Independent distributors Olive Films have announced that they will add six new titles to their Blu-ray catalog in January. Amongst them are Fernando Trueba's Oscar winner
Belle Epoque, Bigas Luna's new wave classic
Jamón Jamón and
The Red Squirrel, and Brian Dorton's
Preexisting Conditions a.k.a.
Trashology 2 (a Slasher // Video release).
Belle Epoque
Synopsis: Spain, 1931 is a politically divided nation and on the brink of war. With
allegiances torn between Republican and Traditionalist factions, Fernando
(Jorge Sanz, Conan the Barbarian), a disillusioned soldier, has chosen a
third option — going AWOL. Fate intervenes during his escape when he
meets Manolo (Fernando Fernán Gómez, All About My Mother), an admiring
land owner who sees himself mirrored in the young man and welcomes him
into his home — a home inhabited by Manolo's four visiting daughters, each
more beautiful than the other. Clara (Miriam Díaz-Aroca, High Heels), Violeta
(Ariadna Gil, Pan's Labyrinth), Rocío (Maribel Verdú, Y Tu Mamá También)
and Luz (Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona) will prove to be more than
just a pleasant distraction for Fernando. While seeking refuge from the chaos
of the outside world, he'll find romance at every turn in the witty love story
Belle Epoque.
Belle Epoque, director Fernando Trueba's (The Queen of Spain) 1994
Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, is written by
Rafael Azcona (from a story by Azcona, José Luis García Sánchez and
Fernando Trueba) and co-stars Agustín González (El abuelo) and Chus
Lampreave (Volver).
In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.
STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.
Jamón Jamón
Synopsis: From director Bigas Luna (Golden Balls) comes Jamón Jamón, starring
Academy Award® winner Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) making
her motion picture debut opposite Academy Award® winner Javier Bardem
(No Country for Old Men) and co-starring Jordi Mollà (In the Heart of the
Sea), Stefania Sandrelli (1900) and Juan Diego (Your Next Life).
Written for the screen by Cuca Canals, Bigas Luna and Quim Monzó, Jamón
Jamón traces the romantic entanglements of the beautiful and pregnant
underwear factory worker Silvia (Cruz); José Luis (Mollà), the father of her
child and heir to the factory fortune; Raul (Bardem), underwear model,
seducer and would-be-bullfighter; and Conchita (Sandrelli), José Luis' doting
mother, family matriarch and Raul's lover. Through a series of Machiavellian
plot machinations, Conchita will seek to tear apart the relationship between
her wealthy son and the second-class Silvia. Melodramatic, surreal (a duel
using ham legs is a highlight) and oozing with sexual tension,
Jamón Jamón is soap opera at its grandest.
In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.
STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.
The Red Squirrel
The Red Squirrel (La Ardilla Roja), written and directed by Julio Medem
(Tierra) and starring Emma Suárez (Julieta) and Nancho Novo (Lovers of the
Arctic Circle), is a stylish thriller à la Hitchcock — with echoes of Vertigo —
set in a Spanish campground.
Jota (Novo), a musician with a career in decline and a romantic life in
shambles, is on the verge of ending his life by jumping from a bridge when a
mysterious figure on a motorcycle comes roaring — quite literally — into his
life. Rushing to aid the injured cyclist, Jota discovers the driver is a beautiful
young woman (Suárez) who's lost her memory in the crash. Seeing an
opportunity to start a new life, Jota creates a fictional backstory for Sofia,
the amnesia victim whom he now calls Lisa, claiming that they're a couple.
Fearing her growing suspicion of his ruse, Jota cuts Lisa's hospital stay short
by whisking her off to The Red Squirrel, a remote campground far away from
prying eyes. But they soon attract the attention of the other campers, leading
to an escalation in Lisa's erratic behavior. What secrets are hiding in Lisa's
past? And who is Félix (Carmelo Gómez, Tierra), the mysterious stranger
who appears at the camp site in search of Sofia? Twists and turns abound in
The Red Squirrel.
In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.
STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.
Tierra
"Doused throughout in the red hues of the Aragon landscape, and stunningly
composed in widescreen by d.p. Javier Aguirresarobe, the picture has an
unearthly feel that's a potent stage for the elemental central love story." -
Variety
Tierra (Earth), a quirky, romantic dramedy from Sex and Lucia director Julio
Medem, stars Carmelo Gómez (Vacas) as Ángel, a pest control specialist
(and recently released mental patient) working the soil in Spanish wine
country to rid the terrain of destructive grubs. Unexpectedly, Ángel will find
romance and adventure beyond his wildest imagination when he falls for two
of the locals: the earthy and soulful farmer's wife, Ángela (Emma Suárez, The
Red Squirrel); and the sensuous, amorous (and much too young) Mari
(Silke, The Dark Hour). Tierra's flights of fancy include spectral
doppelgangers, irate migrant gypsies, fierce lightning storms, and one very
jealous husband.
Tierra, written and directed by Julio Medem (The Red Squirrel, Vacas, Sex
and Lucia), features Karra Elejalde (Biutiful) and Nancho Novo (Lovers of the
Arctic Circle) and is beautifully lensed by cinematographer Javier
Aguirresarobe (The Road, Vicky Cristina Barcelona).
In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.
STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.
Vacas
Set in Spain's Basque Country, Vacas (Cows) tells of a bitter rivalry and a
decades-old feud between three generations of the Mendiluze and Iriguibel
families, stretching from the Third Carlist War through the Spanish Civil War.
These families, not unlike the tale of the Hatfields and McCoys, have carried
a simmering, deep-seated hatred dating back to a war-time act that left brave
Carmelo Mendiluze dead on the battlefield and the cowardly deserter Manuel
Iriguibel crippled but alive. Years have not cooled the animosity between
these houses as the film traces the lives, loves, and deaths that propel the
atmospheric story forward to its inevitable outcome. Directed by Julio Medem
(Tierra, The Red Squirrel) from a screenplay by Medem and Michel
Gaztambide, Vacas stars Carmelo Gómez (Tierra, The Red Squirrel), Emma
Suárez (Julieta, The Red Squirrel), Ana Torrent (The Other Boleyn Girl) and
Karra Elejalde (Tierra).
Director Medem is immeasurably aided by cinematographer Carles Gusi (El
Niño), whose camera captures the lush foliage of the Basque countryside and
cocoon-like farmhouse interiors, successfully recreating a bygone era. The
film also features a dramatic score courtesy of composer Alberto Iglesias
(The Constant Gardener).
In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.
STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.
Preexisting Conditions
Déjà vu! The gang is back in Preexisting Conditions (Trashology 2).
Beginning with a visit to the local library in search of the titular tome, we're
treated to the further adventures of those co-dependent gal pals, Katrina
Lizhope (writer/director Brian Dorton, Trashology) and Melissa Couch
(Douglas Conner, Trashology) along with the irrepressible Ms. Green (Gerica
Horn, Trashology), a diabetic, half-blind, wheelchair-bound mother out to
avenge the murder of her son, unaware that houseguests Katrina and
Melissa are responsible for his death.
In the grand tradition of Trashology, Preexisting Conditions (Trashology 2)
pays homage to the genre films made famous by Pink Flamingos director
John Waters while creating its own unique world of sex, violence, fried
chicken and revenge.
Slasher // Video presents Preexisting Conditions (Trashology 2), written and
directed by Brian Dorton (Trashology, Crazy Fat Ethel) and co-starring
newcomer Ayana Moore and Jenny Coulter (Trashology).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- "A Handsome Dick" short film
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes
- Katrina's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
- Outtakes and Blooper Reel
- Photo Gallery
- Trailer
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 30.