The Dog in the Manger

Countess Diana de Belflor is in love with Teodoro, her own secretary, but Teodoro is promised to Marcela and the countess knows perfectly well that she cannot marry a servant. So she neither eats nor lets anyone else eat: she pulls him close, pushes him away, gives him hope and takes it back. Three people caught between rank and desire chase each other up and down the corridors of the house. Pilar Miró took the risk of filming Lope de Vega's 1618 play in its original verse; the actors speak in poetry from beginning to end, and the film carries it like a living comedy rather than a museum exhibit. It won seven Goyas, with Miró named best director and Emma Suárez best actress. The title says the rest: the gardener's dog, which will not eat and will not let others eat either.