If They Tell You I Fell
Encyclopedia
If They Tell You I Fell is a 1989
Spanish film written and directed by Vicente Aranda
, starring Jorge Sanz
and Victoria Abril
. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Catalan author
Juan Marsé
. Set mostly in the old quarter of 1940's Barcelona
, the film centers in a young rag and bone merchant who falls in love with a prostitute. If They Tell You I Fell has an intricate narrative in which real and imagined stories blend in a crosswords style.
years, Catalan
kids would sit in circles among the ruins and tell stories, known as "aventis" open-ended narratives drifting back and forth through time. Laced with horror and perversity, these tales mix war stories, local gossip, comic book characters, fantasy and real events. The "aventis" of this film are told in flashback in 1970, 1940, 1936 and the mid 1980s.
In 1970, Nito, a medical examiner assistant and sister Paulina, a nurse-nun (who grew up together, and now are co-workers in a hospital) identify the corpse of a couple who had drowned during a car accident. The dead man is Daniel Javaloyes "Java", one of the main characters of the "aventis" of their childhood and adolescence. The woman seems to be Juanita, who forty years before was one of many orphans. The discovery of Java’s body (long presumed dead) leads them to remember what had happened decades before. Flashbacks reveal a story that may or may not have happened.
In the old quarter of 1940s Barcelona inhabitants are struggling to survive among the ruins left by the Spanish Civil War. Daniel Javaloyes, "Java" is one of them. He is a young man trying by any means to leave behind the misery around him. He lives in a dilapidated house with his grandmother, a mute trapper. To make some money, the hardened Java performs perverse sexual acts for the voyeuristic pleasure of Don Conrado, a rich sadistic man, who uses a wheelchair after being wounded during the war. In one of those sexual encounters for hire, Java has violent sex with Ramona, a visibly pregnant prostitute. From then on Java is smitten with the fallen woman. Initially he finds out very little about her, but when Conrado’s mother visits him also looking for her, Java learns that Ramona had been a maid in Don Conrado’s household. She bears a scarred left nipple caused by his sadism.
Marcos, Java’s older brother, was an anarchist during the war and now is hiding on the grounds of the family’s house. He yearns to see his girlfriend Aurora Nin again, whose identity would be blended with Ramona’s in the stories told by Sarnita, one of the kids in Java’s neighborhood. Sarnita entertains his friends telling them aventis, mixing real events with others that have been invented. Aurora Nin and Java are prominent figures in those stories. Meanwhile, the perverse Don Conrado is directing a religious amateur play about the sacrifice of a Christian martyr. Fueguiña, one of the orphans in the institution where Paulina works, plays the leading role. Java wants to be an actor and blackmails Fueguiña in order to take the part of the devil in the play. Reluctantly Conrado allows him to participate, at least during rehearsals.
Flash back to 1936. During the war, Marcos, fighting for the Republic, takes revenge on Don Conrado’s brutality towards his girlfriend Aurora Nin. When the men under Marco’s command do not find Conrado, they kill Conrado’s father instead. Conrado’s mother barely escapes with her life thanks to Aurora’s intervention.
In one of his sexual assignments for Conrado, Java has a young man as a sexual partner instead of a woman. He does not back down, but knowing that Ado, the teenager, has been paid twice as much, he follows him to get a bigger share of the money. Through Ado, Java gets involved with a rich jewelry dealer. In him, Java sees the opportunity to escape his poverty-restricted life.
In 1940, Marcos’ old cronies from the war are also looking for him. Still trying secret anti-government plots, they have resorted mainly to criminal activities. Palau, the leader of the gang has chosen his target: Menchu, a bleach blonde prostitute who works for the elite Falangist of the city. To strike them back, Palau and his partners Fusam and Sendra attack Menchu, brutally killing her. When his pursuit of Ramona proves aimless, Java, now sure that Ramona is in fact Aurora Nin, leads Ramona to Marcos’s secret hiding place and the former lovers are happily reunited. Taking advantage of a commotion in the neighborhood Marcos and Ramona managed to escape the city.
In modern day Barcelona, by the mid 1980s, Palau, on a busy street, has a glance of an old couple asking for money. They seem to be Marcos and Aurora Nin.
and Victoria Abril
. It was their first of three collaborations together under Vicente Aranda's direction. Victoria Abril, Aranda’s favorite actress, plays three different roles in the film. She was six months pregnant when she shot the explicit sexual scenes in the film. Antonio Banderas
has a small role. Two of the young actors: Juan Diego Botto
and Maria Botto (they are siblings) became very popular in the Spanish screens in the following years.
to director Vicente Aranda
, who had previously adapted Marsé's novel The Girl with the Golden Panties
, making it into an art house hit. Aranda was given the choice between Marsé's novels: Ronda de Guinardó and If They Tell You I Fell. He chose the second one. In fact years before Aranda had wanted to make that novel into a film, but found the project too risky due to the novel's intricate narrative and complicated plot. Vicente Aranda wrote the script in the summer of 1987 between shooting his films El Lute: Run for Your Life
and El Lute II : Tomorrow I'll Be Free
. He simplified the story but kept the puzzling structure of the book. The film was made with a budget of P
168 million pesetas and P
60 million aid from the Spanish Ministry of Culture. The film was shot in Barcelona
.
it was received coldly by audiences and critics. However Jorge Sanz won Spain's Goya Award as Best Actor for his performance.
The film had a limited release in the U.S.A in New York City
. The review in Variety
praised the direction, but remarked: "Those with the patience to see this film two or three times, or read the novel by Juan Marsé upon which it is based ahead of time, may understand its convoluted plot. Ordinary film goers will be hard pressed to make any sense out of what they see on the screen."
with English
subtitles. The film was released as Aventis (the film's title in Catalan
) by Edi Video in 2006 in Spanish or dubbed English with no subtitles, as the options offered.
1989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
Spanish film written and directed by Vicente Aranda
Vicente Aranda
Vicente Aranda , is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Due to his refined and personal style, he is one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a founded member of the Barcelona School of Film and became known for bringing contemporary Spanish novels to life on the...
, starring Jorge Sanz
Jorge Sanz
Jorge Sanz is a Spanish actor and is one of the most prominent actors of the Spanish cinema since the 1980s. He is known to international audiences for his roles in the films: Amantes by director Vicente Aranda and Fernando Trueba’s Belle Époque .-Early life :Jorge Sanz Miranda was born on August...
and Victoria Abril
Victoria Abril
Victoria Abril is a Spanish film actress. She is best known to international audiences for her performance in the movie ¡Átame! by director Pedro Almodóvar....
. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Catalan author
Catalan literature
Catalan literature is the name conventionally used to refer to literature written in the Catalan language. The Catalan literary tradition is extensive, starting in the Middle Ages....
Juan Marsé
Juan Marsé
Juan Marsé is a Spanish novelist, journalist and screenwriter, born in Barcelona on January 8, 1933 as Juan Faneca Roca.His mother died in childbirth, and he was soon adopted by the Marsé family. At age 14 he started to publish some of his writings in Insula magazine and in a cinema magazine while...
. Set mostly in the old quarter of 1940's Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, the film centers in a young rag and bone merchant who falls in love with a prostitute. If They Tell You I Fell has an intricate narrative in which real and imagined stories blend in a crosswords style.
Plot
In the post Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
years, Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
kids would sit in circles among the ruins and tell stories, known as "aventis" open-ended narratives drifting back and forth through time. Laced with horror and perversity, these tales mix war stories, local gossip, comic book characters, fantasy and real events. The "aventis" of this film are told in flashback in 1970, 1940, 1936 and the mid 1980s.
In 1970, Nito, a medical examiner assistant and sister Paulina, a nurse-nun (who grew up together, and now are co-workers in a hospital) identify the corpse of a couple who had drowned during a car accident. The dead man is Daniel Javaloyes "Java", one of the main characters of the "aventis" of their childhood and adolescence. The woman seems to be Juanita, who forty years before was one of many orphans. The discovery of Java’s body (long presumed dead) leads them to remember what had happened decades before. Flashbacks reveal a story that may or may not have happened.
In the old quarter of 1940s Barcelona inhabitants are struggling to survive among the ruins left by the Spanish Civil War. Daniel Javaloyes, "Java" is one of them. He is a young man trying by any means to leave behind the misery around him. He lives in a dilapidated house with his grandmother, a mute trapper. To make some money, the hardened Java performs perverse sexual acts for the voyeuristic pleasure of Don Conrado, a rich sadistic man, who uses a wheelchair after being wounded during the war. In one of those sexual encounters for hire, Java has violent sex with Ramona, a visibly pregnant prostitute. From then on Java is smitten with the fallen woman. Initially he finds out very little about her, but when Conrado’s mother visits him also looking for her, Java learns that Ramona had been a maid in Don Conrado’s household. She bears a scarred left nipple caused by his sadism.
Marcos, Java’s older brother, was an anarchist during the war and now is hiding on the grounds of the family’s house. He yearns to see his girlfriend Aurora Nin again, whose identity would be blended with Ramona’s in the stories told by Sarnita, one of the kids in Java’s neighborhood. Sarnita entertains his friends telling them aventis, mixing real events with others that have been invented. Aurora Nin and Java are prominent figures in those stories. Meanwhile, the perverse Don Conrado is directing a religious amateur play about the sacrifice of a Christian martyr. Fueguiña, one of the orphans in the institution where Paulina works, plays the leading role. Java wants to be an actor and blackmails Fueguiña in order to take the part of the devil in the play. Reluctantly Conrado allows him to participate, at least during rehearsals.
Flash back to 1936. During the war, Marcos, fighting for the Republic, takes revenge on Don Conrado’s brutality towards his girlfriend Aurora Nin. When the men under Marco’s command do not find Conrado, they kill Conrado’s father instead. Conrado’s mother barely escapes with her life thanks to Aurora’s intervention.
In one of his sexual assignments for Conrado, Java has a young man as a sexual partner instead of a woman. He does not back down, but knowing that Ado, the teenager, has been paid twice as much, he follows him to get a bigger share of the money. Through Ado, Java gets involved with a rich jewelry dealer. In him, Java sees the opportunity to escape his poverty-restricted life.
In 1940, Marcos’ old cronies from the war are also looking for him. Still trying secret anti-government plots, they have resorted mainly to criminal activities. Palau, the leader of the gang has chosen his target: Menchu, a bleach blonde prostitute who works for the elite Falangist of the city. To strike them back, Palau and his partners Fusam and Sendra attack Menchu, brutally killing her. When his pursuit of Ramona proves aimless, Java, now sure that Ramona is in fact Aurora Nin, leads Ramona to Marcos’s secret hiding place and the former lovers are happily reunited. Taking advantage of a commotion in the neighborhood Marcos and Ramona managed to escape the city.
In modern day Barcelona, by the mid 1980s, Palau, on a busy street, has a glance of an old couple asking for money. They seem to be Marcos and Aurora Nin.
Cast
If They Tell You I Fell has a large cast headed by Jorge SanzJorge Sanz
Jorge Sanz is a Spanish actor and is one of the most prominent actors of the Spanish cinema since the 1980s. He is known to international audiences for his roles in the films: Amantes by director Vicente Aranda and Fernando Trueba’s Belle Époque .-Early life :Jorge Sanz Miranda was born on August...
and Victoria Abril
Victoria Abril
Victoria Abril is a Spanish film actress. She is best known to international audiences for her performance in the movie ¡Átame! by director Pedro Almodóvar....
. It was their first of three collaborations together under Vicente Aranda's direction. Victoria Abril, Aranda’s favorite actress, plays three different roles in the film. She was six months pregnant when she shot the explicit sexual scenes in the film. Antonio Banderas
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
has a small role. Two of the young actors: Juan Diego Botto
Juan Diego Botto
Juan Diego Botto-Rota is an Argentine-Spanish actor.Botto's father disappeared during the Argentine Dirty War when Juan Diego was only two years old...
and Maria Botto (they are siblings) became very popular in the Spanish screens in the following years.
- Jorge SanzJorge SanzJorge Sanz is a Spanish actor and is one of the most prominent actors of the Spanish cinema since the 1980s. He is known to international audiences for his roles in the films: Amantes by director Vicente Aranda and Fernando Trueba’s Belle Époque .-Early life :Jorge Sanz Miranda was born on August...
- Java - Victoria AbrilVictoria AbrilVictoria Abril is a Spanish film actress. She is best known to international audiences for her performance in the movie ¡Átame! by director Pedro Almodóvar....
– Ramona / Menchu / Aurora Nin - Antonio BanderasAntonio BanderasJosé Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
– Marcos - Lluis Homar - Palau
- Juan Diego BottoJuan Diego BottoJuan Diego Botto-Rota is an Argentine-Spanish actor.Botto's father disappeared during the Argentine Dirty War when Juan Diego was only two years old...
- Sarnita - María Botto – Fueguiña
- Guillermo Montesinos – Fusam
- Aitor Merino – Ado
- Montserrat Salvador – Conrado’s mother
- Carlos Tristancho - Sendra
Production
Producer Enrique Viciano suggested a film adaptation of a novel by Catalan author Juan MarséJuan Marsé
Juan Marsé is a Spanish novelist, journalist and screenwriter, born in Barcelona on January 8, 1933 as Juan Faneca Roca.His mother died in childbirth, and he was soon adopted by the Marsé family. At age 14 he started to publish some of his writings in Insula magazine and in a cinema magazine while...
to director Vicente Aranda
Vicente Aranda
Vicente Aranda , is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Due to his refined and personal style, he is one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a founded member of the Barcelona School of Film and became known for bringing contemporary Spanish novels to life on the...
, who had previously adapted Marsé's novel The Girl with the Golden Panties
La Muchacha de las Bragas de Oro
The Girl with the Golden Panties is a 1980 Spanish Film directed by Vicente Aranda. It stars Victoria Abril and Lautaro Murúa. The film was based upon a novel by Catalonian author Juan Marsé. La Muchacha de las Bragas de Oro explores the changing nature of a former fascist, a reflection of Spain...
, making it into an art house hit. Aranda was given the choice between Marsé's novels: Ronda de Guinardó and If They Tell You I Fell. He chose the second one. In fact years before Aranda had wanted to make that novel into a film, but found the project too risky due to the novel's intricate narrative and complicated plot. Vicente Aranda wrote the script in the summer of 1987 between shooting his films El Lute: Run for Your Life
El Lute: camina o revienta
El Lute: Run for Your Life is a 1987 Spanish film written and directed by Vicente Aranda, based on the memoirs of Eleuterio Sánchez, “El Lute”, a delinquent who became notorious in Spain for his jail escapes in the 1960's. It stars Imanol Arias and Victoria Abril. The film was a hit in Spain and...
and El Lute II : Tomorrow I'll Be Free
El Lute II: mañana seré libre
El Lute II: Tomorrow I’ll be Free is a 1988 Spanish film written and directed by Vicente Aranda, based on the memoirs of Eleuterio Sánchez, “El Lute”, a delinquent who became notorious in Spain for his jail escapes in the 60's. It stars Imanol Arias, Angel Pardo and Jorge Sanz...
. He simplified the story but kept the puzzling structure of the book. The film was made with a budget of P
Spanish peseta
The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra .- Etymology :...
168 million pesetas and P
Spanish peseta
The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra .- Etymology :...
60 million aid from the Spanish Ministry of Culture. The film was shot in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
.
Reception
If They Tell You I Fell opened on September 19, 1989 at the San Sebastian Film festival. In SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
it was received coldly by audiences and critics. However Jorge Sanz won Spain's Goya Award as Best Actor for his performance.
The film had a limited release in the U.S.A in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The review in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
praised the direction, but remarked: "Those with the patience to see this film two or three times, or read the novel by Juan Marsé upon which it is based ahead of time, may understand its convoluted plot. Ordinary film goers will be hard pressed to make any sense out of what they see on the screen."
Awards and nominations
- Seven Goya AwardsGoya AwardsThe Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
nominations. It won one: Jorge SanzJorge SanzJorge Sanz is a Spanish actor and is one of the most prominent actors of the Spanish cinema since the 1980s. He is known to international audiences for his roles in the films: Amantes by director Vicente Aranda and Fernando Trueba’s Belle Époque .-Early life :Jorge Sanz Miranda was born on August...
as Best Actor. (1990) - ADIRCAE Awards: Best Actor (Jorge Sanz) ).
- Fotogramas de Plata: Best Movie Actor (Jorge Sanz), Best Movie Actress (Victoria Abril)
- Sant Jordi Awards: Best Actor (Jorge Sanz) ).
DVD release
If They Tell You I Fell has been released on DVD in North America twice. It was issued on DVD by Vanguard Cinema in May 2005 as Si te dicen que caí (If They Tell you I Fell), in SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
subtitles. The film was released as Aventis (the film's title in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
) by Edi Video in 2006 in Spanish or dubbed English with no subtitles, as the options offered.