The Blue Star

In this Spanish- Argentinian production, Manuel Aznar Muller, a rock musician from Aragón, is searching for his own path and purpose in life. He decides to travel to Argentina, following in the footsteps of his idol, Atahualpa. There, he immerses himself in the local music and culture, exploring the rhythms of "chacareras" , helped by Don Cuty Carabajal, and the spirit of locals.

However, his internal demons and his addictions weigh heavier than his dreams and aspirations. Pepe Lorente, one of the best young new actors in Spain, shines in "La Estrella Azul" and is sure to inspire much spark in the future.

La estrella azul shines a spotlight on key periods in the life of the Spanish rock n' roll musician Mauricio Aznar - not that you need to know anything about Aznar or his music in order to appreciate the film. His story, about making the effort to pull yourself out of a rut, the undertaking of a journey in search of meaning, the unexpected discovery of a place that feels like home far from where you're from, and the struggle to hold on to a good feeling in the face of familiar pressures, has a universal appeal.

When La estrella azul opens, Mauricio, the leader of a popular band in the northeastern Spanish city of Zaragoza, is in bad shape, overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety and depression, addicted to heroin, and fighting with his fed-up girlfriend. In order to shake himself out of the funk, he decides to go to Argentina to get in touch with the traditional "folklore" music he has loved since he was a child. After a rough start to the trip, his searching takes him to the home of Don Carlos, a musician who has written a number of the genre's more popular songs but lives with his family in humble conditions, ignored by the country's premier folklore festival. There, Mauricio apprentices himself, learning to play the local style of music (chacarera) at the feet of the master, but also immersing himself in a simple and generous lifestyle that is far different from what he knew back home in Zaragoza. As Mauricio becomes enchanted by the people and music of the remote region of Santiago del Estero, so too do we.

As moving as Mauricio's journey to Argentina is, the film's last quarter, which I'll avoid giving any detail about here, turns the poignancy up to 11. The way the film resolves Mauricio's story is both original and moving, weaving together the dramatization of his life with scenes involving real people who knew him that could have appeared in a documentary. I'd have a hard time citing an ending to a biographical film more deeply affecting than this one.

La estrella azul's director, Javier Macipe, deserves credit for telling Mauricio's story in an original and natural manner. The film uses a number of clever visual innovations - keep an eye out for the ingenious way in which Mauricio's drug addiction is depicted - that serve a purpose within the plot, without straying into the use of flashy visual tricks for their own sake. I'm not always a fan of films breaking the fourth wall, but I found that the way it was done here was justified and particularly effective in delivering the film's emotionally-charged conclusion.

The film's actors do a fine job, as well. Pepe Lorente, whose deep voice transmits no shortage of gravitas, gives a charismatic performance as Mauricio. And the use of non-professional actors, including actual members of the Carabajal family and even a few people who lived some of the film's events, give the scenes in Santiago del Estero an especially authentic feel.

Finally, La estrella azul is a movie about musicians, and a big part of enjoying the film is listening to its music. Mauricio's voyage to Argentina is almost defined by its omnipresent folklore music - he describes it as "like the force in Star Wars" - a potent combination of guitar, violin, and drums that draws you into the life of Santiago del Estero, and will likely get your foot tapping as well. Another happy discovery was the music of Mauricio Aznar himself, including the jangly, heart-on-your-sleeve rockabilly of his band Más Birras. The introduction to this music, probably not as widely known as it deserves to be, is another asset of a film that has no shortage of them.

But even if you have no particular interest in the music, this is a well-crafted and affecting film that deserves an uninterrupted viewing in a darkened room. Mauricio Aznar's story touches upon the universal, and La estrella azul tells it eloquently.

In this documentary/fictitious film, the famous singer Mauricio (Pepe Lorente) travels Argentina looking for a new sound, falling in love with the folk music like tango or chacarera. At the beginning of the movie, Mauricio is watching on TV a documentary about Atahualpa Yupanqui of which he confesses to being a profound admirer. At early 90s Mauricio, a Spanish rock and roll musician trying to reconnect with his vocation travels through Argentina, where he meets an elderly musician (Cuti Carabajal) going through hard times and they create a Quixote-like musical couple. Mauricio coming back to Spain in an effort to export it these catching sounds, there he meets up with his girlfriend (Bruna Cusí) who no longer wants to have relations with him. I had lost the North and I went to find it in the South !

An interesting and engaging film that has been compared to the Oscar-winning documentary 2021 ¨Searching for Sugar Man¨ by deceased director Malik Bendjelloull, dealing with a young singer who joins forces with Don Carlos, an aging musician who's struggling despite having composed some of his country's most famous folk songs. Carlos, like a musical Master Miyagi, takes in the visitor, and together they form a quirky duo destined for commercial failure. This surprising debut film by Javier Macipe recreates the journey through Argentina of Mauricio Aznar, a 'Rockabilly' composer of ¨Apuesta por el Rock and Roll¨ (song made popular by the band Heroes del Silencio), he was a major artist who nevertheless died in anonymity.

This is an Ibero-American co-production between Fernando Bovaira's Mod Producciones of Spain ("Biutiful"), Macipe's El Pez Amarillo, Cimarrón ("Society of the Snow") and Prisma, Argentina. According to the director Macipe himself: The film is a universal and emotional story of a man in crisis with his vocation, and who ¨he wants to rediscover what motivates him. And for this he makes a journey in search of a dream, that Star, which is the image of a guide¨. The film is based on actual avents, in fact it's a biographic story about Mauricio Aznar (1964 - 2000) was the lead singer and composer of the Zaragoza rock bands Golden Zippers, Más Birras and Almagato,; after the band Más Birras split in 1993, Mauricio traveled Argentina . It mixes professionall actors as Pepe Lorente, Bruna Cusí and non-professionals , including some members of the Carabajal family played their own relatives at the time when they met Mauricio.

The film shows reality and metafiction to give the viewer a portrait of an entire generation, as well as a look full of light, illusion and the quixotic ideas with which Mauricio lived, a life story that the also Aragonese Carlos Saura wanted to shoot at the time but could not due to his death. The film had its world premiere at the 2023 San Sebastian International Film Festival, where it received the Young Jury Award. Since then, it has been selected at various festivals, such as the Seville Film Festival, Warsaw, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Uruguay or Victoria (Canada). The motion picture was well directed by Javier Macipe, although it feels somewhat overlong and overrated. It was released in cinemas on February 23, receiving a warm reception from both critics and audiences.

La estrella azul(2023) won the Youth Jury Prize at the San Sebastian and in 2023 Spain's Academia de Cine has unveiled its list of nominations for the 39th Goya Awards, the country's equivalent to the Oscar. Leading the field is Marcel Barrena's biographical drama El 47, with 14 mentions. It's followed by thriller La Infiltrada (Undercover) at 13, also in the mix is Segundo Premio (Saturn Return) with 11 nods and La estrella azul (2023) nominated for 8 awards (including best film and new director) at the Goya 2025.