Jose Luis Garcia

An Asturian at heart, his family comes from there, although he was born in Madrid on January 20, 1944, and as many deduce at first his curious last name is explained by his name being José Luis García Muñoz. During his childhood in humble post-war Spain, he regularly went to escape to movie theaters, and became a rather ‘peepy’ movie-going child who could debate John Ford or Howard Hawks with solid arguments with the professionals . . But he also falls in love with other gems, like the music of Cole Porter , or the literature of Rudyard Kipling .

Although after studying Preu (pre-university) he starts working as an administrative assistant in a bank, Garci collaborates as a film critic in magazines such as “Signo” or “Cinestudio”. He also gave free rein to his literary passion, writing short stories, which would lead him to win the Puerta de Oro Award. Little by little he began to get his head around until he was able to collaborate as a screenwriter with directors of the time, such as Pedro Olea ( It’s not good that man is alone ), Roberto Bodegas ( The new Spaniards , Healthy married life ) or Antonio Giménez Rico ( El Cronicón ). Perhaps his best work is the script for La cabina , co-written with the director of this gem,Antonio Mercero , which earned them an Emmy, an unthinkable feat for Spanish filmmakers at the time. Years later, Mercero directed La Gioconda está triste , with a script by Garci.

After the shorts Mi Marilyn and Al fútbol –about another of his great passions, football–, he debuted as a feature film director with Assignatura pending , which described the reality of Spain during the Transition through a love story. It was starred by Fiorella Faltoyano and José Sacristán , a duo that also leads the cast of Solos en la madrugada , his second work, about a radio announcer. For the main roles in Las verdes prairies he turned to two other of his favorite actors, Alfredo Landa and María Casanova ., a married couple who spend weekends in a chalet in the Madrid mountains. Both repeated their orders in El Crack , a tribute to the black cinema of the 40s, which came to have a sequel.

In 1982, the year in which the Soccer World Cup was held in Spain, Garci achieved a milestone that until then had been very difficult: he won the Oscar for the first time –for best non-English language film– for a Spanish production, for Back to start . But the film, a drama about a retired teacher reuniting with an old girlfriend, draws fierce criticism for its easy drama.

He was nominated for an Oscar again with Sesión continua , one of his best works, for his look at classic cinema. Spain used to bet on insurance, sending its films to the Hollywood Academy, and it received them with enthusiasm, since it was also a candidate for the Asignatura aprovada statuette .

In the 1990s, Garci began directing and presenting the television movie show “Qué grande es el cine”. As a filmmaker, he begins a new stage marked by adaptations, with Cancion de lulla , an effective melodrama that brings to the screen a play by Gregorio Martínez Sierra . It is followed by the unsuccessful La herida luminosa (1997) , based on a text by Josep María de Sagarra, and El abuelo , which adapts none other than Benito Pérez Galdós . With it he earned his fourth Oscar nomination.

Although its protagonist, Fernando Fernán Gómez , won a well-deserved Goya for best actor, Garci found himself involved in a surreal controversy. Before the voting, several academics received an anonymous letter at their homes with the following text: “The messengers of José Luis Garci announce our next visit, in which we will once again collect the ballots and personally wish you a happy new year.” In addition, the director Pedro Costa accused Garci of paying fees for some partners so they could vote for him.

The Academy even carried out an audit that showed that no one who had paid their dues at the last minute was related to Garci. But it did not sit well with him that in order not to cloud the Goya gala, the Academy delayed in making public a statement about this report, which left him free of guilt. He decided not to attend the gala and unsubscribe as a member of the institution.

You’re the one (A story from then) and Historia de un beso are two intimate dramas that take place in the imaginary Asturian town of Cerralbos del Sella.

In recent years Garci has not been as inspired as on other occasions, with films like the insipid Tíovivo c.1950 , a compilation of small stories without any interest. He also shot Ninette , an unsuccessful adaptation of a fun play by Miguel Mihura with which he showed that comedy is not his thing. On his part, Mayblood leaves no room for doubt: historical cinema with mass sequences is not good for him either. The inspired film Luz de domingo , with his friend Alfredo Landa, survives from recent years , a drama in an Asturian town that at times seems like a western.

Former husband of the presenter Ana Rosa Quintana, Garci was also linked for a time to various women, such as the actress Cayetana Guillén Cuervo . In 2004 he married Andrea Tenuta , an Argentine actress who appeared in Luz de domingo .