Life Marks

{{short description|2003 film}} {{Infobox film | native_name = {{Infobox name module|es|La vida mancha|nolink=y}} | image = Life Marks poster.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | producer = {{Plain list| * Gerardo Herrero * Fernando Victoria de Lecea }} | director = Enrique Urbizu | writer = {{ubl|Enrique Urbizu|Michel Gaztambide}} | starring = {{unbulleted list|José Coronado|Juan Sanz|Zay Nuba}} | music = Mario de Benito | cinematography = Carles Gusi | studio = {{ubl|Tornasol Films|Iberrota Films}} | distributor = Alta Films | released = {{Film date|df=y|2003|05|09|Spain}} | runtime = 107 min | country = Spain | language = Spanish }} '''''Life Marks'''''<ref name="holland" /> ({{langx|es|'''La vida mancha'''|links=no}}) is a 2003 Spanish drama film directed by Enrique Urbizu, who has also written the screenplay along with Michel Gaztambide, and starring José Coronado, Juan Sanz and Zay Nuba.

==Plot== Fito and his wife Juana live in the suburbs of Madrid. He drives a truck for a living and has a gambling problem. Daily, he loses money playing poker. One day, his older brother, Pedro who had spent his last years living in London comes back to his homeland and visits Fito's family. This visit will change the life of every member of the family.

== Cast == {{Cast listing| * José Coronado as Pedro<ref name="elmundo" /> * {{ill|Zay Nuba|es}} as Juana<ref name="elmundo" /> * Juan Sanz as Fito<ref name="elmundo" /> * Sandro Polo as Jon<ref name="elmundo" /> * Yohana Cobo as Sara<ref name="elmundo" /> * {{ill|Silvia Espigado|es}} as Charo<ref name="elmundo" /> * Alfonso Torregrosa as Larrea<ref name="elmundo" /> * {{ill|Enrique Martínez (actor)|es|lt=Enrique Martínez}} as Visitador<ref name="elmundo" /> * Gabriel Moreno as Camarero<ref name="elmundo" /> * May Pascual as Camarera<ref name="elmundo" /> * {{ill|Cesáreo Estébanez|es}} as Estrada<ref name="elmundo" /> }}

== Production == The film was produced by Tornasol Films and Iberrota Films with the participation of TVE, Vía Digital and EITB.<ref name="holland">{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2003/film/reviews/life-marks-1200541756/|website=Variety|title=Life Marks|first=Jonathan|last=Holland|date=12 May 2003}}</ref> Footage was shot in Madrid, specifically in the districts of Fuencarral-El Pardo and Barajas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cityofmadridfilmoffice.com/produccion/la-vida-mancha/|website=City of Madrid Film Office|access-date=13 January 2022|title=La vida marca|publisher=Madrid Destino Cultura Turismo y Negocio S.A.}}</ref>

== Release == Distributed by Alta Films,<ref name="holland" /> the film was theatrically released on 9 May 2003.<ref name="elmundo">{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/especiales/2004/01/cultura/goya/peli_lavidamancha.html|website=Goya 2004. Especial|access-date=13 January 2022|title=La vida mancha|via=El Mundo}}</ref>

== Reception == Reviewing for ''Fotogramas'', Fernando Méndez-Leite rated the film with 4 out of 5 stars, considering it a "strange and evocative approach to an intimate story", highlighting the "elegant" ''mise-en-scène'' by Urbizu, the boldness of the proposal and Coronado's performance to be the best about the film.<ref>{{Cite web|title=La vida mancha|website=Fotogramas|date=29 May 2008|first=Fernando|last=Méndez-Leite|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/peliculas-criticas/a9106/la-vida-mancha/|author-link=Fernando Méndez-Leite}}</ref>

Jonathan Holland of ''Variety'' deemed it to be a "delicately impressive, offbeat drama", writing about the "commanding, impassive presence" of Coronado's performance, contrasting with the exuding "freshness and enthusiasm" by Sanz and Nuba.<ref name="holland" />

== See also == * List of Spanish films of 2003

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0367203|La Vida Mancha}}

Category:2003 films Category:2003 crime thriller films Category:Spanish thriller films Category:Films shot in Madrid Category:2003 Spanish films Category:2003 Spanish-language films Category:Tornasol Films films Category:Films scored by Mario de Benito