''Hours of Light'' aka ''Light Hours'' ( es, Horas de luz, links=no) is a 2004 Spanish

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

and prison drama film directed by which stars

Alberto San Juan Alberto San Juan Guijarro (born 1 November 1968) is a Spanish film, stage and television actor. Biography Alberto San Juan was born on 1 November 1968 in Madrid, son to cartoonist and radio announcer Pilar Guijarro Ortiz de Zárate. He spen ...

and

Emma Suárez Emma Suárez Bodelón (born 25 June 1964) is a Spanish actress. She has won twice the Goya Award for Best Actress, namely for her performances in ''The Dog in the Manger'' (1996) and '' Julieta'' (2016). Biography Emma Suárez Bodelón was born ...

Plot

Based on a real events, the plot tracks the romantic relationship established in 1991 between prison nurse María del Mar "Marimar" Villar and , imprisoned because of the cold-blood murder of three in 1987.

Cast

Production

Sogecine PRISA Televisión, S.A.U (PRISA TV) is a pay TV company in Spain. History and profile PRISA TV was established in 1989 and controlled (as of 2007) by PRISA. It was the first company to introduce interactive systems and specially digital tel ...

and La Fiesta production, the film had the participation of TVE,

Telemadrid Telemadrid is a public regional television station in the Community of Madrid, Spain, the flagship channel of the regional public broadcaster Radio Televisión Madrid (RTVM). It began its broadcast on 2 May 1989. History First years Telemadr ...

, and

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

. Shooting began on 2 June 2003 and lasted for 8 weeks. The former Hospital Militar del Generalísimo in Calle de Isaac Peral (Madrid) stood in for indoor prison settings. Some outdoor scenes were shot in

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popul ...

Release

The film premiered in competition at the 52nd

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 ...

in September 2004. It was met by a chilly reception by the festival audience. Distributed by Warner Sogefilms, it was theatrically released in Spain on 24 September 2004.

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), ...

'' considered that despite its commendable intentions, the film is "hampered by its script's inability to follow through the logic of its premise to the emotionally satisfying conclusion it merits". Casimiro Torreiro 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 the film to be both a discourse about remorse and a bet for social rehabilitation.

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "2" align = "center" , 2005 , , rowspan = "2" ,

19th Goya Awards The 19th Goya Awards took place in Madrid, Spain on 30 January 2005. ''The Sea Inside'' was nominated for 15 awards and won 14, including the four regular acting awards (Bardem, Bugallo, Dueñas and Rivera) and the two acting awards for Best New ...

, ,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

, , José Ángel Esteban, Manolo Matji, Carlos López , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Editing , , José María Biurrun , ,

References

{{authority control Films set in 1987 Films set in 1991 Spanish prison films 2000s prison drama films 2000s Spanish films 2000s Spanish-language films Sogecine films 2004 romantic drama films Spanish romantic drama films Films shot in Madrid Films set in Spain Films shot in the Community of Madrid Spanish-language romantic drama films