Smoke & Mirrors (2016 film)

Smoke & Mirrors
Film poster (international)
Spanish	El hombre de las mil caras
Directed by	Alberto Rodríguez
Screenplay by	Rafael Cobos Alberto Rodríguez
Based on	Paesa, el espía de las mil caras by Manuel Cerdán
Starring	Eduard Fernández José Coronado Marta Etura Carlos Santos Enric Benavent Alba Galocha Philippe Rebbot Pedro Casablanc Israel Elejalde Tomás del Estal Jons Pappila Luis Callejo Mireia Portas Craig Stevenson Emilio Gutiérrez Caba
Cinematography	Alex Catalán
Music by	Julio de la Rosa
Production companies	Zeta Cinema Atresmedia Cine Atípica Films Sacromonte
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	17 September 2016 (2016-09-17) (San Sebastián) 23 September 2016 (2016-09-23) (Spain)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish

Smoke & Mirrors (Spanish: El hombre de las mil caras) is a 2016 Spanish thriller film directed by Alberto Rodríguez based on the 2006 non-fiction book Paesa, el espía de las mil caras by Manuel Cerdán.^[1] The film stars Eduard Fernández as Francisco Paesa, a former agent of the Spanish secret service who faked his own death after an infamous corruption scandal.

Plot

Francisco Paesa — an ex-secret agent for the Spanish government who was instrumental in the most important operation against the Basque terrorist group ETA — is framed by his own government and forced to leave the country. When he is finally able to return to Spain, he is broke and his personal life is falling apart. It is then he receives a visit from Luis Roldán, the powerful former Commissioner of Police who offers him one million dollars for help with safeguarding twelve million dollars embezzled by Roldán from the police budget. Paesa plans revenge in order to seize Roldán’s money, fooling an entire country in a brilliant and intricate operation worthy of the best illusionist.

Cast

• Eduard Fernández as Francisco Paesa
• José Coronado as Jesús Camoes
• Marta Etura as Nieves Fernández Puerto
• Carlos Santos as Luis Roldán
• Enric Benavent [es] as Casturelli
• Alba Galocha [gl] as Beatriz
• Philippe Rebbot as Jean-Pierre Pinaud
• Pedro Casablanc as Abogado de Paesa
• Israel Elejalde as González
• Tomás del Estal [es] as Bermejo
• Jons Pappila as Arlauckas
• Luis Callejo as Juan Alberto Belloch
• Mireia Portas [es] as Gloria
• Craig Stevenson as Georges Starckman
• Emilio Gutiérrez Caba as Osorno
• Christian Stamm as Hans
• Ramón Rados as Rafael Vera [es]
• Agustín Galiana [es] as Tipo Filatelia

Release

The film premiered at the 64th San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Silver Shell for Best Actor for Eduard Fernández.^[2] It was also screened at the 2016 London Film Festival.^[3] Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures,^[4] it was released theatrically in Spain on 23 September 2016.

Reception

Fausto Fernández of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, singling out "the precision with which it is narrated and executed" as its hallmark.^[5]

Carlos Marañón of Cinemanía rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, assessing that "Rodriguez takes [the] Spanish political thriller [genre] to another level".^[6]

Jonathan Holland of The Hollywood Reporter deemed the film to be "quick-thinking, showy, ambitious and stylish in its manipulations; but also, for most of the duration, it's as soulless as a briefcase full of used banknotes".^[7]

Guy Lodge of Variety billed the film as a "slick-as-Brylcreem political thriller".^[8]

Lee Marshall of ScreenDaily underscored that "this overlong, over-detailed story never seems entirely sure what it's trying to say".^[9]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2016	64th San Sebastián International Film Festival	Golden Shell for Best Film		Nominated	[2]
		Silver Shell for Best Actor	Eduard Fernández	Won
2017	22nd Forqué Awards	Best Film		Nominated	[10]
		Best Actor	Eduard Fernández	Nominated
	4th Feroz Awards	Best Drama Film		Nominated	[11][12]
		Best Director	Alberto Rodríguez	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Alberto Rodríguez, Rafael Cobos	Nominated
		Best Main Actor in a Film	Eduard Fernández	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Film	Carlos Santos	Nominated
			José Coronado	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress in a Film	Marta Etura	Nominated
		Best Original Soundtrack	Julio de la Rosa	Nominated
		Best Trailer		Nominated
		Best Film Poster		Won
	9th Gaudí Awards	Best Actor	Eduard Fernández	Won	[13]
	31st Goya Awards	Best Film		Nominated	[14]
		Best Director	Alberto Rodríguez	Nominated
		Best Actor	Eduard Fernández	Nominated
		Best New Actor	Carlos Santos	Won
		Best Adapted Screenplay	Alberto Rodríguez, Rafael Cobos	Won
		Best Editing	José M.G. Moyano	Nominated
		Best Art Direction	Pepe Domínguez del Olmo	Nominated
		Best Production Supervision	Manuela Ocón	Nominated
		Best Sound	Daniel de Zayas, César Molina, José Antonio Manovel	Nominated
		Best Best Makeup and Hairstyles	Yolanda Piña	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Julio de la Rosa	Nominated
	26th Actors and Actresses Union Awards	Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role	Carlos Santos	Won	[15]
	4th Platino Awards	Best Ibero-American Film		Nominated	[16]
		Best Screenplay	Alberto Rodríguez, Rafael Cobos	Nominated
		Best Actor	Eduard Fernández	Nominated
		Best Sound	Daniel de Zayas, César Molina, José Antonio Manovel	Nominated

See also

• List of Spanish films of 2016

References

1. "'Smoke and Mirrors' ('El Hombre de las Mil Caras'): San Sebastián Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
2. "Eduard Fernández, Concha de Plata por su Paesa de 'El hombre de las mil caras'". El País (in Spanish). 24 September 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
3. "Smoke & Mirrors". BFI. Archived from the original on May 28, 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
4. "El Taquillazo de laSexta estrena 'El hombre de las mil caras'". LaSexta. 3 November 2018.
5. Fernández, Fausto (20 April 2016). "El hombre de las mil caras (2016)". Fotogramas.
6. Marañón, Carlos (29 August 2016). "El hombre de las mil caras". Cinemanía – via 20minutos.es.
7. Holland, Jonathan (19 September 2016). "'Smoke and Mirrors' ('El Hombre de las Mil Caras'): Film Review | San Sebastian 2016". The Hollywood Reporter.
8. Lodge, Guy (18 September 2016). "Film Review: 'Smoke and Mirrors'". Variety.
9. Marshall, Lee (19 September 2016). "'Smoke and Mirrors': San Sebastian Review". ScreenDaily.
10. Caz, Ángela del (15 January 2017). "Lista de ganadores de los Premios Forqué 2017: Raúl Arévalo triunfa en su debut como director". Bekia.
11. "'El hombre de las mil caras lidera los Feroz". LosExtras (in Spanish). 1 December 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
12. "La lista completa de ganadores de los premios Feroz 2017" (in Spanish). El Huffinton Post. January 23, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
13. "El palmarés de los Premios Gaudí 2017". El Periódico de Catalunya. Prensa Ibérica. 30 January 2017.
14. "Juan Antonio Bayona's 'A Monster Calls' Leads Goya Award Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. December 14, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
15. "'Tarde para la ira' arrasa en unos Premios Unión de Actores con fuerte reivindicación femenina". RTVE. 14 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-03-14.
16. "'El ciudadano ilustre', premio Platino a la mejor película en la capital iberoamericana de Europa". Audiovisual451. 23 July 2017.

External links

• El hombre de las mil caras at IMDb
• Smoke & Mirrors at Rotten Tomatoes