Yo soy la Juani (2006)

Directed by: Bigas Luna | 100 minutes | drama, eroticism | Actors: Verónica Echegui, Dani Martín, Laya Martí, Gorka Lasaosa, José Chaves, Mercedes Hoyos, Ferran Madico, Marcos Campos, Manuel Santiago, Benito Sagredo, Gaelle Diego, María González, Joana López, Abraham de Torres, William Miller

The work of the Catalan director Bigas Luna often refers to the so-called lower needs of man, such as sex, money and … well, this is where the inspiration ends; Luna is both an admirer and executioner of his characters. The temptation is therefore great to expect a parody on the basis of the above summary. However, nothing could be further from the truth: ‘Yo soy la Juani’ (‘I am Juani’) is an almost childlike ode to self-affirmation, from the perspective of a folk girl who uses her body to get higher. No black humor, no personal growth, but a clichéd script from which every next action can be predicted. Juani meets boyfriend in garage with someone else; Juani goes to the big city; Juani wants to be an actress, but is only asked as a calendar and escort girl by old or slimy guys; Juani misses home and regrets it.

Better than ‘Red Riding Hood’. It is hard to imagine that Luna, who can do much better – as he proved with ‘Jamón, jamón’ (1992), for instance – has this ‘youth film’ full of obligatory bare breasts to his name. Apart from a little zest for life and the still somewhat sympathetic main character, ‘Yo soy la Juani’ has little to offer. Luna forgets all irony and seems to want us to believe that the girls of Spain with their facades think they will find happiness; he also pretends to be able to tell us that in the end that is not the way, and you better keep believing in yourself – thank you for this wisdom, señor Luna. Verónica Echegui still makes quite a bit of it, even if at the end she has to fall back into Jonah’s arms to be caught by the same woman she found him with before. Fill in how ‘Yo soy la Juani’ ends next, but don’t expect miracles.