Sleeping Luck
La suerte dormida
2003 · Spain · 105 min
- Director
- Ángeles González-Sinde
- Screenplay
- Ángeles González-Sinde, Belén Gopegui
- Producer
- Gerardo Herrero
- Cinematography
- Antonio Calvache
- Editing
- Fernando Pardo
Cast
What it is about
Amparo is a lawyer who, after losing her husband and son in a car accident in which she was driving, tries to keep to her daily routine while her grief remains inside her. One day she is assigned an indemnity case over the death of a worker, which at first she wants nothing to do with, but which gradually becomes an obsession. The film follows how professional work turns into both a refuge and a space for reflecting on guilt and the truth of events.
How it was made
Directed by Ángeles González-Sinde, the film is based on a real case: a man died of hypothermia after falling into a sepiolite mine, a case the family's lawyer took to court and later told to the director. The screenplay is by González-Sinde and Belén Gopegui, and the film was produced by Gerardo Herrero. Shooting began in October 2002 and ended in March 2003, with several interruptions, in Madrid. It is the director's first feature. The working title was Historia de un avestruz en un campo de arena, but after the sudden death of writer Dulce Chacón shortly before release, the team renamed it in her honour and in tribute to her novel La voz dormida.
Reception and legacy
The film won the Goya Award for Best New Director at the 2004 ceremonies, and Adriana Ozores was nominated for Best Actress there and at the Actors and Actresses Union Awards. It also received the Turia Award for Best New Film and several medals from the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos in 2003. Its main historical significance lies in marking the debut of González-Sinde, who went on to a notable career as a filmmaker.
Trivia
A changed title
The planned name was different and was changed after the death of Dulce Chacón shortly before release.
Based on a real case
The story starts from the death by hypothermia of a man in a sepiolite mine, told to the director by the family's lawyer.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.