2002, Spain
Director: Fernando Trueba
Producer: Andrés Vicente Gómez, Cristina Huete
Production: Lola Films
Screenplay: Fernando Trueba
Cast: Ariadna Gil, Fernando Fernán-Gómez, Eduard Fernández
Cinematographer: José Luis López Linares
Based on a novel by Juan Marsé, the film takes place in gloomy, post-war Barcelona. Captain Blay, who strolls down the streets with a bandage on his head, brings about a meeting between the youngsters Daniel and Susana. She has tuberculosis and awaits the return of her revolutionary father, “el Kim.” Daniel starts visiting her in order to draw her and to justify a paranoid theory of the Captain regarding the origin of her illness. The arrival of a friend of Kim fills their lives with fantastic stories and adventures from Shanghai: a risky mission involving Nazis, gunmen, cabarets and beautiful women. The magic ends with the arrival of Danís, a cruel, wretched man who destroys the spell.
