This movie, BLACK TEARS in English, deals with the unusual theme of a nice, educated young guy who falls in love with a mentally ill young woman. He is attractive, successful, and about to get married. She varies in appearance and demeanor, belonging to the upper crust of society, from which she often escapes in wild, very dark episodes. This is, arguably one of the best Spanish dramas of 1999, having been nominated for several awards, including the Best Actress Goya for Ariadne Gil in January 2000. The cast is uniformly excellent. Spanish film fans will notice two rather extreme departures in the casting. Fele Martinez (OPEN YOUR EYES, THESIS, LOVERS OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE) who usually plays goofy, very plain-looking guys has been transformed into a hip and handsome leading man, with no glasses, facial hair, or bad hair, and a pumped up physique. On the other hand, Gil, usually the gorgeous irresistible heroine, is most often shown here as an unattractive and unkept psychopath. So both leads are cast against type, and yet succeed admirably. An unusual drama worth checking out.
Review of Lágrimas negras
