Archive of films Hours of the Day / Las horas del día

Spain
2003, 103 min

Section: Focus on Catalan Film
Year: 2004

The experts agree about one thing: most murderers are normal people. So normal you wouldn’t want to believe they are capable of committing such terrible crimes. Only what is it to be a “normal person”? What hides behind the fact that someone gets up, goes to work, eats, laughs, suffers...

Synopsis

Abel lives with his mother in a small town near Barcelona. All his life has been spent between the small family shop, his mother’s home, his girlfriend’s bed, the kiosk on the corner, and local bars. As owner of a small clothes shop, his biggest excitement consists of arguments with his salesgirl Trini about giving her a pay rise. Unlike his friend, the owner of a newsstand, he’s come to terms with the fact that “you have to be content with what you’ve got.” He has no ambition, his lack of interest in anything at all chills even his unemployed girlfriend. Always the same problems, the same faces, the same conversations – that is until a chasm opens under this apparently quiet and polite man. A chasm for which there is no explanation, but which repeats itself inevitably. One Thursday afternoon Abel commits another murder… This is not a detective story, a look into morbid sexuality nor a psychological portrait. In the eyes of others Abel is a “normal person” who gets up just like they do, goes to work, eats, laughs, suffers… 

About the director

Jaime Rosales (b. 1970, Barcelona) graduated in economics from ESADE. In 1996, with already some work in film to his credit, he won a scholarship to the prestigious international film and television school San Antonio de los BaĖos (EICTV) in Havana, where he graduated in direction. In 1999 he won another scholarship as part of a student exchange between EICTV and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in Sydney. After returning home, he worked as a TV scriptwriter until 2001, when he began to cooperate with Fresdeval Films. Filmography (shorts): Virginia no dice mentiras (1997, awards at festivals in Paza and Camagüey, Cuba), Palabras de una revolución (1998), I Had a Pig Called Rubiel (Yo tuve un cerdo llamado Rubiel, 1998, prizes at festivals in Huesca, Havana and Santa Fe) and The Fish Bowl (La pecera, 1999, awards at festivals in Kiev and Figueira da Foz in Portugal). The Hours of the Day (2003) is his feature debut.  

Contacts

Fresdeval Films S.L.
Hileras 4, 6 - 8, 280 13, Madrid
Spain
Tel: +34 91 559 9677
Fax: +34 91 542 7592
E-mail: [email protected]

Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales
Plaza del Rey 1, 28004, Madrid
Spain
Tel: +34 917 017 000, +34 917 017 259
Fax: +34 917 017 394
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.icaa.es

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About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Focus on Catalan Film

Director:	Jaime Rosales
Screenplay:	Jaime Rosales, Enric Rufas
Dir. of Photography:	Óscar Durán
Editor:	Nino Martínez
Producer:	Jaime Rosales, Ricard Figueras
Production:	Fresdeval Films S.L.
Cast:	Alex Brendemühl, Ágata Roca, María Antonia Martínez, Pape Monsoriu, Vicente Romero, Irene Belza
Contact:	Fresdeval Films S.L., Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales

www:	www.wanda.es

Guests

Angela Bosch Rius

Distributor