This highly entertaining portrait follows the changing fortunes of a Spanish family headed by an eccentric matriarch, whose improbable teenage dreams came true. A popular hit and award winner at home and abroad.
An endearingly haphazard portrait of an extraordinary woman and the family she made – one that has discovered its own, completely unique way to be happy.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2018
Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle 2017
Muchos hijos, un mono y un castillo
Oddball octogenarian Julita Salmerón had three wishes as a young newlywed: the kids (six) came naturally enough, and even the monkey wasn’t too hard, but the castle was out of reach for a regular, middle-class Spanish family. Then an inheritance made Julita suddenly super rich and she got her third wish too, complete with turret, suits of armour and chandeliers.
With so much space at her disposal, she never threw anything out from that day on. Open any cupboard and a lifetime’s precious detritus may come tumbling out. But opened they shall be, for Spain’s financial crisis puts an end to the castle life and Julita and husband Antonio must drastically downsize. Their children and grandchildren assist with the move. What can possibly be thrown out? And where are the two vertebrae, macabre heirlooms, of Julita’s grandmother, brutally murdered during the Spanish Civil War?
Shot in a variety of formats over 14 years by one of Julita’s sons, this entertaining and affectionate portrait of an indomitable, impossible matriarch and her brood captures them coping with the vagaries of life, and celebrates the powerful, eccentric force of their family bonds. — SR