Las cerezas del cementerio

Lately Spanish public television has been making a series of TV-movies and mini-series which adapt Blasco Ibáñez's most popular books into the small screen. Now, as it seems, they've started adapting other well known writers from the same region, in this case Gabriel Miró. Whereas "Arroz y tartana" and some others have turned out to be quite good, others have ended up being quite a disappointment.

Plot-wise, "Las cerezas del cementerio" is one of the most interesting books by Gabriel Miró, so the TV adaptation was, in principle, quite promising. First cast rumors said that Cecilia Roth was to play the role of Beatriz, the beautiful and captivating woman who romances the young Félix Valdivia. For any unexplained reason, Concha Velasco landed the role and completely ruined the movie for me.

To be fair, Concha Velasco is a legend in Spanish TV, cinema and theater and has been very good in a great variety of roles. But we should not forget that Beatriz is supposed to be a woman in her forties whose beauty can drive a young man crazy. Roth, at 48, would have been perfect for the role, while Velasco, at 65, is a blatant case of miscasting. Her love scenes with Félix Gómez were, to say the least, disturbing, and instead of his lover she looked more like his granny.

Miscasting aside, Velasco delivers an acceptable performance and seems to perfectly understand the character. Félix Gómez plays the young Félix Valdivia with enthusiasm, while supporting players like Elisa Matilla, Empar Ferrer or Álvaro de Luna constitute the best part of the film. As usual in this kind of adaptations, the technical aspects are brilliant.

This could have been really good, but it has turned to be a vanity project for Velasco. However, I still give it a 6/10.