''Life Marks'' ( es, La vida mancha, links=no) is a 2003 Spanish drama film directed by

Enrique Urbizu Enrique Urbizu (born 1962) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. A native of Bilbao, he was one of the few Spanish film directors who brought the film noir into the late Spanish film industry. Urbizu graduated from Universidad del País V ...

, written by Urbizu and

Michel Gaztambide Michel Gaztambide (born 1959) is a French-born screenwriter based in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. He is a recurring collaborator of Enrique Urbizu. Biography Born in 1959 in Apt, Vaucluse, Apt, Vaucluse, Fr ...

and starring

José Coronado José María Coronado García (born 14 August 1957) is a Spanish film and television actor and former model. His performances playing (often corrupt and/or morally dubious) law enforcement officer roles have brought him some of the greatest succ ...

, Juan Sanz and Zay Nuba.

Plot

Fito and his wife Juana live in the suburbs of Madrid. He drives a truck for a living and has a gambling problem. Daily, he loses money playing

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

. One day, his older brother, Pedro who had spent his last years living in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

comes back to his homeland and visits Fito's family. This visit will change the life of every single member of the family.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Tornasol Films and Iberrota Films with the participation of TVE, and EITB. Footage was shot in

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 ...

, specifically in the districts of

Fuencarral-El Pardo Fuencarral-El Pardo is one of the 21 districts that form the city of Madrid, Spain. Overview Fuencarral-El Pardo is the district number 8 and consists of the following neighborhoods: El Pardo (81), Fuentelarreina (82), Peñagrande (83), Pilar (84) ...

and Barajas.

Release

Distributed by Alta Films, the film was theatrically released on 9 May 2003.

Reception

Reviewing for ''

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó a ...

'', Fernando Méndez-Leite rated the film with 4 out of 5 stars, considering it a "strange and evocative approach to an intimate story", highlighting the "elegant" ''

mise-en-scène ''Mise-en-scène'' (; en, "placing on stage" or "what is put into the scene") is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, ...

'' by Urbizu, the boldness of the proposal and Coronado's performance to be the best about the film. 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 it to be a "delicately impressive, offbeat drama", writing about the "commanding, impassive presence" of Coronado's performance, contrasting with the exuding "freshness and enthusiasm" by Sanz and Nuba.

References

External links

* 2003 films 2000s crime thriller films Spanish thriller drama films Films shot in Madrid 2000s Spanish films 2000s Spanish-language films Tornasol Films films {{crime-thriller-film-stub