Before the Fall (2008 film)

Before the Fall (Spanish: 3 días; transl. '3 Days') is a 2008 Spanish thriller film with apocalyptic themes directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez which stars Víctor Clavijo, Mariana Cordero, and Eduard Fernández.

Before the Fall
Theatrical release poster
Spanish	3 días
Directed by	F. Javier Gutiérrez
Screenplay by	Juan Velarde F. Javier Gutiérrez
Produced by	Antonio P. Pérez
Starring	Víctor Clavijo Mariana Cordero Eduard Fernández
Cinematography	Miguel A. Mora
Edited by	Nacho Ruiz Capillas
Music by	Antonio Meliveo
Production companies	Maestranza Films Green Moon Producciones Pentagrama Films
Release dates	14 February 2008 (2008-02-14) (Berlinale) 25 April 2008 (2008-04-25) (Spain)
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish

Plot

Upon the news delivered by the UN Secretary General announcing the end of the world in 72 hours by an impact event, Ale decides to spend his time left drinking and listening music, but he has to deal with the arrival of mysterious Lucio, focusing then on helping his mother Rosa and his brother Tomás' four children instead.^[1][2]

Cast

• Víctor Clavijo as Ale^[3]
• Mariana Cordero as Rosa^[3]
• Eduard Fernández as Lucio^[3]
• Daniel Casadellà [es] as Emilio^[3]
• Ana de las Cuevas as Raquel^[3]
• Elvira de Armiñán as Clara^[3]
• Juan Galván as Nico^[3]
• Vicente Romero as Marcial^[3]
• Pepe Salas as Don Miguel^[3]
• Antonio Dechent as Urbano^[3]
• Alejandro Muñoz as Josema^[3]
• Miguel Zurita as Damián ^[3]

Production

The screenplay was penned by the director alongside Juan Velarde.^[4] The film is a Maestranza Films, Green Moon Producciones and Pentagrama Films production.^[5] It was shot in the province of Seville.^[6]

Release

Selected in the 'Panorama' lineup of the 58th Berlin International Film Festival,^[5] the film was presented on 14 February 2008.^[6] It later screened at Málaga Film Festival's main competition on 5 April 2008.^[7] It was theatrically released in Spain on 25 April 2008.^[1]

Reception

Jay Weissberg of Variety summed up the "unpleasant predictable" thriller as "usual psycho killer looking for revenge drama gets an end of the world overlay".^[8]

Jordi Costa of Fotogramas rated the film 3 out of 5 stars highlighting its "visual power" whilst citing its subpar writing as a negative point.^[1]

Rubén Romero of Cinemanía rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, considering that after achieving the most difficult, the director, displaying "clear symptoms of suffering from horror vacui", goes on making "unnecessary formal pirouettes and forced plot twists", albeit conceding that "all in all, [the films is] a good and necessary debut".^[9]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2008	11th Málaga Film Festival	Golden Biznaga		Won	[10]
		Best Supporting Actress	Mariana Cordero	Won
		Best Makeup	Anabel Beato, Yolanda Piña	Won
		Best New Screenwriter	Juan Velarde, F. Javier Gutiérrez	Won
2009	64th CEC Medals	Best Cinematography	Miguel A. Mora	Nominated	[11]
		Best Editing	Nacho Ruiz Capillas	Won
		Best Newcomer	F. Javier Gutiérrez	Nominated
	23rd Goya Awards	Best Sound	Daniel de Zayas, Jorge Marín, Maite Rivera	Won	[12]
	18th Actors and Actresses Union Awards	Best Film Actor in a Leading Role	Víctor Clavijo	Nominated	[13][14]
		Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role	Eduard Fernández	Nominated

See also

• List of Spanish films of 2008

References

1. Costa, Jordi (29 May 2008). "3 días". Fotogramas.
2. "3 días". rtve.es. 17 September 2008.
3. "3 días" (PDF). berlinale.de. p. 144. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
4. Boquerini (13 April 2008). "El 'thriller' apocalíptico '3 días' y Silvia Munt triunfan en el Festival de Málaga". El Norte de Castilla.
5. Ríos Pérez, Sergio (6 February 2008). "Cuatro producciones españolas en una Berlinale rendida a Buñuel". Cineuropa.
6. Di Michele, Valentina (14 February 2008). "A tre giorni dalla fine". Cineuropa.
7. "Málaga.- Festival.- Javier Gutiérrez narra un cuento "actualizado" sobre el fin del mundo en 'Tres días'". Europa Press. 5 April 2008.
8. Weissberg, Jay (11 February 2008). "Before the Fall". Variety.
9. Romero, Rubén (25 April 2008). "3 días". Cinemanía – via 20minutos.es.
10. Intxausti, Aurora (13 April 2008). "La ópera prima '3 días' triunfa con cuatro premios en Málaga". El País.
11. "Medallas del CEC a la producción española de 2008". Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
12. "3 días". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
13. "Penélope Cruz y Chus Lampreave, rivales en los Premios de la Unión de Actores". 20minutos.es (in Spanish). 19 January 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
14. "El filme ´Camino´ arrasa en los Premios de la Unión de Actores". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 11 March 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2021.