The Lady and the Reaper (La dama y la muerte) (2009)

Director:

Javier Recio Gracia

Writer:

Javier Recio Gracia (written by)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

A sweet old lady is living alone in her farm, waiting for the arrival of death to meet her beloved husband again...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Doctor | Wanting To Die | Framed Photograph | Loss Of Husband

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Miguel Angel Perez	...	Death / Doctor / Dog
Eva Molina	...	Lady / Nurses / Dog

Directed by
Javier Recio Gracia

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Javier Recio Gracia		written by

Produced by
Marcelino Almansa	....	producer
Antonio Banderas	....	producer
Pedro Carmona	....	associate producer
Javier Domínguez	....	associate producer (as Javier Dominguez)
Francisco Fortes	....	associate producer
Raul Garcia	....	associate producer
Antonio Meliveo	....	executive producer
Antonio Meliveo	....	producer
Esteban Milena	....	associate producer
Juan Molina	....	executive producer
Juan Molina	....	producer
Yolanda J. Polonio	....	associate producer (as Yolanda Polonio)
Enrique Posner	....	executive producer
Manuel Sicilia	....	producer

Original Music by
Sergio de la Puente

Film Editing by
Claudio Hernández		(as Claudio Hernandez)

Production Management
Miguel A.S. Cogolludo	....	technical production manager
Javier Fernandez	....	post-production supervisor

Art Department
Beatriz Iglesias	....	graphic artist
Miguel Lacal	....	additional art
Carlos Nieto Lopez	....	additional art (as Carlos Nieto)
Francis Porcel	....	art
Javier Recio Gracia	....	art
Oscar J. Vargas	....	art

Sound Department
Antonio García	....	foley artist (as Antonio Garcia)
Alfredo Jimenez	....	mixer
Jorge Lerner	....	sound mixer
Pedro Javier Ortega	....	voice recordist
Federico Pájaro	....	sound designer (as Federico Pajaro)
Federico Pájaro	....	sound mixer (as Federico Pajaro)
Alvaro Salgado	....	sound mixer
Miguel San Francisco	....	foley recordist

Special Effects by
Sergio Juan Gomez	....	special effects supervisor
Raul Perez	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Daniel Alejo	....	hair simulation
Daniel Alejo	....	lead technical director
Octavio Alonso	....	compositor
Pedro 'Pococo' Calvo	....	props supervisor
Pedro 'Pococo' Calvo	....	sets supervisor
Pepe Cazorla	....	lighting supervisor
Pepe Cazorla	....	props & sets
Adolfo Dalda	....	cloth simulation
Adolfo Dalda	....	props & sets
Iker J. de los Mozos	....	character setup
Miguel Angel Espada	....	pipeline technical director
Antonio Frias	....	character modeling
Antonio Frias	....	hair simulation
Antonio Frias	....	props & sets
Antonio J. Jimenez	....	on-line editor
Sergio Juan	....	cloth simulation
Miguel Lacal	....	character texture painter (as Miguel A. Lacal)
Miguel A. Lopez	....	props & sets (as Miguel A. Lopez)
Miguel A. López	....	lighting
Jesús Rodríguez Mellado	....	technical coordinator
Antonio Montes	....	compositor
David Munoz	....	props & sets
Jose Luis Navarro	....	character supervisor
Jose Luis Navarro	....	cloth simulation
Raul Perez	....	digital effects artist
Raul Perez	....	cloth simulation
Ricardo Perez	....	lighting
Ricardo Perez	....	props & sets
Jose Antonio Portillo Moreno	....	character modeling (as Jose A. Portillo)
Ramon Ruiz	....	props & sets
Juan Siquier	....	props supervisor
Juan Siquier	....	shading supervisor

Animation Department
Ernesto Esteso	....	animator
Francisco Fernández Dapena	....	animation supervisor (as Franciso F. Dapena)
Gabriel García	....	animation supervisor (as Gabriel Garcia)
Jesús Gómez Díaz	....	animator (as Jesus Gomez)
Sebastián Marín Santer	....	animator (as Sebastian Marin)
Jose Antonio Portillo Moreno	....	animator (as Jose A. Portillo)
Juan Miguel Vadell	....	animator (as Juan M. Vadell)
Jaime Visedo	....	animator

Editorial Department
Laura Gamero	....	post-production coordinator
María Luisa Hernández	....	post-production coordinator (as Maria Luisa Hernandez)
David Rocher	....	colorist
Maria Luisa Molina	....	post-production coordinator (uncredited)

Music Department
Sergio de la Puente	....	musician
Tuti Fernández	....	musician (as Tuti Fernandez)
Michael Jani	....	musician
Ara Malikian	....	musician

Other crew
Miguel Angel Perez	....	voice director
Trinidad Suarez	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Caja de Granada
• Junta de Andalucía
• Kandor Graphics
• Kandor Moon
• Ministerio de Educación y Cultura (ICAA)

Distributors

• Shorts International (2010) (worldwide) (all media)

Also Known As:

"The Lady and the Reaper" - Spain, USA (copyright title)

Runtime:

8 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Company:

Caja de Granada

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Brief Film Reviews: The 2009 Nominees for Best Animated Short (#1.9)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

We'll Meet Again

My favorite of the Oscar nominees--that's why it probably won't win!!

I have been going to the special showings of the Oscar-nominated shorts for the last several years and I have learned one important thing--if I love an animated short, it's bound to lose. This isn't the case with the live-action ones, but I have the uncanny ability to pick which one I think should win and get it wrong every time! Sadly for THE OLD LADY AND THE REAPER, I loved it and felt it should win the Oscar--a true curse if I've ever heard one! I think, while it's not my first favorite, that LOGORAMA will actually take the Oscar, as it's more creative and visually stunning. Plus, the Oscar people (technically, the members of AMPAS) don't seem to like the morbid little comedies--as my favorites for 2008 and 2009 were also about death (wow,,,that says a lot about me, huh?).

THE OLD LADY AND THE REAPER is a Spanish movie but when I saw it, the film was in English. IMDb also says it's an English language film, though with its Spanish title I assume that there must be a Spanish language one out there somewhere. If you find it, let me know--I'd like to see that as well.

The film is a comedy about a power struggle between the Grim Reaper and a hot-shot doctor who plays God and keeps resuscitating a dead lady. As for the lady, she's quite old and very prepared to die--and just wishes that this jerk would let her go! It's all very, very goofy and is sure to make you laugh--particularly the cute way it portrays the Reaper as well as his three-headed Poodle! Clever, funny and manically paced--this is a hilarious film and the theater was filled with laughter from start to finish. Too bad it probably won't win.

Update (3/7/10)--I was correct, "Logorama" took the Oscar. It just goes to show that my instinct was correct but I still enjoyed "La Dama y La Muerte" better. See both films and do yourself a favor.