Mamá cumple 100 años

First Carlos Saura I had the opportunity of seeing. It was really fun and funny and I liked the portrait of the matriarchal family and the influence of the matriarch at her children I just didn't understand the point of the film if there was any. My biggest complaint though has not much to do with that and it's that the film opposes people's desire to people's morality (the Natalia and Antonio affair) so it ends up being kind of moralistic. In summary it was a cool film, looking forward to seeing more Carlos Saura

Manzanares Del Real , Madrid , in a countryside manor called ¨La Jara¨ takes place a celebration for the centennial birthday of the matriarch (Rafaela Aparicio) , she is the old omnipotent grandmother of an upper-class family . There arrives the British Ana Boulton (Geraldine Chaplin) , an ex-nanny accompanied by her hubby (Norman Brisky) and meets the three little girls she cared are now grown-up . There also shows up Natalia (Amparo Muñoz) who falls in love for Antonio . In this meeting , Ana to be aware that the stiff military José (José Maria Prada who actually passed away a bit later on) died three years ago ; Juan (José Vivó) abandoned his spouse Luchy (Charo Soriano) and Fernando (Fernando Fernán Gómez) carries out unsuccessful attempts to fly by Delta-wing . Meantime , Ana and the rare family go successively to José's tomb to pray him . Besides , Anna uncovers Juan , Fernando and Luchy attempt to kill their mom to get the valuable inheritance and her luxurious mansion to built an urbanization .

During the seventies Carlos Saura shot a trilogy produced by Elias Querejeta about the selfish Spanish bourgeoisie or middle-class formed by ¨Jardín De Las Delicias¨ or "The Garden of Delights" (70) , ¨Ana Y Los Lobos¨ or ¨Anna and the wolves¨ (72) and ¨La Prima Angelica¨ or ¨Cousin Angelica¨ (73) . Carlos Saura directed in 1972 ¨Ana Y Los Lobos¨ in which a nanny/Geraldine Chaplin goes to educate three little girls at a mansion , there Ana is seduced , harassed , mistreated , raped by the elder sons : Fernando Fernan Gómez-José Vivó-José Maria Prada and finally killed . But in "Mama Turns 100" the omnipresent Ana is alive and married to Antonio/Norman Brisky . "Anna and the Wolves" had a symbolic and thoughtful tone , as the manor represented the peculiar Spain ruled by a dark Franquist period and the sons were the different political factions which discussed by that time ; and it got a sequel : "Mama Turns 100" with uneven results , as this one has a less provoking style than the original , being more a comedy that a brooding drama . This "Mama Turns 100" results to be a black as well as merry Dramedy dealing with a dysfunctional and utterly broken family in which some ruthless sons are embezzling mother's money and subsequently killing her . It is a coral film , a piece of nonsense and absurdity with grotesque roles magnificently played by a great plethora of actors . As nice acting by Geraldine Chaplin as an ex-nanny who returns a manor where she worked many years ago . Carlos Saura filmed 7 movies with Geraldine (his then wife) , and this one resulted to be their final collaboration . Excellent Fernando Fernan Gómez , as usual , he plays a weird man who is still living with his mummy and attempting to fly a hang glider . Special mention for Rafaela Aparicio who steals the show as a sympathetic and bigmouth grandmother . The picture contains an evocative and colorful cinematography by Teo Escamilla , Saura's regular . Being shot on location in Torrelodones , Madrid .

This Spanish/French co-production dark comedy was well but slowly written/directed by Carlos Saura , at his usual style . Saura is a good Spanish movies director who goes on nowadays filmmaking . He began working in cinema in 1959 when he filmed ¨Los Golfos ¨(1962) dealing with juvenile delinquency from a sociological point of view . Later on , he made ¨LLanto Por Un Bandido¨ or "Weeping for a Bandit" (1964) starred by an all European-star-cast . Saura is a well recognized filmmaker both nationally and internationally , and in proof of it he won a lot of prizes among which there are the following ones : Silver Bear in Festival of Berlin for ¨Peppermint Frappé¨ (1967) and the successful ¨La Caza¨ (1966) that also won numerous prizes in International Festivals and in which four characters facing each other and terminating into a jarring burst of violence and being full of political allegories . Saura achieved Special Jury Awards in Cannes for ¨La Prima Angélica¨ (1974) , and for ¨Cría Cuervos¨ (1976) . Also, the surrealistic and disconcerting comedy ¨Mamá Cumple Cien Años¨ (1979) got an Oscar nomination in 1979 as the best foreign film , and it also won the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastian Festival . He subsequently made ¨Deprisa , Deprisa¨ based on facts about juvenile delinquency in Spain of the 80s , as he tried to take a position in favour of outcast people and he got to make a both lyric and documentary-style cinema . In 1990 , he won two Goya , The Spanish Oscar , as best adapted screenplay writer and best director . Saura became an expert on Iberian musical adaptations as ¨Carmen¨ , ¨Amor Brujo¨ , ¨Bodas De Sangre¨ , ¨Sevillanas¨ , ¨Iberia¨ , ¨Salome¨ , ¨Fado¨ , ¨Flamenco¨ and even recently Opera as ¨Io , Don Giovanni¨

Ana (Geraldine Chaplin) is alive and married with Antonio (Norman Briski); they arrive in the manor in the countryside of Spain where she worked as a nanny many years ago, for the centennial birthday of the matriarch (Rafaela Aparicio). In their reunion, she finds that Jose died three years ago; Juan (José Vivó) left his wife Luchy (Charo Soriano); Fernando (Fernando Fernán Gómez) is still living with his mother and unsuccessfully trying to fly a hang glider; and the three little girls are grown-up. Further, she discovers that the dysfunctional family is completely broken, and Luchy in embezzling mother's money. When Juan arrives for the celebration, he plots with Fernando and Luchy to kill the mother to get the inheritance. Meanwhile, Antonio has a brief affair with Natalia (Amparo Muñoz).

"Mamá Cumple Cien Años" is a surrealistic dark comedy that uses the characters of "Ana y los Lobos" and Antonio from "Elisa, Vida Mía". Again, Carlos Saura uses a political allegory with his characters: the omnipresent and omnipotent mother is still the old Spain; however, the children have grown, Lucy becomes a greedy woman and Juan is gone. Further, she is betrayed by her beloved sons. There are certainly many other political elements for those familiarized with the Spanish history. The beauty of the former Miss Spain (1973) and Miss Universe (1974) Amparo Muñoz is astonishing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Mamãe Faz 100 Anos" ("Mother is 100 Year Old")

This is one hilarious film. I remember watching it over and over again on our VCR when I was about 12 years old. I recall being fascinated with this fantastic family, which was nothing like our bleak, Scandinavian existence! I saw it about 10 times...

It's about the grandma's centennial birthday, which gathers together all the family, with their marital and family problems. Some have schemes and plots to embezzle the family's money. The themes also deal with generation-gap and cultural environment in Franco's Spain. However, the Grandma is larger-than-life figure, almost akin to the creations of magical realism. She's able to have, for example, a telepathic connection with her granddaughter. Her son Federico is a "mad scientist" and a dreamer.

The whole film is set in the country house and it's surroundings. All the characters are colourful and rich, funny and tragical. The actress playing the Grand old lady does a terrific job!! Besides, the film is well shot, and the music echoes richly in memories of the persons.