''Rainbow'' is a 2022 Spanish

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by

Paco León Francisco León Barrios (born 4 October 1974), known as Paco León () is a Spanish actor, producer, director, screenwriter and activist. Born in Seville, León began his career in television comedy roles in Andalusian regional productions. Follow ...

, loosely based on

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

's 1900 novel ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...

''. The film stars Dora Postigo, Áyax Pedrosa, Wekaforé Jibril (Spirit Disco), Carmen Maura,

Carmen Machi María del Carmen Machi Arroyo (born 7 January 1963) is a Spanish actress. She become popular for her role as Aída in the television series ''7 vidas'' and ''Aída''. Biography María del Carmen Machi Arroyo was born on 7 January 1963 in Madr ...

and

Luis Bermejo Luis Bermejo Rojo (12 August 1931 – 12 December 2015) was a Spanish illustrator and comics artist known for his work published in Spain, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. He has illustrated a number of novels, and worked for a while ...

. The film premiered at the 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival on 18 September 2022. It later received a release in select theatres in Spain on 23 September 2022, and a streaming debut on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on 30 September.

Premise

The film, "not a musical film" but featuring "a lot of music" according to Paco León, follows the

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

story of a teenager with an extraordinary musical talent ( Dora) leaving home alongside her dog Toto upon a quarrel with her father Diego, embarking on a journey to 'Ciudad Capital'.

Cast

Production

''Rainbow'' is inspired on

's ''

''.

co-wrote the screenplay alongside Javier Gullón, and is also credited as producer. Produced by

Telecinco Cinema Telecinco Cinema, S.A.U. is the film production division of Mediaset España. It produces both feature films and television films. History Telecinco Cinema is a subsidiary film company of Mediaset España. Formerly known as Estudios Picasso, the ...

in collaboration with Los amigos de Dorothy AIE, and the participation of Andy Joke and Colosé Producciones, filming began on 2 August 2021. Shooting locations included the

Madrid region The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...

and the provinces of

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

and

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

. Netflix reported the wrap in October 2021. Other crew duties were entrusted to Marc Miró (cinematography), and Ana Álvarez-Ossorio (editing), whereas Diego Postigo helmed the coordination of the musical production.

Release

The film had its

world premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its f ...

at the 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival's 'Velodrome' section on 18 September 2022. It was released in select theatres on 23 September 2022, followed by a worldwide release on Netflix streaming on 30 September 2022.

Reception

Fernando Bernal of '' Cinemanía'' rated the film 1 out of 5 stars, writing that León's "road movie never manages to pick up speed" and its sequences "falter within their own rhythm". Elsa Fernández-Santos of ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' wrote about a film "capable of both the best and the worst", featuring an awry catharsis somewhat amended by a beautiful epilogue, resulting into an "uneven and largely botched film", even if having the courage to look to the future". Raquel Hernández Luján of ''

HobbyConsolas ''HobbyConsolas'' is a Spanish video game magazine founded in 1991 by Hobby Press and published by Axel Springer SE. The first issue appeared in October 1990. The monthly magazine offers information about games for all consoles, and since 2012 ha ...

'' scored 40 out of 100 points ("bad"), deeming it to be an "immature and pretentious" proposal, with "clumsy" metaphors, and a final party that ends up becoming "irritating". John Serba of '' Decider.com'' considered that the film "boasts enough compelling and creative pieces and parts to merit a recommendation, even if they don't quite come together as a whole".

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "2" align = "center" , 2023 , , rowspan = "2" ,

2nd Carmen Awards The 2nd Carmen Awards were presented by the Andalusian Film Academy on 4 February 2023 at Almerías . Background The ceremony enjoyed the support from Diputación Provincial de Almería, the Andalusia's Regional Ministry of Tourism, Culture and ...

, , Best Adapted Screenplay , , Paco León, Javier Gullón , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best New Actor , , Ayax Pedrosa , ,

References

External links

* * {{authority control 2022 drama films 2022 films 2022 fantasy films 2020s coming-of-age drama films 2020s fantasy drama films 2020s Spanish films 2020s Spanish-language films Films based on The Wizard of Oz Magic realism films Films shot in the Community of Madrid Films shot in the province of Guadalajara Films shot in the province of Segovia Films shot in the province of Toledo Spanish coming-of-age drama films Spanish fantasy drama films Spanish-language Netflix original films Telecinco Cinema films