''Manolete'', also known as ''The Passion Within'' in the United Kingdom, ''Blood and Passion'' in Canada, and ''A Matador's Mistress'' in the United States, is a 2008

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

bullfighter A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activ ...

Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez, better known as "Manolete". The film was written and directed by

Menno Meyjes Menno Meyjes (born 1954) is a Dutch screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award nominee, and a Goya Award and Hugo Award winner. Biography Meyjes was born in Bloemendaal, North Holland in 1954. He moved ...

. This is the first film from HandMade Films since ''

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 neo-noir black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie. It follows a heist involving a confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of ...

'' (1998).

Plot

The Menno Meyjes directed drama stars

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Polish pianist Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's war drama '' The Pianist'' (2002) becoming the youngest acto ...

as Spanish bullfighter

Manolete Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez (4 July 1917 – 29 August 1947), known as Manolete, was a Spanish bullfighter. Career Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez was the son of a bullfighter (who also went by the name Manolete) and his wife An ...

, in a film that covers his late life love affair with actress

Lupe Sino Lupe Sino (March 6, 1917 – September 13, 1959, born Antonia Bronchalo Lopesino) was a Spanish actress. Biography Antonia Bronchalo Lopesino was born on March 6, 1917, in Sayatón, a village in Guadalajara (province), Guadalajara, Spain. She w ...

(

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 ...

) before he was gored to death in the bull ring. Sino's

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politics turned their affair into a scandal in the early 1940s, especially after discovering her previous marriage to a PCE member. The film begins with Manolete's last day in Linares.

Cast

as Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez, a.k.a. "

" *

as Antoñita "Lupe" Sino *

Santiago Segura Santiago Segura Silva (born 17 July 1965) is a Spanish filmmaker and actor. He also worked to a lesser extent as a television presenter, voice actor and comic book writer, as well as being a collector of original comic books. At 12, he began ...

as Guillermo *

Ann Mitchell Ann Mitchell (born 22 April 1939) is a British stage and television actress. She came to prominence in the 1980s when she starred as Dolly Rawlins in the crime series ''Widows'' as well as the sequels '' Widows 2'' and '' She's Out'', all writt ...

as Doña Angustias * Josep Linuesa as Enrique de Ahumada * Juan Echanove as Pepe Cámara *

Pedro Casablanc Pedro Manuel Ortiz Domínguez (born 17 April 1963), best known by his stage name of Pedro Casablanc, is a Moroccan-born actor known for his many stage, film and television performances in Spain. Biography Pedro Manuel Ortiz Domínguez was bor ...

as General * Tomas Rozzi as the 'dealer' * Nacho Aldeguer as Luis Miguel Dominguín * Diego Martín * Berta de la Dehesa *

Rubén Ochandiano Rubén Ochandiano de Higes (born 3 October 1980) is a Spanish actor. Life and career Rubén Ochandiano de Higes was born in Madrid on 3 October 1980. He is the nephew of actress and stage director . He trained as an actor under Juan Carlos Cor ...

* Omar Muñoz as young Manolete * Denise Moreno as girl *

Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez Antonio Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez (born 13 January 1977 in Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish ''torero'' or bullfighter. Family ties Rivera is the son of Francisco Rivera 'Paquirri' and Carmen Ordóñez. He belongs to a long line of famous bullfighter ...

as Torero

Release

The film premiered on 28 August 2008 in the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. 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, 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. Gravitas Ventures announced on 14 March 2011 that it has acquired VOD and

digital rights Digital rights are those human rights and Natural and legal rights, legal rights that allow individuals to access, use, create, and publish digital media or to access and use computers, other Consumer electronics, electronic devices, and teleco ...

to ''Manolete''. Gravitas, which is licensing the film from Viva Pictures, plans to release the film on demand via

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

, telco and

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

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.

Controversy

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.""Animal rights activists condemn bullfighting film Manolete"
''The Telegraph''. 30 March 2010

Filming locations

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

Alcoy Alcoy (; ; officially: / ) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 r ...

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

, Spain *

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain *

El Puerto de Santa María El Puerto de Santa María (), locally known as El Puerto and historically in English as Port Saint Mary, is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. , the c ...

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

, Spain *

Sanlúcar de Barrameda Sanlúcar may refer to: * Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a city in the Province of Cádiz, Spain * Sanlúcar de Guadiana, a village in the Province of Huelva, Spain * Sanlúcar la Mayor, a city in the Province of Seville, Spain *Sanlúcar de Albaida, forme ...

, Cádiz, Spain

References

External links

* * *
Adrien Brody discusses preparing for the role with matador Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez in the March 2008 issue of ''Men's Vogue''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manolete (Film) 2008 films 2000s historical drama films Bullfighting films British historical drama films Spanish historical drama films English-language Spanish films 2000s Spanish-language films HandMade Films films Films set in the 1940s Films shot in Madrid Biographical films about sportspeople Cultural depictions of bullfighters Cultural depictions of Spanish people Films shot at Ciudad de la Luz Films scored by Gabriel Yared 2000s English-language films 2000s British films Films with screenplays by Menno Meyjes Films directed by Menno Meyjes English-language historical drama films