''The Shanghai Spell'' ( es, El embrujo de Shanghai, links=no) is a 2002 film written and directed by

Fernando Trueba Fernando Rodríguez Trueba (born 18 January 1955), known as Fernando Trueba, is a Spanish book editor, screenwriter, film director and producer. Between 1974 and 1979, he worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper ''El País''. ...

. The film is based on the 1993 novel of the same name written by

Juan Marsé Juan Marsé Carbó (8 January 1933 – 18 July 2020) was a Spanish novelist, journalist, and screenwriter who used Spanish as his literary language. In 2008, he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, "the Spanish-language equivalent" to the Nobel ...

. It is an international co-production among companies from Spain, France and the United Kingdom.

Plot

The film is set in the

Gràcia Gràcia () is a district of the city of Barcelona, Spain. It comprises the neighborhoods of Vila de Gràcia, Vallcarca i els Penitents, El Coll, La Salut and Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova. Gràcia is bordered by the districts of Eixample to th ...

district of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, in the wake of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. Fourteen-year-old Dani is a budding artist, who looks after Captain Blay (

Fernando Fernán Gómez Fernando Fernández Gómez (28 August 1921 – 21 November 2007) better known as Fernando Fernán Gómez was a Spanish actor, screenwriter, film director, theater director and member of the Royal Spanish Academy for seven years. He was born i ...

), an ageing civil war veteran. Blay suggests Dani draw local girl Susana as the subject of a poster warning of the dangers of factory smoke causing

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

. Dani and Susana begin a tentative romance, as they hear stories of Susana's father's exploits as a

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

in the Chinese city of

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

from one of his wartime colleagues.Shanghai Spell
SBS Films.

Cast

Production

Based on the 1993 novel ''El embrujo de Shanghai'' by

, the screenplay was penned by the director

. A joint co-production among companies from Spain, France and the United Kingdom, the film was produced by Lolafilms, Shangai Spell Ltda, Pyramide Productions, and Orsan Productions and it had the participation of

Antena 3 Televisión Antena 3 is a Spanish terrestrial television channel part of Atresmedia Televisión, of which it is the flagship station. Its current headquarters are located in San Sebastián de los Reyes. Some of the most popular programmes broadcast by An ...

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 Telema ...

and .

Awards

''The Shanghai Spell'' was nominated in several categories at the

17th Goya Awards The 17th Goya Awards took place at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos in Madrid, Spain on 1 February 2003. '' Mondays in the Sun'' won the award for Best Film. Winners and nominees Major award nominees Other award nominees Honorary Goya * ...

in February 2003. The film won the awards for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyles; and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Supervision.

References

External links