Beautiful songs by a beautiful lady!
Marcos | 06/20/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
""EL ULTIMO CUPLE" remains one of my favorite movies ever. I first saw it when I was a little kid many moons ago. Through the years I saw it time and time again in film festivals, television and home video. Recently I bought on line the DVD, released in Spain ONLY, by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, which contains a wonderfully restored copy of the film. In order to watch this DVD I had to buy a DVD player that plays all foreign systems and regions but it was worthy. Watching this restored film was an emotional experience that I have truly enjoyed. (It's frustrating that Buena Vista, a USA company, does not release this product in our country with English subtitles.)
If you've never seen or heard of this perennial favorite you are missing a lot. It is one of those films that refuses to die like "Casablanca" or "Gone With The Wind." When it was first shown back in 1957, it ran for over a year in Europe and Latin America. (Not even Cameron's "Titanic" can boast that in any country.) When we talk about "EL ULTIMO CUPLE" you have to talk about its star SARITA MONTIEL. She dominates the film with her beauty, her personality and her voice. After years of moderate success in Spain, Mexico and even Hollywood, Miss Montiel found the right vehicle for her talents with this film. She has been a legend ever since.
As unforgettable as the film, are the songs by Miss Montiel. Since the movie takes place in the early 1900's the songs are all from that era and were picked to compliment the plot. Some of them like "Ven y Ven," "Fumando Espero" and "Sus Picaros Ojos" have a strong sexual content. ("Fumando Espero" was branded obscene by Spanish Catholic bishops.) Others are celebration of land and country like "Valencia", "La Nieta de Carmen" and a patriotic French hymn "La Madelon.". But Montiel outdoes herself with the romantic tunes of love-gone-wrong like "El Relicario," "Tu No Eres Eso" and the haunting "Nena." Once you listen to them you are hooked for life. So that you can gage the impact of these songs, let me inform you that all of them made it to the "top ten" in hit parades in over 20 countries. Nothing like that was seen again until 1964 when The Beatles dominated the charts.
In short I recommend the soundtrack to all but it would really help if you saw the movie before. It's a colorful nostalgic trip enhanced by the presence of a real movie star Sarita Montiel."
AN OUTSTANDING CLASSIC !
Julio Lopez | Santiago, Chile | 06/16/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A wonderful soundtrack from one of the greatest popular classical movies of all times in Hispanoamerica. The songs are sentimental, nostalgic and very, very catchy. They represent the best tradition of the "cuple", and Sara Montiel - in spite of her limited voice - sounds wonderful and fits the movie character perfectly. Impossible to mention one single song and leave the others out because they're all beautiful. I would highly recommend the other CD's from the Sara Montiel collection (about 10 years ago they were all published in a box)since they are all classics of Spanish music and cinema."
Songs that stay with you
Jesse V. Goytia | Long Beach, CA | 02/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I saw the movie when I was 13 yrs. old and imediately fell in love with Sarita, I learned all the songs in the album. Songs like clavelitos or el relicario she goes frome happy to sad as the movie developes she looses her love (el torero) and she goes on a deep depression and goes down under with the licor and when she finally comes back to the stage she sings her ultimo cuple........fan for ever"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1