Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1995) User Reviews (5)

Dreams, Faith and Reality

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 7 September 2009]

In Mexico, while having oral sex with four mobsters during a transaction, the alcoholic Spanish whore Gloria Duque (Victoria Abril) witnesses a shooting with the death of three gangsters. She holds a notebook with the record of illegal worldwide business and laundry of money of Mexican Cartel and she is deported back to Madrid. Gloria returns home after three years without notice, where her mother-in-law Julia (Pilar Bardem) takes care of her husband and former torero Juan that has been paralyzed for three years after a fatal accident in the arena and pays the mortgage of the apartment giving Spanish classes. She unsuccessfully tries to heist the money of one of the illegal business of the Mafia in a fur coat store in Madrid; then she tries to find a job, but without education and qualification, she prostitutes to raise some money. When the hit-men Eduardo (Federico Luppi) and his partner Oswaldo (Daniel Jimenez Cacho) are sent to Madrid to retrieve the notebook and execute Gloria, the middle-aged Eduardo is in crisis since his daughter is very sick and he believes God is punishing him and decides to not kill Gloria.

"Nadie Hablará de Nosotras Cuando Hayamos Muerto" is an awarded Spanish movie with an original and violent story about lost dreams, faith and reality of life. When I saw this movie for the first time in the 90's, I liked it more than this time. But Victoria Abril has an awesome performance and it is worthwhile watching this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ninguém Falará de Nós Quando Estivermos Mortos" ("Nobody Will Speak of Us When We Are Dead")

This moving and exciting Spanish/Mexican film results to be a violent thriller with star-studded cast

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 14 October 2020]

Thrilling and sleazy fim with plenty of murders , sex and violence . It deals with Gloria Duque (Victoria Abril) an extremely alcoholic woman , she is about 30 years old , exiled in Mexico and living of protitution . Escaping from mobsters (Federico Luppi , Daniel Jiménez Cacho) attempting to kill her, she abandons Mexico and returns at mother-in-law's (Pilar Bardem) home where her husband stands on bed in coma condition, being paralyzed due to a "Cogida" , horned by a Bull on the bullfighting arena . There Gloria attempts to find work and earn some money but things go wrong .

This is a violent and stirring but overlong thriller with a phenomenal cast formed by great Spanish , Mexican and Argetinean actors . Victoria Abril gives a good acting as the unfortunate drunk woman who becomes involved in problems, as Mexico as Madrid , being mercilessly pursued by two nasty gangsters well starred by Federico Luppi and Daniel Jiménez Cacho , both of whom provide adequate performances . And outstanding Pilar Bardem as the old communist militant delivering a great creation as the elderly woman who teaches children and Gloria in writing sentences as well as caring her paralyzed son . Other notorious secondaries appearing in brief acting are the following ones : Saturnino García, Antonio Dechent, Maria Asquerino , Angel Alcázar, Fernando Delgado, Bruno Bichir , Laura Maña , Ramon Langa , Damien Bichir, among others .

It packs a colorful and brilliant cinematography by Paco Famenia. As well as atmospheric and appropriate musical score by Bernardo Bonezzi who before his early death , he composed some Pedro Almodovar films . The picture was well written and directed by Agustín Dias Yanes in his film debut . He firstly was a prestigious screenwriter for prestigious filmmakers in important movies . As he wrote the three previous films starred by Victoria Abril, and the latter convinced him to direct this his first film . As thanks to his reputation as a writer and the support of Victoria Abril he was to set up his first movie as a filmmaker this "Nobody will speak of us when we are dead" that became the biggest success of Spanish cinema at its release in 1995 and awarded in Festival San Sebastián, including best actress Victoria Abril, and it won 8 Goyas Awards from the Spanish Academy , including best film, best New director, and best actress. In spite of the hit of his first film, Díaz Yanes spent a few years attempting to make a new movie . Finally , he will get to make "Sin noticias de Dios" , here he got a feature together the two most international Spanish actresses : Penelope Cruz and Victoria Abril , it is a fantasy comedy that received 11 Nominations for the Spanish Academy Awards . in 2008 Agustín made another thriller "Solo quiero caminar" again Victoria Abril along with Diego Luna, Ariadna Gil and Pilar López Ayala . And in 2006 he shot the successful and lavishly made "Capitan Alatriste" , a nice adaptation based on the bestseller written by Arturo Pérez Reverte . Subsequently , he made a South American epic about the Spanish conquerors titled "Oro" or Gold. Rating : 6.5/7 . Aboge average . The picture will appeal to Spanish cinema aficionados .

One of the best Spanish dramas of the 90's

[Guy33134 · 9/10 · 26 February 2000]

NOBODY WILL SPEAK OF US WHEN WE'RE DEAD, winner of the 1995 Goya (Spanish Academy Award) for Best Film, is one of the decade's best and most signs-of-the-times defining dramas to have come out of Spain. The edgy 90's material is very well acted by a stellar cast which includes Spanish cinema icons Victoria Abril (in one of her best dramatic performances in Spanish), Federico Luppi, and Pilar Bardem. The drama gets violent with a vengeance reminiscent of Tarantino's work around the same time.

Nobody will speak of us when we're dead

[andrabem · 9/10 · 29 December 2008]

Gloria (Victoria Abril) witnesses a brutal killing in Mexico. She had come from Spain 2 years ago. She was married to a torero and they lived a good life. Her mother-in-law lived with them. A fatal accident in the arena leaves him paralyzed in bed. Hard times hit them. Gloria begins to drink and her life goes out of control. She thinks she has nothing left to lose and decides to try her luck in Mexico. In Mexico things get still worse. Gloria becomes a whore and after witnessing this killing (related to drugs, money laundry etc..) and barely escaping with her life, she's deported back to Spain. In Spain she goes to live with her mother-in-law, Julia (Pilar Bardem) and her completely disabled husband. Life goes on as dark as ever. Finding a job is difficult. But in spite of all there's a strong emotional link between Gloria and Julia (her mother-in-law). But to add to Gloria's problems, two killers are sent from Mexico to silence her and get back some documents they think she has in her possession.

I will not delve further into the story that has many other facets because I don't want to spoil the film for you. The film shows us the darker side of sunny Spain. "Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto" (Nobody will speak of us when we're dead) has something of a film noir, but it transcends the conventions of the genre. To give you an idea of what the film looks like I would say that it's a film noir with a strong neorealistic feel to it.

The performances overall are very good (especially Victoria Abril), but it would be very unfair not to mention Pilar Bardem's shining performance, and Federico Luppi's as well.

"Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto" is gritty, powerful and emotional. The Spanish cinema is in my opinion one of the best in the world. If you like Victoria Abril I recommend also (among many): "Amantes", "Entre las piernas", "Sin noticias de Dios" etc..

Pulp Fiction without the irony

[sdgingerich · 14 May 2003]

Nadie hablará de nosotros must have been in the right place at the right time. Otherwise it is hard to understand how it could have won so many Goyas. In some ways it seems like a ripoff of Pulp Fiction: a sympathetic character finds a way to steal some money from gangsters; one of the gangsters' hired guns has some second thoughts about his métier; beatings and shootings abound. The key difference is that Tarantino's story is so stylized, with the fragmented storytelling style and cool soundtrack, that the violence is as shockingly laughable as it is just plain shocking. Díaz Yanes' story, instead, includes a bunch of details that might add a more direct social message: Victoria Abril's character is a recovering alcoholic, working as a prostitude in Mexico City, whose husband is a comatose bullfighter, whose mother in law is a former political prisoner and torture victim of the Franco regime, and who thinks nothing of going back to prostitution when she cannot find respectable employment in Madrid; the killer who goes to Madrid to get her has a terminally ill daughter and thinks God may be punishing him for his sins; his partner is a gourmand who loves to cook and introduce people to new taste sensations. All this makes for a jumbled mess of a movie; there is adequate tension and interest, as a crime thriller needs, but it does not push the boundaries of the genre and does only a mediocre job of fulfilling them. Including graphic scenes of violence, physical and psychological, against Victoria Abril does not qualify as groundbreaking, entertaining, or even interesting.