Jaime Chávarri

Directing

Jaime Chávarri

Born March 20, 1943 · Madrid, España (age 83)

Spanish film director born in Madrid. Graduated in Law, he never practiced as a lawyer. He later studied for two years at the Escuela Oficial de Cinematografía and worked as a film critic for the magazine Film Ideal while making several short films in super-8. His first solo feature film was Los viajes escolares (1974). In 1976 he released El desencanto, a biographical documentary about the poet …

Known For

She Walks in DarknessShe Walks in Darkness · 2025
She Walks in Darkness
★ 6.72025
MovieDramaThriller
A young agent leaves everything behind to pose as a member of ETA, risking her life to uncover the terrorists' hideouts in the south of France.
What Have I Done to Deserve This?What Have I Done to Deserve This? · 1984
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
★ 7.11984
MovieComedyDrama
A henpecked housewife ekes out a meager existence, surrounded by a host of colorful characters: her ungrateful husband, her delinquent sons, her headstrong mother-in-law, and her sex worker neighbor, among others.
The Spirit of the BeehiveThe Spirit of the Beehive · 1973
The Spirit of the Beehive
★ 7.61973
MovieDramaFantasy
In 1940, in the immediate aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, a young girl living on the Castilian plain is haunted after attending a screening of James Whale's 1931 film Frankenstein and hearing from her sister that the monster is not dead, instead existing as a spirit inhabiting a nearby barn.
Vampyros LesbosVampyros Lesbos · 1971
Vampyros Lesbos
★ 5.71971
MovieHorror
An erotic horror tale about a vixen vampiress seducing and killing women to appease her insatiable thirst for female blood.
MatadorMatador · 1986
Matador
★ 6.71986
MovieDramaThriller
A conflicted youth confesses to crimes he didn't commit while a man and woman aroused by death become obsessed with each other.
Anna and the WolvesAnna and the Wolves · 1973
Anna and the Wolves
★ 6.81973
MovieDrama
The young but traveled Ana arrives in a manor in the countryside of Spain to work as nanny of three girls and finds a dysfunctional family.
El río de oroEl río de oro · 1986
El río de oro
★ 4.41986
MovieDrama
During a long summer, the tranquility of a couple and their three children resting in a country house is altered with the arrival of the children's uncle, a character who exerts a curious influence on the boys and a morbid and strange attraction the wife. Twelve years after 'Los viajes escolares' (1973), his first commercial feature film, the Madrid director Jaime Chávarri returns to the same estate in the province of Segovia to shoot a new family story, about his own plot and script. Like its predecessor, 'The Golden River' contains a strong autobiographical charge and is full of personal resonances. But this new history of family ties is narrated from a perspective in which adultery manifests itself openly. Endowed with a slow narrative rhythm, the film presents an international cast headed by Ángela Molina, Bruno Ganz, Francesca Annis and Stefan Gubser. The film also has the presence of a very young Juan Diego Botto, in one of his first appearances on the big screen.
MarathonMarathon · 1993
Marathon
★ 5.51993
MovieDocumentary
For this documentary, the renowned Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura created a structure as unconventional as the Gaudí buildings that adorn the host city of Barcelona. Coverage of the men's marathon appears at intervals throughout the narrative, highlighting the Games' most iconic event. While charismatic winners—from 400m champion Michael Johnson to weightlifter Ivan Ivanov—take center stage, Saura observes rigorous training sessions with as much passion as the finals themselves. Composers such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mikis Theodorakis, and Angelo Badalamenti contribute to the shifting atmosphere of this excellent film.

Filmography

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El río de oroEl río de oro · 1986
El río de oro
★ 4.41986
MovieDrama
During a long summer, the tranquility of a couple and their three children resting in a country house is altered with the arrival of the children's uncle, a character who exerts a curious influence on the boys and a morbid and strange attraction the wife. Twelve years after 'Los viajes escolares' (1973), his first commercial feature film, the Madrid director Jaime Chávarri returns to the same estate in the province of Segovia to shoot a new family story, about his own plot and script. Like its predecessor, 'The Golden River' contains a strong autobiographical charge and is full of personal resonances. But this new history of family ties is narrated from a perspective in which adultery manifests itself openly. Endowed with a slow narrative rhythm, the film presents an international cast headed by Ángela Molina, Bruno Ganz, Francesca Annis and Stefan Gubser. The film also has the presence of a very young Juan Diego Botto, in one of his first appearances on the big screen.

Director

National HeritageNational Heritage · 1981
National Heritage
★ 7.11981
MovieComedy
After the death of General Franco, the Leguineche family leaves their estate of Los Tejadillos, where they have remained for decades in voluntary exile, with the purpose of returning to Madrid to actively participate in the social events of the aristocracy and to get closer to the closest circle of the Spanish monarch. The obsession of the old marquis is centered on getting in touch with the most illustrious surnames, to ascend socially and to resume the pomp and courtly life that his family lost a long time ago. To this end, he decides to move into an old palace he owns, located in the center of the capital, but not before overcoming the difficulties posed by his wife, who deeply hates both her husband and her son. To regain control of the palace, the Marquis of Leguineche tries to handicap his wife, arguing an incurable mental illness, and then undertake a reform of the place in order to adapt it to aristocratic life.