Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7909 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-12-26
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lauded in its native Spain on its release, Benito Zambrano's Solas is a touching portrayal of loneliness and redemption. At its centre is the strained relationship between Maria and her mother Rosa, brought together by Maria's estranged father's illness. Rosa (brilliantly played by Maria Galiana) not only discovers a world very different from her village existence but also finds her daughter's life in disarray--racked with frustration, bitterness and fuelled by alcohol. As the film develops, the two find their relationship not only beginning to grow but also influenced by the arrival of their elderly neighbour, played by Carlos Álvarez Novoa. All three find a new purpose to their lives and, while students of feminism may find Maria's path a little debatable, Ana Fernádez brings the audience on her journey in heart touching fashion. The darkness of tone throughout only makes the subsequent brightness all the more blinding and the result is without doubt a deeply moving piece of cinema. --Phil Udell

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 5
Spanish
Region 0
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Spanish
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Theatrical Trailer
Production Notes
Filmographies
English

Synopsis
Like Satyajit Ray's APARAJITO or Yasujiro Ozu's TOKYO STORY, director Benito Zambrono's SOLAS is a quiet, realistic film that examines relationships between parents and children, the decline of traditional values, and urban anomie. While waiting for her husband to recover in a hospital, a mother (Maria Galiana) stays with her estranged daughter, Maria (Ana Fernandez), who fled her parents rural home in Andalusia because she could no longer bear her father's abusiveness and her mother's passivity. As the daughter struggles to find dignity in her job and her relationships with men, her mother quietly tries to brighten the life of her daughter and an elderly neighbor with only a dog for a companion. Gradually, Maria realizes that behind her mother's passivity is a strength and compassion that is rare in modern Spain. SOLAS, which means alone, is a low-budget film using little-known actors; it's strong and moving, however, with emotionally wrenching performances from the entire cast. Setting a high standard with his feature-film debut, Zambrano suggests that the solution to loneliness and poverty lies in remembering how to care for others.

Customer Reviews

A feel good movie European style
'Solas' manages to concoct an intoxicating mix of hard-hitting tenderness, that makes the positive finale all the more rewarding and the dark humour scattered through the film especially poignant. With no pretension or delusions of glamour whatsoever one is asked to join in the mundane lives of the protagonists - all of whom feel in some way alone and abandoned. 'Solas' explores their loneliness, anger, frustration and despair at very close quarters, the no-frills camerawork adding to the sense that one is somehow invading their intimacy

This is a very human and personal film that moves in a way many films aspire to but very few manage.

A beautiful film
I'd agree wholeheartedly with the other reviewers of this film. It is dark, and in parts quite depressing. The ending is uplifting, the film makes it plain that even if opportunities lost cannot be recaptured, second best may be good enough and happiness can come in unexpected forms and from unexpected places.

One word of warning, the subtitling is pretty naff. The letters have no black background or edging, and are practically invisible in some scenes.

Even so, it's well worth watching.

Real People, real life
I was really impressed with this film, Benito Zambrano's main one to date and thought the acting and direction made it very plausible and reflective of true to life experiences, both of women, families and culturally within Spain. It's not a happy or easy film particularly and I think you need to put a bit of audience work into it to get the most out of it, otherwise it might fly a bit over your head. It makes a change from Almodovar's reign on Spanish movies and is a lot better.
Maria (Fernandez) is a product of her environment if ever I saw one, and you begin to wonder if things can ever change for the better. Her routine consisting of getting by with alcohol, a one sided occasional relationship with a disinterested trucker, a child like mother and disowned by her own oppressive father it's a wonder she manages to hold down her miserable cleaning job to pay for her cheap and nasty flat. A lot of background is in the form of blink and you'll miss it dialogue which like the film is deep but under stated. Despite stealing for her alcohol dependency and being defensive with her mother under the strain she is trying to make a life for herself and shows some good qualities underneath, rejecting the lecherous bar owner and helping care for her mother for example. Her character and behaviour is really destructive in it's self preservatory mode but sadening and fascinating at the same time. Everybody wants something from Maria but seemingly noone wants to give anything positive back. The similarly verbally defunct mother after placating her husband for several decades has her own story as well as her history and future story with Maria. Interestingly her mother and later herself develop a friendship with Maria's neighbour (all five main characters relate to the title Solas meaning alone) that leads the story into another direction/tangent. My only criticism is towards the end it seemed to drift a bit to me and I found the ending unsatisfactory and a bit unrealistic/unecessary. I can only assume it means to show that things are temporary and situations/people can change.
I've read a few bad reviews for this film, normally revloving around some presumed slight against patriachal systems or offending feminists, but I can't see any grounds on either front - in fact if anything I feel the opposite. It's along the neo-realist/humanist front; not sentimental, a bit grim, a bit shocking, a bit sad and I think it's a shame it doesn't get more attention. Won 35 awards including at Tokyo, Brussels and Berlin and was nominated for 11 Goyas (Spanish Oscars).