GERARDO VERA
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.
Original title: Segunda Piel
Spain, 1999. Antena 3 Televisión, Lolafilms, Vía Digital. Original idea by Gerardo Vera, Writer Angeles Gonzalez Sinde. Cinematography by Julio Madurga. Produced by Andrés Vicente Gómez. Music by Roque Baños. Production Design by Ana Alvargonzalez. Costume Design by Macarena Soto. Film Editing by Nicholas Wentworth.
Ariadna Gil discovers a hotel bill in her husband’s pocket that she knows means he’s having an affair with another woman. Burn on her: he (Jordi Mollà) is actually leading a double life with a male doctor (Javier Bardem). Unlike Ferzan Ozpetek’s Ignorant Fairies (His Secret Life), which was a delightfully enjoyable tale of personal discovery and emotional restitution, this incredibly bad film takes its lead from zero-talent soap operas and television movies. The ending is hopelessly schmaltzy, and Gil’s character, who is the focus of most of the story, is never particularly sympathetic. It’s impossible to discern just how the director managed to collect such an impressive cast for such a tediously familiar film. Fans of Spanish cinema will want to watch it for Bardem’s appearance, and also for the supporting turn by All About My Mother‘s Cecilia Roth as Bardem’s sassy medical colleague.
