Abracadabra

A well told story , being perfectly set with a very good cast providing fine interpretations . As Carmen (Maribel Verdú) is a housewife from Madrid , mother of a rebel adolescent called Toñi (Priscilla Delgado) and married to the abusive macho man and obsessed with football Carlos (Antonio De La Torre) , which her daily life complicating due to the angry and violent character of Carlos . During the busy celebration after a wedding celebration of Carmen's nephew , her cousin Pepe (José Mota) shows his skills as a showman , but things go awry . After Carlos mocks Pepe in front of all invited people , a ghost possesses Carlos . Shortly after , Carmen looking for answers to sort out what's happening . Helped by a dentist called Fumetti (José Maria Pou) , Pepe's mentor , Carmen realizes that Carlos is possessed by the spirit of Tito (Quim Gutierrez) , a waiter who committed killings at a party before commit suicide himself at the same restaurant where he worked and where Carmen's nephew celebrated his wedding party . With time running out , Carmen and Pepe attempt to exorcise the evil spirit before Carlos be totally annulled by Tito , at the same time that the own Carlos begins to suffer the consequences to be under the influence of a schizophrenic ghost .

A disconcerting script with comedy , drama and fine players as Maribel Verdú as Carmen , Antonio de la Torre as Carlos and José Mota as Pepe . This entertaining and interesting Dramedy contains crazy events , amusement and surrealist as well as embarrassing situations . Sitting in a strange middle ground between the completely absurd and the stylish set pieces , including various nostalgic moments , paying tribute to music of the Seventies and Eighties . It is a crazy Spanish comedy with touches of drama that offers no intellectual stimulus whatsoever , though it has some fun and hilarious moments . Humor is sometimes cheesy and gross-out with numerous naughty , weird and gory situations , such as violent murders , adultery , jealousy , and funny mayhem . It partially sets the tone of the times in the seventies and eighties , including some flashbacks , in fact , this film belongs to a nostalgic sub-genre regarding past times . Behind this title hides a story based on fantastic events, with its director Pablo Berger makes a special tribute to music and happenings from ancient decades . But not only accomplishes that , the picture shows that there are many ways to do comedy without falling into vulgarity . It is an acceptable production plenty of ridiculous and strange situation , but it is saved by an intelligent as well as unpretentious script with several very funny scenes . All this is achieved by comedians like Antonio De La Torre and Maribel Verdú , they are the perfect combination to get laughs and tears , at the same time . As Maribel Verdú gives a nice acting as the housewife who struggles with her husband after he is possessed by a ghost , and Antonio De La Torre is nice as the unfortunate hubby suffering strange and radical changes of attitudes and behaviors . And José Mota as Pepe , the strange cousin who decides prove his abilities as a showman by means of a hypnosis session. The yarn provides a passel of brief or cameo appearances , such as : Quim Gutierrez as a schizophrenic young man who in early 80's killed his own mother and a number of assistants to a noisy wedding , Eduardo Soto as the recently deceased Camilo Sesto , Julián Villagrán , Ramón Barea , Saturnino Garcia , Janfri Topera , Javivi and special appearance by José Maria Pou as an insane dentist and fake magician .

It displays an evocative cinematography by Kiko De La Rica , one of the best Spanish cameramen who has photographed great movies as ¨Lucia Y el Sexo¨, ¨El Calentito¨ , ¨Witching¨ , "A Sad Trumpet Ballad" , ¨The Oxford crimes¨ , ¨Snow White¨ , among others . Being shot on location in Parla, Madrid, Pamplona, Navarra, and Torrejón de la Calzada, Madrid . Lively as well as adequate musical score by Alfonso De Villalonga , plenty of wonderfully traditional songs of the Seventies , Eighties and forward , such as : El baile del gorila written by José Antonio Benítez Serrano performed by Melody , the classical Tubular Bells written by Mike Oldfield , El baile de los pajaritos written by Werner Thomas and Terry Rendall performed by María Jesús , El día que yo me case, and Algo de mí written by Camilo Sesto performed by Edu Soto . As well as vintage musical score, such as : Air on the G String , written by Johann Sebastian Bach and Also Spratch Zarathustra - Sunrise Fanfare written by Richard Strauss . The motion picture was well produced and compellingly directed by Pablo Berger , a pretty good Spanish movies director . Here Berger delivers a very worthy work in which he demonstrates how with simple jobs can make a decent film . The flick delivered a successful result and achieved various Goya Nominations as Best Lead Actress : Maribel Verdú , Best Lead Actor : Antonio de la Torre , Best Supporting Actor : José Mota , Best Original Screenplay : Pablo Berger , Best Editing : David Gallart , Best Production Design : Alain Bainée , Best Costume Design : Paco Delgado , Best Makeup and Hairstyles : Sylvie Imbert , Paco Rodríguez . And Yoga Awards 2018 , as Yoga Award Worst Spanish Actor, José Mota . Director Pablo Berger developed the project for some years before being able to shoot it . Pablo is a well recognized filmmaker both nationally and internationally , and in proof of it he won many prizes in several Cinema Festivals , as this his feature debut ¨Torremolinos 73¨ , as well as the excellent ¨Snow White¨ or ¨Blancanieves¨ . Rating : 6.5/10 . Acceptable and passable , essential and indispensable watching for Spanish cinema fans .