was an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle from its first inception in 1989 until discontinuing in 1996. There was no award in 1993. 1980s 1989 *Kenneth Branagh – ''Henry V (1989 film), Henry V'' **Runners-up: St ...

, , Daniel Monzón , , , , align = "center" rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Tino Pont , ,

References