The Contestant | |
---|---|
Spanish | Concursante |
Directed by | Rodrigo Cortés |
Screenplay by | Rodrigo Cortés |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | David Azcano |
Edited by |
|
Music by | Víctor Reyes |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Filmax |
Release dates |
|
Country | Spain |
Language | Spanish |
The Contestant (Spanish: Concursante) is a 2007 Spanish black comedy film directed by Rodrigo Cortés in his directorial debut feature. It stars Leonardo Sbaraglia.
The plot follows a lecturer on economic history (Martín Circo Martín) who wins the biggest prize ever (a set of prizes valued in €3 million) in a television game show in Spain, only to find out that the tax authorities want to keep a large part of the prize and he has no way to pay off his debts.[1][2]
The film was produced by Lazonafilms, Continental, Nephilim Producciones, and Filmax and it had the participation of TVE and TVG.[4] Shooting locations included A Coruña.[2]
The film screened at the 10th Málaga Film Festival on 11 March 2007.[5] Distributed by Filmax,[4] it was released theatrically in Spain on 16 March 2007.[6]
Jonathan Holland of Variety considered that Cortés "fails to take the premise anywhere interesting, but the pic has a madcap, contempo energy that could find it offshore fans".[4]
Pere Vall of Fotogramas rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, highlighting an electric performance by Sbaraglia as the best thing about the film.[6]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 22nd Goya Awards | Best Original Song | "Circus Honey Blues" by Víctor Reyes, Rodrigo Cortés | Nominated | [7][8] |
6th Mestre Mateo Awards | Best Film | Nominated | [9][10] | ||
Best Director | Rodrigo Cortés | Nominated | |||
Best Screenplay | Rodrigo Cortés | Nominated | |||
Best Actor | Leonardo Sbaraglia | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Actor | Luis Zahera | Won | |||
Chete Lera | Nominated | ||||
Best Editing | Guillermo Represa, Rodrigo Cortés | Won | |||
Best Sound | Sergio Burman, Charlie Schmucler, Fran Gude | Nominated |