''His Master's Voice'' () is a 2001 Spanish crime thriller film directed and written by

Emilio Martínez Lázaro Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (disambiguation) * Emilios (disambiguation) Emilios, or Aimilios, (G ...

, and starring

Eduard Fernández Eduard Fernández Serrano (born 25 August 1964) is a Spanish screen and stage actor from Catalonia. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Goya Awards. Life and career Eduard Fernández was born in Barcelona on 25 August 196 ...

Silvia Abascal Silvia Abascal Estrada (born 20 March 1979) is a Spanish film, television and stage actress. She landed a breakthrough role in 1995 sitcom '' Pepa y Pepe'' which advanced her career. She has since featured in films such as ''The Yellow Fountain' ...

Joaquim de Almeida Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida () (born 15 March 1957) is a Portuguese actor. He started his film career playing a role in the 1982 action film '' The Soldier'', and later achieved recognition for playing Andrea Bonanno in the ...

, and

Imanol Arias Manuel María Arias Domínguez (born 26 April 1956), better known as Imanol Arias, is a Spanish actor. In his career beginnings, Arias was a recurring face of Basque cinema. His career in the 21st-century is marked by his portrayal of Antonio ...

Plot

The plot is set in 1980 in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

. It follows Charli, a former

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

member and football player now working as chauffeur and

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

for shady businessman Oliveira and having a casual relationship with substance addict Katy. After an ETA lorry bomb attack in the wake of Oliveira's refusal to bow to the ETA extortion racket, Charli is tasked to protect Oliveira's daughter Marta, having sex and then starting to fall romantically for her.

Cast

Production

A Lolafilms (

Andrés Vicente Gómez Andrés Vicente Gómez (born 16 September 1943 in Madrid) is a Spanish film producer, head of Lolafilms, with more than 100 films to his credit. Career Gómez is the winner of an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language film for ''Belle � ...

) production, the film had the participation of TVE.

Release

Distributed by Lolafilms Distribución, the film was theatrically released in Spain in May 2001.

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 "an intelligent, upbeat thriller that welds an invented storyline onto a factual background" and "manages to suggest the moral and political complexity of the subject without sensationalizing it".

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 (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. 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 . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' considered that the film is, above all, "an act of maturity and solvency, a highly professional work that has led to the elaboration of an admirably measured thriller".

References

{{authority control Films directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro 2001 thriller films 2000s Spanish films 2000s Spanish-language films Spanish crime thriller films Films set in 1980 Films set in Bilbao Films about ETA (separatist group) LolaFilms films Films about the Spanish Transition Basque conflict films