Abre Los Ojos

Title: Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes)
Released: 1997

Plot Summary

This surreal Spanish film written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar stars Penélope Cruz and Eduardo Noriega, and provides the storyline for the American version of the film - Vanilla Sky.

Cesár (Noriega) is young, good-looking, and notorious for being a playboy. He meets Sofia (Cruz), and sees something in her that makes him want to pursue a more real relationship with her. Shortly after meeting, Cesár is in an accident that leaves his face disfigured which irreparably changes his life.

The story floats between fantasy and reality, thriller and drama, and Amenábar somehow manages to pull it all together in a wonderfully made film.

Spanish Language Learning Notes

The film uses a fairly typical accent from modern Spain (not heavily influenced by Basque nor Catalan). Because the film is somewhat framed by a psychiatrist helping Alejandro Amenábar there are lots of past tense and past imperfect conjugations which would be helpful to intermediate level students learning those tenses. Look out for emotion verbs like gustar, entristeser, and doler which also play a prominent role.

The film has adult language, nudity, and some violent scenes which make it more appropriate for a mature audience.