''Malena Is a Name from a Tango'' ( es, Malena es un nombre de tango, links=no) is a 1996 drama film directed by

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 ...

from a screenplay by Senel Paz based on the novel by

Almudena Grandes María de la Almudena Grandes Hernández (7 May 1960 – 27 November 2021) was a Spanish writer. Author of 13 novels and three short-story collections, her work has been translated into twenty languages and frequently adapted to film. She won t ...

. It stars

Ariadna Gil Ariadna Gil Giner (; born 23 January 1969) is a Spanish actress. She is known for her performances in films such as '' Belle Époque'' (for which she won the Goya Award for Best Actress), '' Black Tears'' and ''Pan's Labyrinth''. Career Film di ...

Plot

The plot concerns about the romantic and sexual endeavours of Malena, a victimised and rebellious woman contrasting to her twin sister Reina (who always was the model girl in the family), and then about the mother-son relationship of Malena with her son. Malena was gifted however a talisman by her grandfather back when she was 10.

Cast

Production

An adaptation of the novel by

, the screenplay was penned by Senel Paz. It is a Spanish-French-German co-production by Alta Films, Tornasol Films, Blue Dahlia Production, La Sept Cinema, and Road Movies Produktionen. Shooting locations included the San Julián estate (, Lorca), Mula,

Águilas Águilas () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Region of Murcia, Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the ...

, and

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 ...

Release

Distributed by Alta Films, the film was theatrically released in Spain on 12 April 1996.

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 a "well-intentioned, provocatively moralizing women's pic that ends up as second-rate melodrama". Luis Martínez 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 ...

'' deemed that, efforts from a "magnetic" Ariadna Gil notwithstanding, the films "ends up as an uneven and quite chatty journey into the interiors of this disease called life".

References

External links

{{authority control Films based on Spanish novels Films shot in the Region of Murcia 1996 drama films 1990s Spanish films 1990s French films 1990s German films 1990s Spanish-language films Films shot in Madrid Tornasol Films films Films directed by Gerardo Herrero