A Perfect Day (2015 film)

A Perfect Day is a 2015 Spanish comedy-drama film written and directed by Fernando León de Aranoa. It is based on the novel Dejarse Llover by Paula Farias.[3] It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and is the director's English-language debut.[4][5]

A Perfect Day
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFernando León de Aranoa
Written byFernando León de Aranoa
Based onDejarse Llover
by Paula Farias
Produced byFernando Leon de Aranoa
Jaume Roures[1]
StarringOlga Kurylenko
Benicio del Toro
Tim Robbins
Mélanie Thierry
CinematographyAlex Catalán
Edited byNacho Ruiz Capillas
Music byArnau Bataller
Production
companies
Mediapro
Reposado Producciones
TVE
Distributed byUniversal Pictures[2]
Release dates
  • 16 May 2015 (2015-05-16) (Cannes)
  • 26 August 2015 (2015-08-26) (Spain)
Running time
106 minutes
CountrySpain
LanguagesEnglish
Croatian
Spanish
Romanian

Plot

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Veteran humanitarian aid workers Mambrú (Benicio del Toro) and B (Tim Robbins), and newcomer Sophie (Mélanie Thierry), accompanied by their interpreter Damir (Fedja Štukan), try to retrieve a corpse from a well somewhere in former Yugoslavia at the end of the Yugoslav Wars.

Their first attempt fails because their rope tears, so they set out to find another rope, which turns out to be more difficult than expected. They are joined in their endeavor by Mambrú's former lover Katya (Olga Kurylenko) and a young local boy named Nikola.

Cast

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Reception

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On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 71% approval rating, based on 58 reviews. The consensus reads: "Aid workers get their due in A Perfect Day, which is just different and well-acted enough to overcome its logy pace and narrative clichés".[6] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 59 out of 100, sampled from 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said that, the film is "a serviceable, watchable movie".[8] Henry Barnes of The Guardian compared the film's humor to that of M*A*S*H,[9] while Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly criticized female characters of Mélanie Thierry and Olga Kurylenko for being "disappointingly thin".[10]

Awards and nominations

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Awards Category Nominated Result
III Premios Feroz[11] Best Comedy Nominated
Best Director Fernando León de Aranoa Nominated
Best Screenplay Fernando León de Aranoa, with the collaboration of Diego Farias Nominated
Best Film Poster Nominated
30th Goya Awards[12] Best Film Nominated
Best Director Fernando León de Aranoa Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Fernando León de Aranoa Won
Best Supporting Actor Tim Robbins Nominated
Best Cinematography Alex Catalán Nominated
Best Editing Nacho Ruiz Capillas Nominated
Best Production Supervision Luis Fernández Lago Nominated
Best Costume Design Fernando García Nominated

Benicio del Toro was presented with the honorary award, Heart of Sarajevo, at the Sarajevo Film Festival.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Chang, Justin (16 May 2015). "Cannes Film Review: 'A Perfect Day'". Variety.
  2. ^ "A Perfect Day". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  3. ^ Hopewell, John (12 March 2014). "Del Toro, Robbins, Kurylenko Set for Fernando Leon de Aranoa's 'A Perfect Day'". Variety.
  4. ^ "The Directors' Fortnight 2015 selection!". Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  5. ^ Chang, Justin (21 April 2015). "Cannes: Directors' Fortnight Unveils 2015 Lineup". Variety.
  6. ^ "A Perfect Day (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  7. ^ "A Perfect Day". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  8. ^ Dargis, Manohla (14 January 2016). "Review: 'A Perfect Day' About Aid Workers in the Balkans". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  9. ^ Barnes, Henry (16 May 2015). "A Perfect Day review - Del Toro and Robbins in imperfect aid work adventure". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  10. ^ Nashawaty, Chris (15 January 2016). "'A Perfect Day': EW review". Entertainment Weekly.
  11. ^ Pérez Martín, María (9 December 2015). "'La novia' lidera las nominaciones a los Premios Feroz 2016". LosExtras (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  12. ^ Rolfe, Pamela (14 December 2015). "'The Bride' Leads Spain's Goya Award Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  13. ^ Barraclough, Leo (24 July 2015). "Benicio Del Toro to Receive Heart of Sarajevo Award at Film Festival in Bosnia". Variety.
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