Honeymoon (1959 film)
| Honeymoon | |
|---|---|
UK poster
|
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| Directed by | Michael Powell |
| Produced by | Michael Powell Cesáreo González |
| Written by |
Gregorio Martínez Sierra (ballet) Michael Powell Luis Escobar |
| Starring |
Anthony Steel Ludmilla Tchérina Antonio |
| Music by |
Manuel de Falla Mikis Theodorakis |
| Cinematography |
Georges Périnal Claude Renoir |
| Edited by |
Peter Taylor John Victor-Smith |
| Distributed by | Suevia Films |
|
Release date
|
29 March 1959 (Spain) 8 February 1962 (UK) |
|
Running time
|
109 minutes 105 minutes (restored version) |
| Country | United Kingdom / Spain |
| Language | English / Spanish |
Honeymoon (Spanish: Luna de miel), also shown as The Lovers of Teruel in the United States, is a 1959 film by the British director-writer Michael Powell based in part on the ballet El Amor Brujo by Gregorio Martínez Sierra. The film stars Anthony Steel, Ludmilla Tchérina and Spanish ballet dancer Antonio, and features Léonide Massine.
The film is something of a travelogue around Spain with dance interludes, mainly set to the repeated theme of "The Honeymoon Song" by Mikis Theodorakis. Performed in the film by Marino Marini and his quartet, it was subsequently recorded by many performers, including The Beatles.
Ballet dancer Anna Cato (Ludmilla Tchérina) has just given up the ballet to marry Australian farmer Kit Kelly (Anthony Steel). They are touring Spain in their open top Bentley for their honeymoon before going to live on the sheep station that Kit runs in Australia.
An American car races past them at high speed but it soon has to stop to change a burst tyre. The car is driven by the famous Spanish dancer Antonio and his wife Rosita Candelas (Rosita Sergova). They are a fiery couple, always arguing and when Antonio goes down to a stream to wash up after changing the tyre, Rosita drives away without him. Antonio, stranded in the middle of nowhere, starts dancing down the road in his well-known Zapateado.
Kit and Anna drive by and offer Antonio a lift. They drive in to the "Tavern del Toro", where Antonio is known, and start to eat a wonderful breakfast. Antonio thinks he has seen Anna before but she says that this is her first trip to Spain. One old lady pushes forward her daughter who she wants to dance for Antonio. Lucia (Carmen Rojas) dances the El Macarona flamenco but then Antonio asks the musicians to play El Taranto to really see what she can do.
Rosita turns up at the end of the flamenco and another argument ensues, so Kit and Anna slip away. After a delightful meal they retire to their room where Anna does her best to distract Kit from his book on Fertility and Animal Breeding. Next day, after a bit more travelling around, Kit and Anna enter a bar – only to find Antonio is already there. They are introduced to the "cocktail set" and discover who Antonio is.
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Wikipedia