''Open Your Eyes'' () is a 1997 Spanish film directed and co-scored by

Alejandro Amenábar Alejandro Fernando Amenábar Cantos (born 31 March 1972) is a Chilean-Spanish film director, screenwriter and composer. He has won nine Goya Awards—including Best Director for his 2001 film '' The Others''—and two European Film Awards amon ...

& written by Amenábar and

Mateo Gil Mateo Gil Rodríguez (born 23 September 1972, Las Palmas, Spain) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, second unit director, assistant director, cinematographer, editor and producer. He co-wrote most of Alejandro Amenábar's films with him ...

. It stars Eduardo Noriega,

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a David di Donatello and three Goya Awards. Cru ...

Chete Lera Ramón Mariano Fernández Lera (1949–2022), better known as Chete Lera, was a Spanish actor. With a long on-screen career in addition to a stage career, he featured in films such as ''The Red Squirrel'', ''Secrets of the Heart (film), Secrets ...

Fele Martínez Rafael "Fele" Martínez (born 22 February 1975) is a Spanish actor. He gained notoriety for his performance as Chema in ''Thesis'' (1996), his feature film debut and for which he won the Goya Award for Best New Actor. Early years Rafael Martínez ...

and

Najwa Nimri Najwa Nimri Urrutikoetxea (; born 14 February 1972) is a Spanish actress and singer. In 1996, Nimri formed the musical duo ''Najwajean'' along with producer Carlos Jean, launching ''No Blood'', an early instance of a trip-hop album in Spain. S ...

. In 2002, ''Open Your Eyes'' was ranked no. 84 in the Top 100 Sci-Fi List by the

Online Film Critics Society The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) is an international professional association of online film journalists, historians and scholars who publish their work on the World Wide Web. The organization was founded in January 1997 by Harvey S. Karten ...

. The film's intersecting planes of dream and reality have prompted some critics to suggest comparisons to Calderón de la Barca's 1635 play '' Life Is a Dream''. An American remake entitled ''

Vanilla Sky ''Vanilla Sky'' is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by Cameron Crowe. It is an English-language remake of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 Spanish film '' Open Your Eyes'', which was writ ...

'', directed by

Cameron Crowe Cameron Bruce Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American filmmaker and journalist. He has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Grammy Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award. Crowe started his career a ...

, was released in 2001, with Penélope Cruz reprising her role.

Plot

A handsome young man wakes up to a female voice telling him to open his eyes. He drives to an empty city. He wakes again, this time to a woman in his bed. He tells her not to leave him messages on his alarm clock. From a prison cell in Madrid, the 25-year-old man, César ( Eduardo Noriega), tells his story to psychiatrist Antonio (Chete Lera) while wearing a

prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...

mask. Flashbacks reveal the following events: good-looking César is attractive to women. At his birthday party, he flirts with Sofía (

), his best friend Pelayo's (

) date. Later, he takes her home and stays the night, but they do not sleep together. The next morning, César's obsessive ex-lover Nuria (

) pulls up outside Sofía's flat, offering him a ride and sex. On the way to her house, however, she crashes the car with the intent to kill them both. César survives the crash but is horribly disfigured, beyond the help of cosmetic surgery, so he decides to wear a mask to conceal his face. Sofía cannot bear to see him and tries to keep her distance. After César's disfigurement, he begins to have a series of disorienting experiences. Drunk, César falls asleep in the street. On awakening, everything has changed: Sofía now claims to love him and the surgeons restore his lost looks. But as he makes love to Sofía one night, she suddenly changes into Nuria. Horrified, César smothers her to death with a pillow. Yet everyone else believes Nuria is indeed the woman everyone else calls Sofía, and he is imprisoned for her murder. While he is confined to the prison, fragments of his past return to him as if in a dream. It is revealed that, shortly after falling asleep drunk on the street, César signed a contract with Life Extension, a company specializing in

cryonics Cryonics (from ''kryos'', meaning "cold") is the low-temperature freezing (usually at ) and storage of human remains in the hope that resurrection may be possible in the future. Cryonics is regarded with skepticism by the mainstream scien ...

, to be cryogenically preserved and to experience extremely

lucid Lucid may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lucid'' (film), a 2005 Canadian film * ''Lucid'' (Lyfe Jennings album), 2013 * ''Lucid'' (Aṣa album), 2019 * "Lucid" (song), a 2020 song by Rina Sawayama * "Lucid", a 2023 song by (G)I-dle from ...

and lifelike

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

dreams. Returning to their headquarters, under supervision by prison officers, he discovers they specialize in cryonics with a twist: "artificial perception" or the provision of a fantasy based on the past to clients who are reborn in the future. He committed suicide at home shortly after signing the contract and was placed in cryonic suspension. Duvernois, the L.E. representative who explains César's experiences to him while dreaming, reveals that the era is 150 years in the future and César's time from his awakening in the street onward has been a dream, spliced retroactively into his actual life and replacing his true memories. At the end of the film, César decides to wake and be resurrected by committing suicide. Convinced his life since the drunken night in the street has been a nightmarish vision created by Life Extension, he leaps from the roof of the company's high-rise headquarters, and the film ends, apparently ambiguously, on a black screen with a woman telling him to open his eyes.

Cast

* Eduardo Noriega as César, a confident and wealthy young man who has money and is successful with women *

as Pelayo, César's best friend, whose personality is marked by his inferiority complex when it comes to meeting women *

as Sofía, César's love interest *

as Nuria, César's former lover, who still has feelings for him *

Tristán Ulloa Tristán Ulloa (born 6 May 1970) is a Spanish actor, writer, and director. Career Tristán Ulloa was born in Orléans, France, and soon moved to Madrid, Spain, where he spent his early childhood. At age 12, he moved to Vigo, Galicia. His mother, ...

as Camarero *

as Antonio, a psychologist who tries to help *

Gérard Barray Gérard Barray (2 November 1931 – 15 February 2024) was a French actor. Early life and education Gérard Barray was born in Toulouse on 2 November 1931. His parents split up quickly and his mother, who came from Montauban, decided to return t ...

as Duvernois, a representative of the L.E. company

Release

The film was theatrically released on 19 December 1997.

Reception

Critical reception

''Open Your Eyes'' received mostly positive reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an 85% approval rating based on reviews from 47 critics, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 7.39 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states: "Director Alejandro Amenábar tackles some heady issues with finesse and clarity in ''Open Your Eyes'', a gripping exploration of existentialism and the human spirit".

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

of ReelViews gave the film three and a half stars (out of four), writing that movies "of this intelligence, audacity, and complexity come along so rarely that it's mandatory to cry out their arrival" and that "those who see it will not quickly forget the experience". Rob Blackwelder of SplicedWire gave the film four stars (out of four), calling it "a jaw-dropping psychological thriller" that's "beautifully orchestrated". Richard Scheib of ''The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review'' also gave ''Open Your Eyes'' four stars, writing that it is "quite a remarkable film". Holly E. Ordway of DVD Active wrote "I don't give out “perfect 10” ratings lightly, but ''Open Your Eyes'' earns one by all accounts". However, Aaron Beierle of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

gave a more lukewarm review, writing that he "found most of ''Open Your Eyes'' interesting" but remarked that "there's something about the picture that kept me from being completely involved". In 2016, Alejandro Amenábar said in a retrospective that ''Open Your Eyes'' was his worst film, saying that it had been written by teenagers, who did not know anything about life.

Box office

In Spain, the film was the second highest-grossing Spanish film of the year behind ''

Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley ''Torrente, the Dumb Arm of the Law'' () is a 1998 Spanish dark comedy film written and directed by Santiago Segura, who stars as José Luis Torrente, a racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and fascist former police agent. Characterized by its ...

'' with a gross of $7.8 million. In the United States and Canada it grossed $370,720. Elsewhere it grossed $0.7 million.

Soundtrack

;Vol. #1 #"Glamour" - Amphetamine Discharge (6:03) #"Risingson" -

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

(5:29) #"El detonador EMX-3" - Chucho (5:17) #"How do" -

Sneaker Pimps Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, '' Becoming X'' (1996), and its singles " 6 Underground" and " Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an articl ...

(5:04) #"Sick of you" - Onion (4:28) #"T-sebo" - Side Effects (5:44) #"Flying away" -

Smoke City Smoke City was an English band that blended acid jazz and trip hop, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as samba and bossa nova and some lyrics have excerpts in Portuguese. They are best known for their single " Underwater Love", which was ...

(3:50) #"Arrecife" - Los Coronas (3:11) #"Yo mismo" - If (3:37) #"Tremble (goes the night)" -

The Walkabouts The Walkabouts were an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. The core members were vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman. Although the rest of the lineup changed occasionally, for most of the tim ...

(5:02) #"El detonador remix" – Chucho / Side Effects (5:01) ;Vol. #2 (Instrumental) #"Abre los ojos" (2:28) #"Sofía" (1:12) #"Soñar es una mierda" (1:04) #"La operación" (1:33) #"¿Dónde está Sofía?" (0:54) #"El parque" (3:08) #"Hipnosis" (2:20) #"Quítate la careta" (2:56) #"Eres mi mejor amigo" (2:41) #"La única explicación" (2:05) #"Quiero verte" (6:38) #"Esa sonrisa" (0:53) #"''Deja vu''" (1:51) #"Excarcelación" (4:28) #"La vida" (1:46) #"La azotea" (5:21) #"Créditos finales" (3:31) Source: .

Awards and nominations

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "10" , 1999 , , rowspan = "10" ,

13th Goya Awards The 13th Goya Awards were presented in Madrid, Spain on 23 January 1999. ''The Girl of Your Dreams ''The Girl of Your Dreams'' () is a 1998 Spanish drama film produced and directed by Fernando Trueba. Set during the Spanish Civil War, it cente ...

, , colspan = "2" ,

Best Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, , , , rowspan = "10" , , - ,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

, , Alejandro Amenábar , , , - ,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

, , Alejandro Amenábar y Mateo Gil , , , - , Best Actor , , Eduardo Noriega , , , - , Best Editing , , María Elena Sáinz de Rozas , , , - ,

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

, , Wolfgang Burmann , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Emiliano Otegui , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , Colin Arthur, Paca Almenara, Sylvie Imbert , , , - ,

Best Sound The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, , Daniel Goldstein, Patrick Ghislain, Ricardo Steinberg , , , - , Best Special Effects , , Reyes Abades, Alberto Esteban, Aurelio Sánchez , ,

American remake

Director

's film ''

'' (2001) is a remake of ''Open Your Eyes''. It stars

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

in the lead role (renamed David Aames),

reprising her role as Sofia,

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. Prolific in both comedy and drama, Cameron Diaz filmography, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S. box-office. Her output of romantic comedies in the late 1990s a ...

as the woman who disfigures David (renamed Julianna Gianni),

Jason Lee Jason Michael Lee (born April 25, 1970) is an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and former professional skateboarder. He is known for playing Earl Hickey in the television comedy series ''My Name Is Earl'', for which he was nominated for ...

as the friend (renamed Brian Shelby), and

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor before transitioning to leading roles as an adult in various genres such as action adventures, science-fiction, westerns, romance films, co ...

as the psychiatrist (renamed Curtis McCabe). Transporting the action from Madrid to New York City, ''Vanilla Sky'' follows its source material's plot very closely, but makes several changes to the ending.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1997 films 1997 psychological thriller films 1990s Spanish-language films Films about suspended animation Films about telepresence Films about memory erasure and alteration Films directed by Alejandro Amenábar Films scored by Alejandro Amenábar Films shot in Madrid Films set in Madrid Films about dreams Films with screenplays by Mateo Gil Artisan Entertainment films Films about plastic surgery Spanish psychological thriller films Spanish science fiction thriller films 1990s Spanish films Films set in 1997 1997 science fiction films Films about virtual reality