Ventura Pons — Playwright (3)
Life in the Abyss (2007) [Movie] TMDB IMDb WikiData
La vida abismal
director: Ventura Pons actor: Óscar Jaenada / José Sospedra
other title: La vida abismal
This film evokes Valencia illegal gaming back in the seventies. A young peasant -Ferran- plays cards not much to make a living but as a distraction of his daily routine. Ferran meets a larger-than-life character -el chino- who happens to play cards for a living. This other guy is depicted as a Toni Manero look alike but his charisma an arrogance lead the innocent Ferran to join him in his schemes to make money to end up betting all on the next card table. At some point the action moves to Madrid and Ferran steps down losing track of El chino who takes on more dangerous games making a living out of Russian Roulette until the round gets loaded. Based on real events this is no Hollywood epic but it captures the desperation of the characters very effectively.
Anita Takes a Chance (2001) [Movie] TMDB IMDb WikiData
Anita no perd el tren
other title: Anita no pierde el tren / 愛吧!安妮塔!
Fifty-something widow Anita loses her lifetime dream job as a cinema attendant when the new owner wants to tear down the old theater and build a trendy multiplex in its stead. Depressed at first, Anita finds comfort in watching the shirtless hunks on the theater's construction site. She befriends a married excavator operator, Antonio, and the two start their secret candlelit trysts in the site's office cabin. But soon Anita learns that excavators are only needed in the early phase of a construction project...