Madrid, 1987

''Madrid, 1987'' is a 2011 Spanish drama film written and directed by David Trueba. It stars José Sacristán as an old, bitter journalist who attempts to seduce a young journalism student played by María Valverde. It premiered at the 2011 San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Plot

In 1987, Miguel, an old and embittered journalist, agrees to meet with Ángela, an idealistic young journalism student, for an interview at a local restaurant. Ángela has missed many of her lectures and needs to write an essay; she has chosen to use Miguel as her subject. Throughout the interview, Miguel expresses his contempt for idealism and style. When he reads a sample of Ángela's writing, Miguel dismisses much of it, though he says that she is talented. He asks to keep the sample and invites Ángela to his friend Luis' house. Miguel explains that Luis will be gone until Monday, and they will have the place to themselves. She agrees, and they continue their discussions there over whiskey. Miguel walks over Luis' paintings, and, when Ángela objects, he says that Luis would prefer them to be marred by life and experience. Miguel alternates between cynical advice and derisively ridiculing romantic notions of journalism. Miguel says there are too many layers of glasses between them, he takes off Ángela's glasses and kisses her. She accepts the kiss reluctantly, although with an annoyed expression on her face. Soon, he enters the bedroom and point blank asks Ángela to strip naked. When she balks, he tells her that he has been true to his nature and never hidden his motives. When she turns to leave, Miguel stops her and says that he hopes she will one day respect him for his boldness.

As Miguel smokes a cigarette, he hears the boards creaking, and Ángela steps through the doorway wearing nothing but an open shirt. Surprised, Miguel wordlessly spreads paint over her naked body. Ángela rises to wash it off, and he follows her to the bathroom. After they take turns in the shower, Ángela becomes frustrated when she cannot open the door. Miguel tries as well and concludes that it has locked from the outside. The bathroom has only one towel, and both are naked; when he realizes her discomfort, Miguel surrenders the towel to Ángela. The two continue their conversation from before, and Miguel alternates between attempts to seduce Ángela, giving cynical advice, and expressing his preference for whiskey and cigarettes over company with her. As time passes, the two become worried that they will be missed: Miguel by his wife, and Ángela by her parents. When Miguel learns that Ángela is the daughter of a prominent fascist soldier, he describes his run-ins with fascists and failed attempts to seduce Ángela's eldest sister. Although initially opposed to bringing in outside intervention, Miguel agrees that the risk of scandal is now outweighed by their desire to leave the bathroom. However, their cries out the window go apparently unheard. When Ángela tries to stand on a chair to call for help through the vent window, Miguel takes advantage of this to feel her buttocks and kiss her back. At first, Ángela shows no objection, but when Miguel reaches up to touch her genitals, she pushes his hand down and tells him to stop. Miguel continues to pressure Ángela for sex, but she firmly refuses. She switches from holding the towel in front of her chest to wrapping it around her waist to protect herself from Miguel's sexual abuse. Miguel then begins to talk about literature, his family, and his relationship with his wife. This relaxes Ángela, allowing him to get closer to her. Miguel once again tries to kiss Ángela, and this time she accepts the kiss. They have a deep kiss before Miguel suddenly gets bored and stops the kiss leaving Ángela looking confused.

As Miguel sits on the edge of the tub and becomes despondent about the situation, his age, his attractiveness, and his foolish desire to seduce a much younger woman, Ángela turns off the light, walks over to Miguel, takes off her towel, and sits on his lap facing him. She takes off his glasses and lowers them both into the tub. After a moment of hesitation, Ángela reaches for Miguel's shoulder while he hugs her and her body begins to move, suggesting the two of them are having sex. Their naked bodies press against each other and Ángela appears completely willing to have sex with Miguel. When the sexual process reaches its climax, she unties her hair tie to show assertiveness in her decision. Her toes grip the tub's wall and her moans grow louder. One of her hands clutches the bathroom curtain while the other wraps around Miguel's neck. When Miguel starts moaning indicating that he is about to orgasm, Ángela hurriedly asks him not to come inside her. Even so, she orgasms at the same time as him, causing her efforts to fail in stopping Miguel from ejaculating inside her. He hugs her tightly and kisses her breasts as they orgasm together. Ángela and Miguel become exhausted after the sexual encounter, and Àngela rests her head on his shoulder, pressing her bare breasts against his chest while her legs slide resignedly down the side of the tub.

After intercourse, the two relax in the bath and express their orgasmic satisfaction. The way they talk becomes more intimate and open. Afterward, Miguel dismisses her feelings of guilt and proclaims himself to have a more developed and profound sense of guilt. Ángela angrily accuses him of egotism, which she says she will write about in her essay. Ángela asks Miguel what he considers her after the two have sex, a curious or a naughty girl. The two become tense when Miguel replies to Ángela that she's naughty, but she thinks it's advanced. They quickly reconcile when a chastened Miguel offers to entertain Ángela with a story. The story, framed as an imaginary film that they are watching at the cinema, is about a boy who refuses to leave his bed under any circumstances. The boy insists that nothing is wrong with him; he simply desires not to leave his bed. When the boy mysteriously disappears, his parents are conflicted as to whether they should be glad he has left his bed or sad that he has run away.

Before Miguel can end the story, Luis returns to rescue them, summoned by a worker who heard their earlier calls for help. Ángela quickly dresses and leaves. As she passes Miguel, she looks at him hesitantly for a moment before walking out of the apartment and slamming the door. In the process, Ángela forgets her glasses on the drawing table. Luis asks Miguel if he will see Ángela again, but Miguel is philosophical. He tells Luis to keep the glasses that Ángela left behind and reasons that if she returns, she will go to Luis' home. The film ends as Ángela walks back to her parents' home.

Cast

* José Sacristán as Miguel
* María Valverde as Ángela
* Ramon Fontserè as Luis

Production

The film was shot in twelve days in Madrid. The inspiration for the film came from writer-director David Trueba's experiences as a young journalist in Spain in the 1980s.

Release

''Madrid, 1987'' premiered 22 September 2011 at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The international premiere was at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Breaking Glass Pictures released it on home video on 26 February 2013.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 86% of seven surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 6.6/10. Metacritic rated it 61/100 based on seven reviews. Rene Rodriguez of the ''Miami Herald'' rated it 3.5/4 stars and called it "an engrossing study of generational clash inside a locked bathroom." Jonathan Holland of ''Variety'' called it a "perceptive" and "ultra-wordy" film that will mostly appeal to Spanish art-house audiences. Sheri Linden of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote, "The actors give their characters a resonance beyond the symbolic, but the action doesn't quite transcend the stagy setup." John DeFore of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote, "An engrossing two-hander combining the smart-talk microcosm of ''My Dinner With Andre'' and the sexual dynamics of a Philip Roth novel, David Trueba's ''Madrid, 1987'' is more universal than its title suggests and holds a strong art house appeal." Jon Caramanica of ''The New York Times'' called it a "sweet, sometimes dull and certainly overlong film". Fionnuala Halligan of ''Screen Daily'' wrote, "It is, in fact, hard to think of a movie less cinematic than ''Madrid, 1987''" and stated that it might make a better play than film. Ollie Coen of DVD Talk rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "For an artsy movie about two people stuck naked in a bathroom together, you could do much worse. ..It has a lot to say about youth, love, idealism, sex, and life in general."

The film received a lot of controversy about how it exploited the sexual aspect and nude scenes in most of the film to convey content, blurring the line between pornography and art. The sex scene between the two main characters has been considered too realistic and controversial. Some disputed whether the movie's sex scene was real when the female protagonist asked the male lead not come inside her, although this was denied by the producer. The age difference of the two main actors also generated mixed opinions, with the male lead being 74 and the female lead 24 during the time of filming.

References

External links

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* {{Metacritic film

2011 films
2011 drama films
Spanish drama films
Spanish independent films
Films about journalists
Films directed by David Trueba
Films set in 1987
Films set in Madrid
Films shot in Madrid
2011 independent films
2010s Spanish films