NIGHTFALL IN INDIA (2014) – romantic film online

Directed by: Chema Rodríguez
Script: Chema Rodríguez
Cast: Juan Diego, Clara Vodă, George Albert Costea, Javier Pereira, Linda Molin, Rafa Rojas, Adrian Titieni
Producer: Chema Rodriguez, Álvaro Alonso, Daniel Mitulescu, Juan Pablo Libossart
Cinematography by: Alex Catalán, Juan González
Edited by: José Manuel García Moyano
Sound: Daniel de Zayas, Álvaro Silva Wuth, Aramis Rubio
Music: Marius Leftărache
Year: 2014
Category: Feature film
Genre:  Romance / Adventure
Duration: 94 minutes

5,689 – Cinepub viewers

PLOT SUMMARY

Ricardo, an amusing grumpy middle-aged man, decides to travel overland to India, as he used to do, shipping hippies in the sixties. Only now he has other things on his mind. He has been in a wheelchair for 10 years, suffering from a degenerative disease that’s pushing into its final stages. This is to be his last journey. Accompanied by his Romanian housekeeper Dana he sets off, crossing Europe, through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan. It turns out to be a funny and inspiring journey, opening doors both Ricardo and Dana thought were closed forever. As the landscape widens ahead, all of the crucial things of life unfold before them. Most importantly, Ricardo finds a reason to live.

AWARDS:

• 2014 – Malaga Spanish Film Festival – Best Film Award
• 2014 – Malaga Spanish Film Festival – Best Actor Award
• 2014 – Malaga Spanish Film Festival – Best Editing Award
• 2014 – Turia Award – Best Actor Award
• 2015 – Global Nonviolent Film Festival – Best Actress in a Leading Role Award
• 2015 – Cinema Writers Circle Awards – Best Adapted Screenplay
• 2015 – ASECAN – Best Male Performance Award

AWARDS:

• 2014 – Austin Film Festival – Official Selection
• 2014 – Sao Paulo International Film Festival – Official Selection
• 2014 – International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg – “International Discoveries”
• 2014 – “Almería en Corto” International Festival – “Operal Prima” Award
• 2015 – Goya Awards – Nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay
• 2015 – ASECAN – Nomination for Best Andalusian Film
• 2015 – ASECAN – Best Director Nomination
• 2015 – ASECAN – Best Screenplay Nomination
• 2015 – ASECAN – Nomination for Best Editing
• 2015 – ASECAN – Best Sound Nomination
• 2015 – ASECAN – Best Costume Design Nomination
• 2015 – ASECAN – Best Makeup Nomination

CRITICAL REVIEWS:

“Chema Rodríguez manages to control the gradation of the action and the rhythm of the movie (with the support of the excellent editing by José M. G. Moyano and Erika González), as well as to avoid an easy ending, relying instead on the symbolic plane.” – Mihai Fulger, observatorcultural.ro

“(The movie’s) great atú is the encounter with/ between two great actors: Juan Diego (distinguished for his performance with the Málaga Spanish Film Festival Award and the Turia Prize) and Clara Voda.” – Mihai Fulger, observatorcultural.ro

Their well-played, shifting, tormented relationship is the film’s heart and although it’s practically the only praiseworthy thing about the project, it’s strong and intriguing enough to justify the film’s existence. (Relationships between screwed-up Spanish men and kind-hearted Rumanian women seems to be a developing theme in Spanish cinema, if the relationship between Antonio de la Torre and Olympia Melinte in Manuel Martin Cuenca’s «Cannibal» is anything to go by.)” – Jonathan Hollan, hollywoodreporter.com 

“The most ingenious idea of the writer-director is to suggest the passage through several countries by using, in addition to excessive music, recordings of radio stations from Spain, Italy, France, Serbia or Turkey.” – Mihai Fulger, observatorcultural.ro

“Clara Voda is a gorgeous actress, an incredibly sensitive person, and from the moment I saw her in «When I Want to Whistle, I Whistle», I knew she had to be Dana. Just as I wanted Juan Diego to be Ricardo from the beginning, Clara was my first and only choice for Dana. Her performance and her ability to convey feelings in a natural way, without speaking, just using her eyes and expression… . I have seen other movies from her filmography and it was a great pleasure to work with her. Her performance in «Nightfall in India», where she has a leading role, is brilliant. The movie would not have been the same without her” – the movie’s director, Chema Rodriguez

“Romanians may have a self-colonized gaze when they portray themselves in relation to the West, but nothing can equal the foreign gaze, which, at least in this case, is a cliché of a cliché of a cliché (even if it is stereotypes, let’s say, positive, or associated with virtue). The only good news: we’re not the only ones targeted.” – Emil Vasilache, cinepub.ro

“Strada Film is the studio behind such films as “Ryna” (2004, dir. Ruxandra Zenide), “The Way I Spent the End of the World” (2006, dir. Cătălin Mitulescu), and “If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle” (2010, dir. Florin Șerban) — a production house with a consistent focus on bringing stories of the lower class to the screen, often infused with a certain flair (though a more fitting term might be “raw charm”) and local flavor.” – Emil Vasilache, cinepub.ro

TRIVIA:

• “The Night Comes to India” is the first feature-length fiction film by Spanish director Chema Rodríguez, previously known as a documentary, TV and festival filmmaker, director of a TV miniseries and as a collaborator screenwriter for other directors.
• Ricardo’s adventure is inspired by a true story. The film is a screenization of the book “The Night Comes to Kathmandu”, published by the director in 2003 and tells the story of Lorenzo del Amo.
• Filming took place in Romania (through co-producer Strada Film), Turkey, Spain and India.
• The role of Dana is Clara Voda’s first major role in a foreign film. Her participation was noticed and the actress later filmed for “Pop-Up” by Australian filmmaker Stuart McBratney, in which she also plays a Romanian immigrant.
• Asked about the genre of the movie, the director says: “I don’t know what to answer. It could be an adventure drama with comedic overtones or a comedy drama in the context of a coming-of-age adventure”.

LINES:

“No te cansas de mirame la polla?”
“Don’t you get tired of looking at my dick?” – Ricardo (Juan Diego)

“A Rumania? ¿Qué vas a hacer en Rumania? En Rumania no vas a encontrar una casa como la de Enrique.”
“To Romania? What are you going to do in Romania? In Romania, you won’t find a house like Enrique’s.” – Ricardo (Juan Diego)

“Eres un cobarde. Te crees que lo tienes todo controlado. Y no eras más que un cobarde.”
“You’re a coward. You think you have it all under control. And you were nothing but a coward.” – Dana (Clara Vodă)

“Solo los cobardes se suicidan. Eres un cobarde.”
“Only cowards commit suicide. You are a coward.” – Dana (Clara Vodă)

“Tu estas aqui para mover mi silla. No para hacer Teresa de Calcutta!”
“You are here to move my wheelchair. Not to play Teresa de Calcutta!” – Ricardo (Juan Diego)

“Los médicos pueden equivocarsen.”
“Doctors can be wrong.” – Dana (Clara Vodă)

“Mírame. Que ves? Un tipo que se muere.” –
“Look at me. What do you see? A guy who is dying.” – Ricardo (Juan Diego)

“Yo quiero cuidarte hasta el final.”
“I want to take care of you until the end.” – Dana (Clara Vodă)

“Sabes lo que tengo y que venía a la India a morir.”
“You know what I got and that I was coming to India to die.” – Ricardo (Juan Diego)

“Ricardo, soy una cobarde. Tienes razon. No hago mas que huir de mi misma.”
“Ricardo, I’m a coward. You are right. I do nothing but run away from myself.” – Dana (Clara Vodă)

ARTICLES:

• KINOBSERVATOR. A melodramatic road movie and two great actors – observatorcultural.ro
• The movie “Nighfall in India”, starring actress Clara Voda, will be screened in Romania – adevarul.ro
• “Nightfall in India”, from nostalgia to resurrection – ziarullumina.ro
• The movie “Nightfall in India”, starring Clara Vodă, premieres in Romania on November 5 – gandul.ro
• Nightfall in India – thecinemen.com
• Nightfall in India: Film Review – hollywoodreporter.com

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