# Belle Époque (film)

Belle Époque is a 1992 Spanish comedy-drama film directed by Fernando Trueba. Consisting of a fable-like story, primarily displaying a warm tone, and set in an idyllic countryside location during the transition to the Second Spanish Republic, the film features Jorge Sanz, Maribel Verdú, Ariadna Gil, Penélope Cruz, Miriam Díaz Aroca, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Gabino Diego and Chus Lampreave, among others.
It received the Goya Award for Best Film along with eight other Goya Awards and was named Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards. It is a joint production among companies from Spain, Portugal and France.

## Plot

In February 1931, some weeks after the failed Jaca uprising and the likewise failed Cuatro Vientos uprising [es], Spain is on the verge of the proclamation of the Second Republic. Fernando, a deserting private with Republican leanings and former seminarist, is on the run from his assignment at the Cuatro Vientos base. After escaping from two Guardia Civil officers, he reaches the outskirts of a village, befriending Manolo, an old man with a semblance of a "Dickensian observer of life". Manolo owns a large house in the countryside, where Fernando stays for a while.
Upon the arrival of Manolo's four daughters in a train, Fernando is enchanted by them all. As he meets each of the first three one by one, he falls in love and has sex with each of them, determining to marry. With each one, however, a complication arises: Clara, a widow who only recently lost her husband and who seeks solace with Fernando; Violeta, a closeted lesbian who showed attraction for Fernando only when she saw him dressed as a woman for a costume ball, and the day after tells him that it was insignificant; and Rocío, a social climber who is about to marry Juanito and into the village's richest family (with Carlist leanings) for the security it would provide, and who only momentarily succumbs to Fernando's charms.
Heartbroken each time, the father of the girls encourages Fernando to have patience. Each daughter is beautiful and represents a different aspect of feminine sexuality. The youngest of the family, Luz, represents naïveté. While Fernando is pursuing her sisters, Luz gets progressively angry and jealous. Eventually, Fernando realizes, however, that Luz is the best one of the four to marry.

## Cast

* Jorge Sanz as Fernando
* Fernando Fernán-Gómez as Manolo
* Maribel Verdú as Rocío
* Ariadna Gil as Violeta
* Penélope Cruz as Luz
* Miriam Díaz Aroca as Clara
* Gabino Diego as Juanito
* Agustín González as Don Luis
* Chus Lampreave as Doña Asun
* Mary Carmen Ramírez as Amalia
* Michel Galabru as Danglard
* Jesús Bonilla as Guardia Civil
* Juan José Otegui [es] as El cabo
* María Galiana as La Polonia
* Joan Potau [es] as El alguacil
* Manolo Huete as Un lugareño
* José Antonio Sacristán as Rorro
* Marciano de la Fuente as El alcalde
* Félix Cubero [es] as Palomo

## Production

A Spanish-Portuguese-French co-production, Belle Époque was produced by Fernando Trueba PC, Lola Films, Animatógrafo, and French Production with the collaboration of Sogepaq and Eurimages. The film was shot in the summer of 1992 in several villages of Portugal.

## Release and reception
### Box office

In Spain, it was the highest-grossing Spanish film of 1992 with a gross of over 725 million Spanish pesetas ($5.58 million). In the United States and Canada it grossed $6 million for a worldwide gross more than $11 million. The film was theatrically released in Spain on 4 December 1992.

### Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 22 reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10. The film is mentioned in the 2010 American film The Fighter.

### Year-end lists

* Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Mike Mayo, The Roanoke Times
* Honorable mentions – Mike Clark, USA Today

### Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 1993 | 43rd Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Bear | Golden Bear | Nominated |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Film | Best Film | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Director | Fernando Trueba | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Fernando Trueba José Luis García Sánchez, Rafael Azcona | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Actress | Ariadna Gil | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Actor | Jorge Sanz | Nominated |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Chus Lampreave | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Mary Carmen Ramírez | Nominated |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Fernando Fernán-Gómez | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Gabino Diego | Nominated |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Cinematography | José Luis Alcaine | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Editing | Carmen Frías | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Art Direction | Juan Botella | Won |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Production Supervision | Cristina Huete | Nominated |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Costume Design | Lala Huete | Nominated |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Makeup and Hairstyles | Ana Ferreira, Ana Lorena | Nominated |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Original Score | Antoine Duhamel | Nominated |
| 1993 | 7th Goya Awards | Best Sound | Alfonso Pino, Georges Prat | Nominated |
| 1994 | 66th Academy Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Best Foreign Language Film | Won |
| 1995 | 48th British Academy Film Awards | BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language | BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language | Nominated |