This second film musical starring 60's Spanish singer Raphael and the second of three films directed by Spanish director Mario Camus is a watchable and enjoyable film, although not quite as good as Raphael's first starring film, CUANDO TU NO ESTAS. Rahael plays a popular singer who suffers a nervous breakdown that adversely affects his career and makes him lose his popularity. But with the help of a devoted female secretary(who secretly loves him), Raphael makes a comeback. The film tries to be something more than a usual musical vehicle for Raphael but the plot has too many psychological overtones and Raphael is more a singer than a serious actor. But the film has great songs and score by Raphael's best composer, Manuel Alejandro and is well directed by director Camus.
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alanbobet13 February 2008
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ma-cortes18 May 2023A famous singer and actor called David Alonso (Rafael) is at the peak of his career, but fatigue, tension and harassment from the press take their toll on him . His star begins to wane, and so he decides to check into a nursing home. Leaving him, he is going to spend some time in a house that he has seen in the North, by the Cantabrian coast . There he feels obsessed by the story of some characters , one of whom he identifies as his former secretary Ana (Serena Vergano) . In that place - Comillas- he knows the story of an enigmatic and mysterious woman, who becomes obsessed with her. He then decides to return to show business, but discovers that he has lost all the fame and popularity that had.
The combination of a magnificent singer, Raphael, and an expert composer, Manuel Alejandro, has brought us a big hit with our particular singer displaying great dramatic expression in the interpretation of his wonderful songs. "Al poner el sol" is a promotional product at the service of the idol, although worthy since it was signed by the solvent Mario Camus . Stars the great Rafael giving his ordinary acting as David Alonso, a singer at the peak of his career but exhausted by the shows and the tension, deciding to unexpectedly cut his performances and spend a season at a house in Comillas, Cantabria . There he knows the story of Marina, a woman who lived there before her family drowned. David, who is obsessed with her, thought he recognized her in another woman, her secretary, Ana. With a predictable script, if one digs through its ins and outs you can find the issue of manipulative representatives, the sale of the soul to the devil by young aspiring stars, a nod to the role of a melancholic, tortured, repentant role with unhappy endings that he used to play of which he could be fed up since when in this fiction he produces his own feature film and just as one can intuit a relationship between three, David, his faithful assistant and his secretary, that each one interprets it as they see fit .
Once again Rafael as a popular singer performing a great number of songs . Rafael was born in Linares 1942 , as a consequence, he is nicknamed both "El Ruiseñor de Linares" ("Nightingale of Linares") and "El Divo de Linares" ("The Divo from Linares") but is also known as "El Niño". His family moved to Madrid when he was nine months old, and he started singing when he was just three years-old. He joined a children's choir at age four. When he was 9, he was recognized as the best child voice in Europe at a contest in Salzburg, Austria . Raphael adopted his own peculiar singing style from the beginning ; he is known for acting each one of his songs while on stage , emphasizing his gestures with high dramatic effect . Rafael rises to fame, becoming a prominent pop star and performs a large and successful tour across Spain and all around the world . It is not unusual for Raphael to ad lib lyrics as to localize a song depending on the venue he's singing at, wear Latin American peasant costumes and dance folk dances within a song , kicking and demolishing a mirror , or doing the moves of a flamenco dancer or a bullfighter onstage . He also possesses a wide vocal range, which he often used in the beginning of his career as to evoke a choirboy approach to some songs . At his beginnings he goes Madrid where participates in broadcasting contests and after in Festival Benidorm where gets a big hit, from now on, he plays songs all around the world. In 1966 and 1967 he represented Spain at the XII and XIII Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg, singing "Yo soy aquél" and Vienna, "Hablemos del amor" and placing both 7th and 6th position, although he did not win. It was the first time that Spain obtained a high place in the competition. This served as a turning point in Raphael's career, making him an international star. He traveled and performed worldwide in Europe, Latin America , Puerto Rico, the United States, Russia and Japan. Songs such as "Yo soy aquel" (his signature song), "Cuando tú no estás", "Mi gran noche", "Digan lo que digan", "Tema de amor", "Estuve enamorado" ,¨Balada triste de una trompeta¨which Raphael does in clown face in the film ¨Sin un adiós¨ and "Desde aquel día" cemented his status as a major international singing star. As Raphael became a success in Latin America, he made a habit of recording Latin American folk standards including "Huapango torero", "Sandunga" and "Llorona"; they were hits in Mexico. He even appeared live on The Ed Sullivan Show with great success. He performed very famous songs all over the world , such as : Escandalo, Tamborilero , Noche de paz , Blanca Navidad , Como yo te amo , and many others . He married aristocrat, journalist and writer Natalia Figueroa, in Venice (Italy) on 14 July 1972 and they have three children . Raphael's health faced a major setback in 2003, when his liver started failing due to a latent bout with Hepatitis B ; he recovered successfully after a transplant . Nowadays , he goes on performing with big hit. Currently he carries out international tours that take him to Peru, Colombia, USA (Miami, New Jersey and New York's Carnegie Hall), The Dominican Republic , Puerto Rico and other South American countries . Rafael was directed by notorious filmmakers as Vicente Escrivá in El Golfo, Sin un adios, El angel and Javier Aguirre in Volver a nacer . His last film was in 1975 directed by Antonio Isasi Isasmendi, a documentary titled ¨Rafael en Rafael¨ . In ¨At Sunset¨ (1967)¨ Rafael is well accompanied by a fine cast , such as : Serena Vergano , Manuel Zarzo , Ana María Noé , Carlos Otero, Jesús Aristu , José Marco , José Orjas, Erasmo Pascual , among others.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Mario Camus . Although , some people deeming Rafael's a poor actor, the boy from Linares captivates them with his brilliant voice, that at his seventies of life he still has a lot of devoted fans that are faithful to him. This recital Rafael will appeal to his followers.