''Nunca pasa nada'' or ''Nothing Ever Happens'' is a 1963 Spanish-French drama film directed by

Juan Antonio Bardem Juan Antonio Bardem Muñoz (2 June 1922 – 30 October 2002) was a Spanish film director and screen writer, born in Madrid. He was a member of the Communist Party. Bardem was best known for ''Muerte de un ciclista'' (1955) which won the FIPRES ...

. Starring a mixed cast of French and Spanish actors it was shot both in Spanish and French. It was a commercial flop at the time of its release. The film was entered into the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. Julia Gutiérrez Caba was named Best Actress in Spain by the Cinema Writers Circle, and received the ''Fotogramas de Plata'' prize. ''Nunca pasa nada'' depicts an environment and characters similar to the ones appearing in Bardem's great success, ''

Calle Mayor ''Main Street'' ( es, Calle Mayor) is a 1956 Spanish drama film directed by Juan Antonio Bardem starring Betsy Blair and José Suárez. It is based on a Carlos Arniches play titled '' La señorita de Trévelez''. Shooting locations were Palenci ...

'' (''Main Street''), to the point that some critics nicknamed it disdainfully ''Calle Menor'' (''Minor Street''). However, current evaluation of Bardem's works consider ''Nunca pasa nada'' a very appreciable film.

Plot

A French variety company travels across Spain, coming back to France. Their bus stops when damaged in a small town in Castile, called Medina del Zarzal. The vedette star (showgirl) Jacqueline (

Corinne Marchand Corinne Marchand (born 4 December 1931 in Paris) is a French actress. She is best known for playing the pop singer Cléo in ''Cléo from 5 to 7 ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' (french: Cléo de 5 à 7 ) is a 1962 French New Wave film written and dire ...

) is sick and has to remain in the hospital where she is operated upon. The doctor (

Antonio Casas Antonio Casas (11 November 1911 – 14 February 1982) was a Spanish footballer turned film actor who appeared in film between 1941 and his death in 1982. Casas originally began as a footballer for Atlético Madrid, but entered film in 1941 and ...

) falls in love with her. She represents the freedom, the foreign, the forbidden. Her presence in the village is a revolution for all the people: students, priests, rich men. The doctor's wife, Julia (

Julia Gutiérrez Caba Julia Gutiérrez Caba OAXS MML (born on 20 October 1934 in Madrid) is a Spanish theatre and film actress. Biography She is the daughter of actors Emilio Gutiérrez Esteban and Irene Caba Alba and sister of the actress Irene Gutiérrez Caba ...

), has to fight with the love proposition made by the local French language teacher (

Jean-Pierre Cassel Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon; 27 October 1932 – 19 April 2007) was a French actor. Early life Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite (née Fabrègue), an opera si ...

), the only person in town who can speak to the foreigner.

Cast

as Jacqueline *

as Enrique *

as Juan *

as Julia *

Pilar Gómez Ferrer Pilar Gómez Ferrer (7 February 1910 – 27 September 2009) was a Spanish actress. She appeared in more than one hundred films from 1952 to 1977. Selected filmography References External links * 1910 births 2009 deaths Spanish ...

as Doña Eulalia *Ana María Ventura as Doña Assunta *Matilde Muñoz Sampedro as Doña Obdulia *Alfonso Godá as Pepe *Rafael Bardem as Don Marcelino

References

External links

* 1963 films 1960s Spanish-language films 1960s French-language films 1963 drama films French black-and-white films Spanish black-and-white films Films set in Spain Films directed by Juan Antonio Bardem Spanish drama films French drama films 1960s multilingual films Spanish multilingual films French multilingual films 1960s Spanish films 1960s French films Spanish-language French films {{1960s-Spain-film-stub