The Girl of Your Dreams

The Girl of Your Dreams (1998) rests on a strange but genuine historical situation: Spanish film crews travelling to Nazi Germany to shoot during the Spanish Civil War. This is not invented. There was a co-production agreement between the Franco side and Germany, and films were shot at the UFA studios in Berlin in two languages at once: same set, same costumes, separate Spanish and German casts. 1938. A Spanish crew arrives in Berlin to make a musical set in Andalusia. Its star, Macarena, catches the attention of Goebbels, who begins to pursue her. When extras are needed, prisoners are brought from a nearby camp, and Macarena befriends one of them. What the film does is hold two tones at once: comedy on set and the reality of the camp side by side. The crew is trying to make a film while something else entirely is happening behind the camera and nobody wants to look at it. Fernando Trueba does not turn evil into a monster. Goebbels here is not menacing, merely persistent and polite. That is what makes it uncomfortable. Penélope Cruz won the Goya for Best Actress; the film took seven Goyas in total. It runs 121 minutes. Good for: Spanish cinema, historical comedy drama, and films about filmmaking. Less good for: the tonal shifts are abrupt, and it contains sexual harassment and camp sequences.