''Lázaro de Tormes'' is a 2001 Spanish comedy film directed by

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, novelist, and playwright. Prolific and outstanding in all these fiel ...

and

José Luis García Sánchez José Luis García Sánchez (born 22 September 1941) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed 30 films since 1968. He wrote for the 1973 film '' Habla, mudita'', which was entered into the 23rd Berlin Internation ...

which stars Rafael Álvarez "El Brujo" as the title character.

Plot

Set in the 16th century, the plot concerns about a trial on an adult Lázaro in

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

. As part of his defence, the character goes on to tell the jury the story of his life (displayed through flashbacks). Rather than Lázaro's ability to persuade the folks, he is "saved" by the ''

deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...

'' arrival of

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...

to the city.

Cast

Production

Written by Fernando Fernán Gómez, the screenplay is an adaptation of a stage monologue (based in turn on the early modern work). It was initially helmed by

, but

took over direction duties and completed the film in the wake of Fernán Gómez's illness during production. Shooting locations included

Lupiana Lupiana is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating p ...

and

Atienza Atienza () is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2023 census ( INE), the municipality had a population of 434 inhabitants. The Castle of Atienza is situated here. There were ancient Celtiberian se ...

(

province of Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a province of Spain, belonging to the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. As of 2019 it had a population of 258,890 people. The population of the province has grown in the last 10 years. It is located in the centre ...

);

Talamanca de Jarama Talamanca de Jarama is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain. In 2022 it had a population of 4,210. Sights include the Romanesque church of San Juan Bautista, the a 17th-century Carthusian monastery and the ''Ábside de los Milagros ...

(

Madrid region The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

) and

Release

The film was theatrically released on 19 January 2001.

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "5" align = "center" , 2001 , , rowspan = "5" ,

15th Goya Awards The 15th Goya Awards were presented in Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolit ...

, , Best Adapted Screenplay , , Fernando Fernán Gómez , , , , rowspan = "5" , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Carmen Martínez Muñoz , , , - ,

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

, , Luis Ramírez , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Javier Artiñano , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , Juan Pedro Hernández, Esther Martín , ,

References