The Year of Maria (Spanish: Año mariano) is a 2000 Spanish black comedy film directed by Karra Elejalde and Fernando Guillén Cuervo, who also star in the film alongside Manuel Manquiña, Gloria Muñoz, and Sílvia Bel.
Plot
Mariano, an alcoholic cassette salesman, crashes on a marijuana plantation being burned by Guardia Civil agents, so dazed and hallucinated by narcotics, he sees the Virgin Mary. With help from a middling showman (Tony Towers) he becomes a messianic figure in rural southern Spain.[1][2]
Cast
- Karra Elejalde as Mariano[3]
- Fernando Guillén Cuervo as Antonio Torres (Tony Towers)[3]
- Manuel Manquiña as sargento Pablo Talavera[3]
- Gloria Muñoz as sor Trini[3]
- Sílvia Bel as María Vélez[4]
- Fernando Guillén as don Simón
- Juan Viadas as don Javier[4]
- Pepín Tre as Hopper[3]
- Karlos Arguiñano as Viriato[5]
Production
The film was produced by Asegarce with the collaboration of TVE, Vía Digital, and ETB.[4] Shooting locations in the province of Almería included Cala Carbón (Níjar).[6]
Release
Distributed by Aurum,[4] the film was released theatrically in Spain on 11 August 2000.[7] It was the second-largest grossing Spanish film at the 2000 domestic box-office after Common Wealth.[8]
Reception
Jonathan Holland of Variety deemed the film (otherwise stylistically a baby brother to Juanma Bajo Ulloa's Airbag), to be "at worst sloppy and uncontrolled, at best nicely imaginative".[4]
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 15th Goya Awards | Best Special Effects | Juan Ramón Molina, Alfonso Nieto | Nominated | [9] |
See also
References
- ^ Fernández-Santos, Elsa (16 November 2000). "Alucinados". El País.
- ^ Bernárdez, García & González 2008, p. 132.
- ^ a b c d e "Año mariano". Fotogramas. 29 May 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Holland, Jonathan (18 September 2000). "The Year of Maria". Variety.
- ^ "Cine en TV por Federico Marín Bellón". ABC. 28 April 2007.
- ^ "Níjar, el municipio con el plató de cine más natural de Andalucía". Diario de Almería. Grupo Joly. 25 March 2022.
- ^ "'Año mariano', la película española más taquillera del año". El Mundo.
- ^ Bernárdez, Asunción; García, Irene; González, Soraya (2008). Violencia de género en el cine español. Análisis de los años 1998 a 2002 y guía didáctica (PDF). Madrid: Editorial Complutense. p. 13. ISBN 978-84-7491-923-3.
- ^ "Año Mariano". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
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