Stars: Nancho Novo, Emma Suarez, Maria Barranco

Director: Julio Medem

Summary: Whilst former pop star Jota is contemplating suicide he witnesses a motorcycle crash and rushes to help the rider who turns out to be an attractive young woman. Realising that she has no memory he takes her to the Red Squirrel camp site where he passes her off as his girlfriend. Spanish dialogue with subtitles.

After troubled ex-pop star Jota witnesses the motorcycle crash of a young woman who is left amnesiac, he pretends to be her lover and creates an entire fictitious life for her. Dark humour and interesting visuals are combined to tell this unusual tale of female identity.

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The Red Squirrelsees Jota, an ex-pop star with a penchant for doing nothing very much, standing on a bridge contemplating suicide. He's pulled back to reality by a dramatic motorcycle accident and goes to help the victim, an attractive young woman apparently physically unscathed but with severe amnesia. At the hospital he is assumed to be her boyfriend, and so the deception begins, as he invents everything from her name (Lisa) through to the details of their imaginary four-year relationship. Though based on a lie, it gradually becomes real but is Lisa really an amnesiac or is she deceiving the deceiver? Who is the mysterious Felix, leaving pleas on a late-night radio programme to his missing, mentally disturbed 25-year-old wife, Sofia? As an array of incidental characters get drawn in, each seems to be practising their own deceit.

This is a beautifully wrought, endlessly thought-provoking film, complemented by Alberto Iglesias's fabulous score. The two leads are superb: as Jota, Nancho Nova is both fey and hypnotic while Elisa (Emma Suárez) is wonderfully whimsical. Not surprisingly, it garnered a whole heap of awards, from Best Foreign Film at Cannes to Best Score at the Goya Awards. And the significance of the title? Red squirrels are, apparently, quick and cunning creatures; just like human beings.

On the DVD:The Red Squirrelis presented in Dolby Digital original Spanish soundtrack with option of English subtitles and anamorphic widescreen print. The usual stuff is on offer as special features, including trailers for other world cinema films, filmographies of the director and two leading characters, and a concise but considered analysis of the plot.--Harriet Smith

Main Language:	Spanish
Region:	Region 0
Special Features:	Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer, 2. World Cinema Trailer Reel, Robert Stone Film Notes, Stills Gallery
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1993
Release Date:	May 27, 2002
Runtime:	109 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	T V D 3376
Keywords:	Subtitled, Red, General, Squirrel, Spanish, Drama, Roja, Ardilla
Genre:	Drama