''Bad Day to Go Fishing'' (original title, ''Mal día para pescar'') is a Spanish-Uruguayan film directed by

Álvaro Brechner Álvaro Brechner (born April 9, 1976 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is a Uruguayan film director, writer and producer that lives in Spain. He has written and directed three feature films, '' Bad Day to Go Fishing'' (''Mal Día Para Pescar''), '' Mr. K ...

and released in 2009. The film stars

Gary Piquer Gary Piquer is a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than forty films since 1979. Selected filmography References External links * Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Spanish male film actors 21st-century Spanish m ...

Jouko Ahola Jouko Ahola (born December 1, 1970) is a Finnish former strongman, powerlifter and actor. He is a two time World's Strongest Man winner, a two time Europe's Strongest Man winner, and is regarded as on ...

, Antonella Costa and Cesar Troncoso. It was screened as part of the official selection of the Critics Week at

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

. The screenplay was written by

in collaboration with Gary Piquer, and was adapted from a short story by the Uruguayan writer

Juan Carlos Onetti Juan Carlos Onetti Borges (July 1, 1909 – May 30, 1994) was a Uruguayan novelist and author of short stories. Early life Onetti was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was the son of Carlos Onetti, a customs official, and Honoria Borges, who ...

. The film tells the story of a

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...

and his crafty manager, who tour small South American towns staging wrestling matches. Arriving in Santa Maria, they are met with uncommon enthusiasm by the locals, snowballing into a major challenge to their livelihood and their friendship.

Plot

Jacob van Oppen, an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

who is the former strongest man on earth, and his manager Orsini, a scrawny yet dapper businessman who calls himself "the Prince," makes a good living by travelling around small South American towns and organizing wrestling exhibitions in run-down theaters. Jacob van Oppen is an uncontrollable titan of impressive dimensions who can only be appeased by the soft soothing melody of "Lili Marleen." Once this oddball pair disembark at the village of Santa Maria (in an unspecified country), business really kicks off: the local newspaper is immediately gung-ho on sponsoring the fight, helping hands placard posters announcing the big event and putting an open call for a worthy adversary. Ever so resourceful, Orsini knows how to find the right combatant, but fishing in Santa Maria could lead to a bigger catch than he'd hoped for... Although the cunning editor of the local newspaper is convinced to have sniffed out Orsini's secret, he very well might be on a false track...

Cast

as ''Prince Orsini'' *

as ''Jacob van Oppen'' * Antonella Costa as ''Adriana'' * César Troncoso as ''Heber'' * Roberto Pankow as ''el Turco'' * Bruno Aldecosea as ''Diaz Grey''

Reception

''Bad Day to Go Fishing'' premiered at the Critic's Week of the 2009

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. It was the Uruguayan candidate for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film won several international awards and has participated in many prestigious film festivals such as 26th

Warsaw International Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival ha ...

(''Best Film Free Spirit Comp.''),

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Interna ...

Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) includes feature films, documentaries, and short films from the Spanish and Portuguese diaspora. The six-day festival was established in 1997. The festival was founded by Marlene Dermer (a ...

(''Best Film Opera Prima''),

Mar del Plata Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature fes ...

(''Best Actor''),

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (, French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai''), abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. "China's biggest film festival" according to the Hollywood Reporter. Nex ...

, Austin (''Best Film & Audience Award''), Brooklyn (''Best Director''),

Sofia International Film Festival Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF) ( Bulgarian: ''Международен София Филм Фест, София Филм Фест''), also known as Sofia Film Fest, is an annual film festival in Sofia, capital city of Bulgaria, taking pl ...

(Best Film Fipresci), São Paulo,

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festiv ...

and

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

. The film won 10 Uruguay Fipresci Critics Awards, including Best Film, Best International Film Debut, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor and got nominated for Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actor by the Spanish Critics (CEC).

References

External links

* * {{Official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20120330212650/http://www.verticecine.com/maldiaparapescar/ 2009 films Spanish comedy-drama films Uruguayan comedy-drama films Films shot in Uruguay 2000s Spanish-language films