Manolete (film)

The Menno Meyjes directed drama stars Adrien Brody as Spanish bullfighter Manolete, in a film that covers his late life love affair with actress Lupe Sino (Penélope Cruz) before he was gored to death in the bull ring. Sino's communist politics turned their affair into a scandal in the early 1940s, especially after discovering her previous marriage to a PCE member.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2011/03/adrien-brody-penelope-cruz-pic-a-matadors-mistress-bypasses-theatrical-for-vod-release-by-gravitas-ventures-113721/|title=Adrien Brody-Penelope Cruz Pic 'A Matador's Mistress' Bypasses Theatrical For VOD Release By Gravitas Ventures|last=Fleming|first=Mike|date=14 March 2011|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=16 March 2011}} The film begins with Manolete's last day in Linares.

• Adrien Brody as Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez, a.k.a. "Manolete"
• Penélope Cruz as Antoñita "Lupe" Sino
• Santiago Segura as Guillermo
• Ann Mitchell as Doña Angustias
• Josep Linuesa as Enrique de Ahumada
• Juan Echanove as Pepe Cámara
• Pedro Casablanc as General
• Tomas Rozzi as the 'dealer'
• Nacho Aldeguer as Luis Miguel Dominguín
• Diego Martín
• Berta de la Dehesa
• Rubén Ochandiano
• Omar Muñoz as young Manolete
• Denise Moreno as girl
• Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez as Torero

The film premiered on 28 August 2008 in the Toronto International Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://www.elconfidencialdigital.com/Articulo.aspx?IdObjeto=17551|title='Manolete', the film by Lola Films that financed 'El Pocero', will premiere at the Toronto festival on September 6 almost a year late|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006065322/http://www.elconfidencialdigital.com/Articulo.aspx?IdObjeto=17551|access-date=24 November 2021|archive-date=6 October 2011}}

Despite a planned release date of 2007, the film faced several production delays and a spiralling budget. Although it was scheduled for a theatrical release in France on 31 March 2010,[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/blood-bulls-and-boycott-manolete-strikes-again-1930679.html Blood, bulls and boycott: Manolete strikes again] The Independent Deadline's Mike Fleming reported that, "Even though the film stars two Oscar winners, it never found any takers for a theatrical run." The film has been shelved since 2007.

In April 2011 - Xenon Pictures CEO Leigh Savidge announced that on 7 June 2011 Xenon Pictures would release a newly edited version of A Matador's Mistress on DVD.{{Cite press release|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/penelope-cruz-and-adrien-brody-steam-up-the-screen-in-long-awaited-a-matadors-mistress-119240894.html|title=Penelope Cruz and Adrien Brody Steam Up The Screen In Long-Awaited "A Matador's Mistress"|website=Prnewswire.com|access-date=24 November 2021}}

Gravitas Ventures announced on 14 March 2011 that it has acquired VOD and digital rights to Manolete. Gravitas, which is licensing the film from Viva Pictures, plans to release the film on demand via cable, satellite, telco and online in June 2011. "We are confident no one is better positioned to exploit this epic high-value production on a digital platform," said Viva president Victor Elizalde.{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118033853|title=Gravitas Ventures signs Brody, Cruz film|last=Punter|first=Jennie|date=14 March 2011|work=Variety|access-date=16 March 2011}}

Although bullfighting scenes were shot expensively without bulls, animal rights activists encouraged a boycott of the film. Protestors rejected what they perceived to be a glamorous image of a matador on film. "It is inadmissible to release a film in which the hero is a matador," said the Alliance Anticorrida, a French anti-bullfighting group, in a message to its 20,000 members. "If they are properly informed, a great number of spectators will avoid this new film."[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/7537124/Animal-rights-activists-condemn-bullfighting-film-Manolete.html "Animal rights activists condemn bullfighting film Manolete"] The Telegraph. 30 March 2010

The film was shot in 2005, four years before Cruz won her Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

• Córdoba, Spain
• Alcoy, Alicante, Spain
• Alicante, Spain
• Madrid, Spain
• El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, Spain
• Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, Spain

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.manolete-derfilm.de/}}
• {{IMDb title|0491046|Manolete}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|a_matadors_mistress}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080304042345/http://www.mensvogue.com/health/feature/articles/2008/03/cayetano Adrien Brody discusses preparing for the role with matador Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez in the March 2008 issue of Men's Vogue]

{{HandMade Films}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manolete (Film)}}

Category:2008 films

Category:2000s historical drama films

Category:Bullfighting films

Category:British historical drama films

Category:Spanish historical drama films

Category:English-language Spanish films

Category:2000s Spanish-language films

Category:HandMade Films films

Category:Films set in the 1940s

Category:Films shot in Madrid

Category:Biographical films about sportspeople

Category:Cultural depictions of bullfighters

Category:Cultural depictions of Spanish people

Category:Films shot at Ciudad de la Luz

Category:Films scored by Gabriel Yared

Category:2000s English-language films

Category:2000s British films

Category:Films with screenplays by Menno Meyjes

Category:Films directed by Menno Meyjes

Category:English-language historical drama films