''The Blind Sunflowers'' ( es, Los girasoles ciegos) is a 2008 Spanish film directed by

José Luis Cuerda José Luis Cuerda Martínez (18 February 19474 February 2020) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. He was born in Albacete and died on 4 February 2020 at the age of 72 in Madrid from an embolism. He won four Goy ...

and written by

Rafael Azcona Rafael Azcona Fernández (24 October 1926 – 24 March 2008) was an awarded Spanish screenwriter and novelist who has worked with some of the best Spanish and international filmmakers. Azcona won five Goya Awards during his career, includi ...

and Cuerda, based on the 2004 novel '' The Blind Sunflowers'' by

Alberto Méndez Alberto Méndez (August 27, 1941 – December 30, 2004) was a Spanish novelist. He graduated from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and worked in publishing. His novel ''Los girasoles ciegos'' won several awards, including the Sentenil Pri ...

. The film stars

Maribel Verdú María Isabel Verdú Rollán (; born 2 October 1970) is a Spanish actress. Some of her film credits include performances in '' Lovers'', ''Belle Époque'', ''Y tu mamá también'', ''Pan's Labyrinth'', '' The Blind Sunflowers'' and ''Snow Whi ...

Javier Cámara Javier Cámara Rodríguez (born 19 January 1967) is a Spanish actor. He became known for two television roles as a priest in '' ¡Ay, señor, señor!'' and ''Éste es mi barrio''. He has since featured in films such as ''Torrente, the Dumb Arm ...

and

Raúl Arévalo Raúl Arévalo Zorzo (born 22 November 1979) is a Spanish actor and director, known by international audiences for his role in the film '' Summer Rain'', directed by Antonio Banderas. Career Raúl Arévalo Zorzo was born on 22 November 1979 in ...

. This film was Spain's

81st Academy Awards The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2008 and took place on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

official submission to Foreign Language Film category, but it was not selected.

Plot

The plot follows the life of a family, former sympathizers of the Spanish Republic, during the early 1940s. Their lives are disrupted when a young priest falls in love with the mother. The film is set in

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

, 1940 where a disorientated

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

, named Salvador returns to the seminary of

where the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

delays Salvador's access to priesthood for a year. Salvador begins teaching in a school where he meets with Lorenzo, the son of Elena, whom of which Salvador thinks is widowed. This opportunity multiplies with the deacon becoming obsessed with her, abusing her mentally and physically. We realise that Salvador is threatening Elena's family because of his obsession. Wounded and beaten by the circumstances, the characters of the Blind Sunflowers hit the wall of repression, impossible romances and emotional defeats, while we realise Elena's family try to search for a glimpse of hope.

Cast

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "18" , 2009 , , rowspan = "15" , 23rd Goya Awards , colspan = "2" ,

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, , , , rowspan = "15" , , - ,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, , José Luis Cuerda , , , - , Best Adapted Screenplay , , Rafael Azcona & José Luis Cuerda , , , - , Best Original Score , , Lucio Godoy , , , - , Best Actor , , Raúl Arévalo , , , - ,

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

, , Maribel Verdú , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , José Ángel Egido , , , - , Best New Actor , , Martiño Rivas , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Emiliano Otegui , , , - , Best Cinematography , , Hans Burmann , , , - , Best Editing , , Nacho Ruiz Capillas , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Balter Gallart , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Sonia Grande , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , Fermín Galán & Sylvie Imbert , , , - ,

Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

, , Alfonso Raposo, María Sternberg & Ricardo Steinberg , , , - , rowspan = "3" , 18th Actors and Actresses Union Awards , , Best Film Actress in a Leading Role , , Maribel Verdú , , , , rowspan = "3" , , - , Best Film Actor in a Leading Role , , Raúl Arévalo , , , - , Best Film Actor in a Minor Role , , José Ángel Egido , ,

References

External links

* * 2008 films 2000s Spanish-language films 2000s war drama films Spanish war drama films Films with screenplays by Rafael Azcona 2008 drama films Films set in the 1940s Films set in Galicia (Spain) 2000s Spanish films Films directed by José Luis Cuerda Films scored by Lucio Godoy {{war-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Accolades

See also

References

External links