This film, literally named "like a flash of lightning," is an unusual film of a teen looking for his real father. The flash of lightening title alludes to the central point in one of the father's main dialogues, where he describes how events and decisions in life often occur. A 17 year old (Eloy Azorin of ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER in his screen debut) from an affluent background (courtesy of single-mom/successful lawyer, played by Assumpta Serna), leaves his comfortable Madrid digs in search for his father. The parent the boy never met now lives in the Canary Islands. This variety of locations provides great opportunities for breathtaking cinematography, and a secondary agenda of contrasting life in Madrid with that in a laid back, stuck-in-a time warp provincial island port city. The father, as portrayed by Spain's outstanding character actor, Santiago Ramos, is pretty much all that the mother is not. The child is fascinated by this new world he discovers as much as he is with his first meeting with his father. The encounter and ensuing relationship between the two is expertly developed by the award-winning director. Though the story line is anything but new, the film's presentation of the situation, the excellent acting, beautiful locales, and illustrative, picturesque views on island life add up to an edgy drama with a difference.
4 Reviews
Coming-of-age story with emotive and touching moments and very well played
ma-cortes21 September 2018
A pretty good movie with great actors , entertainment , narrative excitement and fun . Miguel Hermoso delivers an enjoyable comedy in which the main and support cast are frankly outstanding . As the main attraction resides in its excellent cast in which stand out the magnificent stellar pair . In Miguel Hermoso's Like Lightning , Pablo (Eloy Azorin) is a typical adolescent , with a fondness for football and sneaking beers with his buddies. He enjoys an agreeable upper-middle class life with his mother (Assumpta Serna), who long time ago was a member of O.R.T. , an Revolutionary Organization where she met Rafael (Santiago Ramos) . Pablo has a gaping hole at the core of his identity: he has no idea who his dad is. , and finds himself on a trail that leads to Gran Canaria , the Canary Islands . There he meets a sensitive and vital person who hides behind the image of a tough man .
Filmmaker offers a fresh take on a familiar scenario, a father-son relationship , it results to be other of the innumerable stories to deal with family and rogue people , as a swindler father but with goodheart . From start to finish this moving film contains drama , emotion , a wonderful and deep friendship between father/son and a lot of songs . Hermoso carries out a solid comedy , achieving a big hit at the Spanish box office . Duo protagonist , Santiago Ramos , Eloy Azorin , are top-notch , they steal the show , both of whom turn an efficient acting . Nice film , though it has a few gaps , but anyway, its is compensated with the great performances from Santiago Ramos , chewing scenary as the roguish father . Eloy Azorin film debut , he provides a moving interpretation as the teenaged boy searching for his unknown father and preoccupied with the question to the point of obsession, he leaves his comfortable life and sets out in search of answers . Asumpta Sernas gives a fine acting as a successful lawyer and former feminist rabble , and present-day , a worried mummy . Atmospheric as well attractive musical score by the great musicians Victor Reyes and Oscar Gómez , though composed by synthesizer ; soundtrack includes some catching songs .Colorful and evocative cinematography by Fernando Arribas , showing marvelously Gran Canaria . Arribas is considered to be one of the best Spanish cameramen , including notorious titles as Tirano Banderas , El palomo Cojo , Salsa rosa , La noche más larga , El vuelo de la paloma , Pasodoble , Goya , La Forja de un rebelde , Matar al Nani , La casa de Bernarda Alba , Divinas palabras and many others .
Competent filming in the hands of a good filmmaker , as the motion picture was professionally directed by Miguel Hermoso , being shot in his usual stylistic way , without leaving amusement and fun . His feature debut was ¨Truhanes¨ with Francisco Rabal and Arturo Fernández . Ten years later , Hermoso and the same duo , Rabal-Arturo, shot a ¨Sitcom¨ that also had much success as well as the original film . Miguel Hermoso is an expert on comedy as proved in ¨Loco Veneno¨, ¨Marbella¨ and drama such as ¨Como Un Relampago¨, the biopic ¨Lola¨ about Lola Flores , ¨Luz Prodigiosa¨ and his greatest hit was ¨Fugitivas¨ . Rating : 7.5/10, good movie . The picture will appeal to Santiago Ramos and Eloy Azorin fans and Spanish comedy enthusiast . The picture has several prizes such as : Goya Awards 1997 Winner Goya Best Lead Actor Santiago Ramos ; Huelva Latin American Film Festival 1996 Winner Golden Colon Miguel Hermoso ; Miami Hispanic Film Festival 1997 Winner Golden Egret Best Director Miguel Hermoso ; Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival 1997 Winner , Best Actor Santiago Ramos , Winner Best Director Miguel Hermoso
Filmmaker offers a fresh take on a familiar scenario, a father-son relationship , it results to be other of the innumerable stories to deal with family and rogue people , as a swindler father but with goodheart . From start to finish this moving film contains drama , emotion , a wonderful and deep friendship between father/son and a lot of songs . Hermoso carries out a solid comedy , achieving a big hit at the Spanish box office . Duo protagonist , Santiago Ramos , Eloy Azorin , are top-notch , they steal the show , both of whom turn an efficient acting . Nice film , though it has a few gaps , but anyway, its is compensated with the great performances from Santiago Ramos , chewing scenary as the roguish father . Eloy Azorin film debut , he provides a moving interpretation as the teenaged boy searching for his unknown father and preoccupied with the question to the point of obsession, he leaves his comfortable life and sets out in search of answers . Asumpta Sernas gives a fine acting as a successful lawyer and former feminist rabble , and present-day , a worried mummy . Atmospheric as well attractive musical score by the great musicians Victor Reyes and Oscar Gómez , though composed by synthesizer ; soundtrack includes some catching songs .Colorful and evocative cinematography by Fernando Arribas , showing marvelously Gran Canaria . Arribas is considered to be one of the best Spanish cameramen , including notorious titles as Tirano Banderas , El palomo Cojo , Salsa rosa , La noche más larga , El vuelo de la paloma , Pasodoble , Goya , La Forja de un rebelde , Matar al Nani , La casa de Bernarda Alba , Divinas palabras and many others .
Competent filming in the hands of a good filmmaker , as the motion picture was professionally directed by Miguel Hermoso , being shot in his usual stylistic way , without leaving amusement and fun . His feature debut was ¨Truhanes¨ with Francisco Rabal and Arturo Fernández . Ten years later , Hermoso and the same duo , Rabal-Arturo, shot a ¨Sitcom¨ that also had much success as well as the original film . Miguel Hermoso is an expert on comedy as proved in ¨Loco Veneno¨, ¨Marbella¨ and drama such as ¨Como Un Relampago¨, the biopic ¨Lola¨ about Lola Flores , ¨Luz Prodigiosa¨ and his greatest hit was ¨Fugitivas¨ . Rating : 7.5/10, good movie . The picture will appeal to Santiago Ramos and Eloy Azorin fans and Spanish comedy enthusiast . The picture has several prizes such as : Goya Awards 1997 Winner Goya Best Lead Actor Santiago Ramos ; Huelva Latin American Film Festival 1996 Winner Golden Colon Miguel Hermoso ; Miami Hispanic Film Festival 1997 Winner Golden Egret Best Director Miguel Hermoso ; Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival 1997 Winner , Best Actor Santiago Ramos , Winner Best Director Miguel Hermoso
Coming from the best traditional and classical European theatre
khatcher-22 August 2001
For some reason which just gets into the head of some youngsters, Pablo decides he wants to find out who his father was. And does so. Fortunately for the good of Spanish film-making in general, and for the good of Miguel Hermoso in particular: SANTIAGO RAMOS is a genius. Playing the part of Rafael, vanished father of Pablo (Eloy Azorín) whose mother Sonia (Assumpta Serna) mysteriously dissuades her son from trying to find him, Ramos plays the part of a mid-forties adventure-liver sliding through life as a radio programme presenter in a lost corner of the Canary Islands. Though born in Salamanca but having come up through the theatre world especially in Madrid, Ramos puts on an Andalusian accent with such flair and authenticity as to leave the understanding spectator at his feet. Splendid, superb, brilliant: magnificent, exemplary, this is acting and interpretation of the highest order. Your big names of Hollywood are no match for this kind of playing. However, in any dubbed version all the beauty of the interpretation would be lost, and of course with subtitles you really must pay attention, but it is worth it. Serna and Azorín speak with a more or less neutral Spanish accent, more or less typical of educated Madrid, and are much easier to understand. Santiago Ramos' assumed Andalusian accent and some of the local Canary voices are rather more difficult to understand. If you get this one on your TV, give it a try, but I refer of course to people interested in serious cinema, not light-hearted entertainment.
Entertaining son-searching-for-father story
GMeleJr16 April 2000
This 1996 Spanish film follows the familiar story of the teenage son looking for his real father. In this case, the 17 year old boy is played by Eloy Azorin, now famous as the ill-fated son in ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER. In this, his screen debut, he embodies the role of the estranged son very convincingly. The acting is excellent throughout the film. Santiago Ramos, one of Spain's best character actors, is perfect in the role of the sought-after father, as is Assumpta Serna as the mother. The cinematography is outstanding, making the most of picturesque locations in Madrid's upper class residential neighborhoods, in the city itself, and particularly the Canary Islands. The strong direction (winner of Best Director Award at the 1999/97 Miami Hispanic Film Festival) binds the other outstanding elements to make a good entertaining film from a story which has been overworked as any in film history; otherwise the film would be just one more in the genre. But the movie does stand out amongst the son-seeking-father genre, and is definitely worth watching, particularly if you follow Spanish cinema.
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