The Dancer Upstairs
2002 · Movie · 124 min. · Spain
Actor John Malkovich made his directorial debut with this tense political drama, set in an unnamed Latin American nation and based on a novel by Nicholas Shakespeare. Agustin Rejas (Javier Bardem) is a former lawyer who became a police detective as a more direct way of dealing with crime and justice. Rejas has been assigned to investigate a group of terrorists who are determined to up-end the current government through any means necessary, from revolting pranks (such as leaving dead animals, painted with revolutionary rhetoric, around the capitol building) to bombings and assassinations. Rejas knows little about the terrorists, and no one on the force is certain of the identity or whereabouts of the group's leader, who calls himself President Ezequiel. As Rejas learns more about Eziquiel and his group, they begin stepping up their actions, making his investigation all the more urgent. Meanwhile, Rejas is a single father whose daughter is taking dance lessons from Yolanda (Laura Morante); as Rejas and Yolanda get to know one another, a romance begins to grow between them.
Direction John Malkovich
Cast Javier Bardem · Laura Morante · Juan Diego Botto · Elvira Mínguez · Abel Folk · Xabier Elorriaga · Natalia Dicenta · Alexandra Lencastre · Oliver Cotton · Luis Miguel Cintra · Javier Manrique · Yohana Cobo · John Malkovich
Soundtrack Alberto Iglesias
Screenplay Nicholas Shakespeare
Cinematography José Luis Alcaine
Original title Pasos de baile (The Dancer Upstairs)
5.6
1K votes (FilmAffinity)
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