Search: Starring Lola Duenas

Aces is a paean to worker solidarity but it is also honest enough about Spain's economic reality to acknowledge that holding each other up is not always enough to endure the precarious times in which we live.

That they make such a fascinating pair is down to Delaporte's spare but beautifully observed script, and the brilliantly understated performances by Clotilde Hesme and Gregory Gadebois.

La Bola Negra was an unfinished work in a life cut short but the film named (variously) for it is extension and tribute and triumph.

There is plenty to admire here, including some clever juxtaposition of audio and image.

The sexual and gender politics that course through Almodovar's best work are in evidence here but there's a distinct lack of focus, leaving the film a somewhat forced flight of fancy.

Clavellino's approach is unsentimental and all the more believable for that.

There's a subtlety to all this that speaks well of Meyer's thoughtfulness - she never goes for easy options such as having one character be prejudiced against the other, instead simply allowing a respectful attitude to grow into an increasingly strengthening bond.

Bardem's performance is astonishing, not so much in his ability to mimic a wasted body, but by capturing the essence of a lively intelligence.

A screwball comedy with soul, drama and even a song.

This is a very particular film - one where particles of detail crystallise into observation, meaning and import accreting like nacre around grit, producing a pearl, a natural jewel.