Plot
A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.

Release Year: 1997

Rating: 7.8/10 (29,897 voted)

Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera

Storyline
The handsome and wealthy César is very successful with women and is having difficulties getting rid of Nuria, his last affair. His best friend, Pelayo, is unlucky with women and jealous of César. At his birthday party, César meets the gorgeous and sexy Sofia, currently dating Pelayo, but they are immediately attracted to each other and spend the night together in her apartment. The next morning, César finds Nuria outside of Sofia's building, and he accepts her offer of a ride home. However, she commits suicide, crashing her car against a wall, but César survives the crash with his face completely disfigured. The doctors do not have the technology to restore his face and César is absolutely depressed and missing Sofia. One night, César meets Sofia and Pelayo in a bar but he drinks too much and passes out on the street. However, the next morning, Sofia finds César on the street and kisses him...

Writers: Alejandro Amenábar, Mateo Gil

Cast:
Eduardo Noriega - César
Penélope Cruz - Sofía
Chete Lera - Antonio
Fele Martínez - Pelayo
Najwa Nimri - Nuria
Gérard Barray - Duvernois
Jorge de Juan - Encargado L.E.
Miguel Palenzuela - Commisario
Pedro Miguel Martínez - Médico Jefe
Ion Gabella - Recluso paranoico
Joserra Cadiñanos - Guardia
Tristán Ulloa - Camarero
Pepe Navarro - Presentador T.V.
Jaro - Médico 1
Walter Prieto - Médico 2

Release Date: 19 December 1997

Filming Locations: Madrid, Spain

Box Office Details

Budget: ESP 370,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: €853,437 (Spain) (17 December 1997) (150 Screens)

Gross: $8,300,000 (Spain) (February 1998)

Runtime: 117 min

Trivia:
Tom Cruise said that he was on his mobile phone trying to buy the remake rights during the end credits the first time he saw the film.

Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: A crew member is reflected in the car window when César picks up Pelayo for tennis.

Quotes:
[Repeated line.]
Nuria: Open your eyes.

Attention: do NOT watch Vanilla Sky before watching this first!

Rating:

Sadly due to the lack of availability of 'Open Your Eyes' in Australia (until now) I saw Cameron Crowe's 'Vanilla Sky' first. Too bad. 'Open Your Eyes' is the original and best version, and would have impressed me even more if the surprises in the plot hadn't been ruined for me by the remake. So I strongly urge you to watch this movie first for maximum impact. It's a real killer, and especially recommended if you are a fan of mind-blowing movies such as Frankenheimer's underrated 'Seconds', Cronenberg's brilliant 'Videodrome' and 'eXistenZ'), or have read a Philip K.Dick novel or two.

Eduardo Noriega (star of Amenabar's previous movie, the taut, suspenseful 'Tesis', also worth a look) is much more believable than Tom Cruise as the increasingly baffled protagonist caught in a never-ending nightmare, and Penelope Cruz's performance here is subtler and more appealing than her reprise of Sofia in Crowe's overblown and self-indulgent remake. Alejandro Amenabar has made three excellent imaginative thrillers in a row, and looks like being one of the most potentially exciting directors currently working. 'Open Your Eyes' comes with my highest recommendation. This one is essential viewing.

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