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Actress Penelope
Cruz reacts upon receiving her "Goya" award during the Spanish Film
Academy "Goya" awards ceremony in Madrid, Jan. 28, 2007. Cruz won the Best
Actress award for her performance in the movie "volver".
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Spanish actress Penelope Cruz poses for photographers after her arrival at
the Spanish Film Academy "Goya" award ceremony in Madrid Jan.
28, 2007. (Reuters)
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BEIJING, Jan. 30 -- The tragicomic tale of a mother's
survival, "Volver," swept to a triumphant victory at Spain's top film awards
yesterday, grabbing best movie, director and best actress for Oscar hope
Penelope Cruz.
The movie, set in Spain's barren La Mancha region,
won five prizes at the Goya awards ceremony in Madrid, beating off "Pan's
Labyrinth," which was last week chosen ahead of "Volver" as a nominee for best
foreign language film at next month's Oscars.
"Volver" tells the story of Raimunda, played by Cruz,
a young and hard-working wife of an unemployed husband whose roving eye falls
upon her teenage daughter, and of Raimunda's revenge.
At the same time, Raimunda's sister has begun seeing
the ghost of their dead mother, visions that lead to the unraveling of a mystery
that has strained family relations.
Holding back the tears as she gripped her award
statue, Cruz thanked Spanish director Pedro Almodovar for one of the best
experiences of her life. She will be hoping to make a similar speech in
Hollywood on Feb. 25, after becoming Spain's first-ever nominee in the Oscars'
best actress category.
"Pan's Labyrinth," by Mexican director Guillermo del
Toro, scooped seven awards at the glittering ceremony, including best script and
best new actress for young star Ivana Baquero.
The film, billed as an "adult fairy tale," is the
story of a girl who learns about good and evil from a fawn in the Spanish forest
shortly after the country's civil war.
The best leading actor award went to Juan Diego, who
plays a father disgruntled at the reappearance of his grown-up son in "Vete de
Mi."
He beat Spanish-speaking New York actor Viggo
Mortensen, best known as Aragorn in "Lord of the Rings," who starred as
swashbuckling Spanish hero "Alariste." The film, the most-expensive ever made in
Spain at US$28 million, picked up three awards from 15 nominations.
(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)
Related:
Penelope Cruz becomes first Spanish
actress nominated for Oscar
MADRID, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Movie star Penelope Cruz
became the first Spanish actress to be nominated as Best Actress for an Oscar
which will be presented on Feb. 25.
Cruz, 32, played the leading role in the most recent
film "Volver" directed by Pedro Almodovar and was nominated for her performance
in it. The film will not compete for an Oscar as Best Foreign Film, local press
said on Tuesday.
Cruz will have to defeat some other candidates to win
the prize: British actresses Helen Mirren for her role in "The Queen," Judy
Dench for "Notes on a Scandal" and Kate Winslet for "Little Children."
Penelope Cruz best European actress,
eyes Oscar
BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- She followed Antonio
Banderas to Hollywood with high hopes, but after a couple of mediocre
films with big-name male stars Tom Cruise ("Vanilla Sky") and Nicholas Cage
("Captain Corelli's Mandolin"), Hollywood directors were saying "Penelope
who?"
So Penelope Cruz went home to Spain, got back
together with director Pedro Almodovar, and is now being touted as a potential
Oscar winner for her role in "Volver," which translates to "go
back." They last worked together seven years ago on All About My Mother, in
which Cruz played a nun, and before that in Live Flesh in
1997.
