Sin vergüenza

This is one of my favorite movies and one that I feel hits closest to the reality of an actor's life and struggles.

The one thing I like the best about it is its honesty regarding what actors are really like. While the movie shows the sense of community that develops among young actors struggling to make it in the acting life, the filmmakers also do not hesitate to show how actors can can also be selfish, conniving and self-centered. It doesn't romanticize the hard life of an aspiring and as such, ultimately becomes a valentine to actors and the acting life. In fact, the movie is dedicated to the several thousand strong acting community in Madrid.

But for those not really interested in the plight of aspiring actors, Sin Verguenza is also a charming and engaging romantic comedy. Veronica Forque is simply adorable as the head of the acting school and her awkward chemistry with co-star Daniel Gimenez Cacho is the source of much of the movie's humor.

When I first saw this film I remember comparing it to Tootsie, which is my other favorite film spotlighting aspiring actors. But in hindsight, for all Dustin Hoffman's intention to make the movie a tribute to struggling young actors, Tootsie is primarily a romantic comedy with insights into gender roles and how they affect relationships. As far as paying tribute to actors goes, Sin Verguenza is the real thing.

I have already seen this movie twice and I look forward to seeing it again in two weeks when it is screened at the Instituto Cervantes cultural institute here in Manila.

Sin Vergüenza is a charming, light-hearted farce centered on a famous film director's visit to an acting school to look for new talent, and the eruption of emotional chaos this creates among the school's students and staff. Jealousies, insecurities and egotism come boiling to the surface as everything surrounding the director's visit goes fabulously wrong, and then fabulously right, all while both poking fun at and glorifying "the artistic soul". The entire cast is wonderful, with special mention to Rosa María Sardà's hilarious turn as a drugged-out aging diva, a performance that won her the Goya award (the Spanish Oscar) for best supporting actress. Also Goya-nominated for its rollicking script, Sin Vergüenza (No Shame) is a complete delight. :)

Having been one of our finest screenwriters for the last couple of decades, Joaquín Oristrell started directing his own material in the nineties. "Sin vergüenza" is, without a doubt, one of his finest directorial efforts so far, but it's a shame that such a good movie is spoiled by a dull and unbelievable ending.

One of the greatest and more welcome surprises of the film is the bunch of struggling actors who play precisely that, a bunch of struggling actors. One could say that some of these (Marta Etura, Daniel Martín, Nur Al Levi, Nacho Casalvaque) steal the show from the veteran actors, since Verónica Forqué, Jorge Sanz and Daniel Giménez Cacho are not precisely at the highest of their talent. Rosa María Sardá, as usual, gracefully raises the level of the film with a charming supporting performance as an aging diva.

Albeit irregular, "Sin vergüenza" is, for most of the time, an entertaining movie, but maybe they should have come across with a more believable ending.

This is a hilarious as well as amusing Spanish comedy dealing with various love stories and actors , as concerning inside Actors Studio. The plot is lively and nice , it has its sympathetic moments here and there and is formed by some humor set-pieces that divide the action in diverse episodes , as protagonists perform classic plays such as Hamlet by Shakespeare , El Misantropo by Moliere , Don Juan by Zorrilla , Romeo and Julieta by Shakespeare ; while players are playing , their acting reflects on reality . Along the way there take place several love stories plenty of twists and turns until a weak and forced finale in which actors fight themselves .

Comical as well as wild comedy is loaded with irony , slapdash , humor with tongue-in-cheek , jokes , rapid flashes , thrilling choreography , funny situations and with a distinctly Spanish sense of style . Fun comedy with touches of irreverence and full of entertainment , humor and sheer amusement . Humor is sometimes cheesy and gross-out with numerous naughty and picaresque situations such as sex jokes , threesome and adult scenes . This is a special Spanish comedy from the 2000s with the usual ingredients such as enjoyable humor topped with a little bit of original touches here and there , including brief drama , though the tone of the film is light-hearted . The pic is finely played by experienced actors as Verónica Forqué , Daniel Giménez Cacho , Candela Peña , Carmen Balagué , Jorge Sanz , Rosa Maria Sardà , Pedro Martínez , Carmen Machi, as young players such as Marta Etura , Nur Al Levi , Cecilia Freire and singer Dani Martín of ¨El Canto Del Loco¨. Atmspheric and adequate musical score by Juan Carlos Gomez . Evocativa as well as colorful cinematography by Jaume Peracaula , including some moments splitting screen .

The yarn was well financed by two of the best Spanish producers , Gerardo Herrero and Eduardo Campoy . The picture was compellingly written by the same filmmaker and Cristina Rota , including some biographic elements , in fact , his character is magnificently played by Verónica Forque as a stiff director of a famous actors studio . Many known Spanish actor studied interpretation in her Actors School : Malena Alterio and Ernesto Alterio, Guillermo Toledo, Alberto San Juan, Nathalie Poza, Andrés Lima, Luis Bermejo, Penélope Cruz, Fernando Tejero, Roberto Álamo, her son Juan Diego Botto and daughter María Botto , and ,of course , most players of this flick .

The motion picture was well directed directed by Joaquin Oristrell expert on filming comedies (Dieta Mediterranea , unconscious , Novios , ? De Que Rien Las Mujeres ¿) but most famous as writer (Love causes seriously damage your health , Off Key , Between your legs , Extasis). The flick will appeal to Spanish cinema fonds . Rating : Good but entertaining.

Mr Oristrell's film career as a screen writer, should have given him a better understanding of the material he decided to direct, but obviously he had no clue as to what a mess this film was going to be.

The story is absurd. It rings untrue from beginning to end. Everything is phoney. The characters are 1 dimensional and paper thin. The main conflict between Isabel and Mario, 20 years before was stupid. The character of Isabel is badly played by Ms. Forque, whose career is even more difficult to explain in the Spanish cinema. It's very difficult to think an acting teacher would resort to let her students emote in the way she lets them. It's a shame that Rosa Maria Sarda didn't consult her good friend Ventura Pons before she accepted her role in this film. This is a step backward for her in a thankless appearance. What about Jorge Sanz' yoga instructor? What does he add to the plot? All in all this is a very badly cooked paella. Let's hope Mr. Oristrell doesn't get another idea about directing his own material any time soon.