''The Queen of Spain'' () is a 2016 Spanish

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by

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

. Starring

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a David di Donatello and three Goya Awards. Cru ...

Antonio Resines Antonio Fernández Resines (born 7 August 1954) is a Spanish film and television actor. Resines made his feature film debut in 1980 in ''La paloma azul'', also featuring in '' Opera prima'' and ''La mano negra''. He gained early notoriety in th ...

Neus Asensi María de las Nieves Asensio Liñán known as Neus Asensi (born 4 August 1965, in Barcelona) is a Spanish actress. Education and Career She had complete training to become an actress. She studied classic dance for 5 years and jazz-dance. She s ...

Ana Belén María del Pilar Cuesta Acosta (born 27 May 1951), known professionally as Ana Belén, is a Spanish actress and singer. She and her husband are considered symbols of the Spanish Transition, and her songs and albums often feature boldly-titled ...

, Javier Cámara, Chino Darín,

Loles León María Dolores León Rodríguez (born 1 August 1950), better known as Loles León, is a Spanish actress. Career León travelled to Madrid to start a career as an actress, where she met Pedro Almodóvar during La Movida Madrileña. She has pla ...

Arturo Ripstein Arturo Ripstein y Rosen (born December 13, 1943) is a Mexican film director and screenwriter. Considered the "Godfather of independent Mexican cinema", Ripstein's work is generally characterized by "somber, slow-paced, macabre melodramas tackling ...

, Jorge Sanz, Rosa Maria Sardà,

Santiago Segura Santiago Segura Silva (born 17 July 1965) is a Spanish filmmaker and actor. He also worked to a lesser extent as a television presenter, voice actor and comic book writer, as well as being a collector of original comic books. At 12, he began ...

Clive Revill Clive Selsby Revill (18 April 1930 – 11 March 2025) was a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he also starred in numerous films and television ...

(In his final film role),

Cary Elwes Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (; born 26 October 1962) is an English actor. He starred as Westley in ''The Princess Bride (film), The Princess Bride'' (1987), and also had lead roles in films such as ''Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993) and the Saw (fr ...

and

Mandy Patinkin Mandel "Mandy" Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television, and film. As a critically acclaimed Broadway (theatre), Broadway performer he has collaborated with Step ...

. It was shown in the Berlinale Special section of the

67th Berlin International Film Festival The 67th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 18 February 2017 with Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as president of the jury. '' Django'', directed by Etienne Comar, opened the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the ...

. The film is a sequel to Trueba's 1998 drama ''

The Girl of Your Dreams ''The Girl of Your Dreams'' () is a 1998 Spanish drama film produced and directed by Fernando Trueba. Set during the Spanish Civil War, it centers on a fictional Andalusian actress ( Penélope Cruz) making a film in Nazi Germany who becomes the ob ...

'' with Cruz, Resines, Asensi, León, Sanz, Sardà and Segura reprising their roles from the previous film. It was nominated for 5

Goya Awards The Goya Awards () are Spain's main national annual film awards. They are presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. The first ceremony was held in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Ar ...

at the

31st Goya Awards The 31st Goya Awards were presented at the Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel in Madrid on 4 February 2017 to honour the best in Spanish films of 2016. Actor and comedian Dani Rovira was the master of ceremonies for the third time in a row. Nomina ...

, without winning any, including the nomination for Cruz as Best Actress for the same role for which she had won the Best Actress Award at the 13th Goya Awards, making her the first actress to be nominated twice for the same role in two different films.

Plot

Nearly twenty years after the events of ''

'', the story follows Macarena Granada (

), now a successful Hollywood star in the 1950s. She returns to

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

to film a big-budget historical epic about

Queen Isabella I Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

, financed by an American studio. The production, led by director Gary Jones (

) and producer Jordan Berman (

), serves as propaganda promoting Spain's image under the Franco regime. Blas is imprisoned by Franco's government due to his past political activities. Determined to rescue him, Macarena and the film crew devise an elaborate plan to break Blas out of jail, using the Hollywood production as cover for their scheme. During the filming of a ballroom scene at a royal palace the crew executes a prison break. The escape combines elements of comedy and suspense as they outwit the authorities. Blas is freed. Macarena reconciles with her past and her Spanish roots, and returns to Hollywood.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Fernando Trueba PC and

Atresmedia Cine Atresmedia Cine (formerly Ensueño Films and Antena 3 Films) is the studio belonging to Grupo Atresmedia responsible for producing films. It was created in 2000. History The film production company was created after the enacting of the Spanish ...

and it had the participation of

Movistar+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by , which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL as well as with satellites such as Astra. The pl ...

. Marta Velasco was responsible for film editing.

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "5" , 2017 , , rowspan=5 ,

, , Best Actress , ,

, , , , rowspan = "5" , , - , Best Cinematography , José Luis Alcaine , , - , Best Art Direction , Juan Pedro de Gaspar , , - , Best Production Supervision , Pilar Robla , , - , Best Costume Design , Lala Huete ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Queen of Spain, The 2016 comedy-drama films 2010s Spanish-language films 2010s English-language films Spanish comedy-drama films 2016 films Films directed by Fernando Trueba Films scored by Zbigniew Preisner Films set in the 1950s Films set in Madrid Films about Francoist repression Films about Francisco Franco Atresmedia Cine films 2010s Spanish films English-language Spanish films English-language comedy-drama films Spanish-language comedy-drama films