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Witching & Bitching

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Witching & Bitching
Teaser poster
SpanishLas brujas de Zugarramurdi
Directed byÁlex de la Iglesia
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyKiko de la Rica
Edited byPablo Blanco
Music byJoan Valent
Production
companies
  • Enrique Cerezo Producciones Cinematográficas S.A.
  • La Ferme! Productions
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • 14 September 2013 (2013-09-14) (TIFF)
  • 27 September 2013 (2013-09-27) (Spain)
Running time
114 minutes
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

Witching & Bitching (Spanish: Las brujas de Zugarramurdi; transl. 'The Witches of Zugarramurdi') is a 2013 Spanish comedy horror film directed and co-written by Álex de la Iglesia.[1] It stars Hugo Silva, Mario Casas, and Carmen Maura.

It won the most awards at the 28th Goya Awards with eight wins out of ten nominations, primarily in technical categories.

Plot

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The film opens with two men, José and Antonio robbing a pawn shop in Madrid. Antonio is unhappy that José has brought his son Sergio along on the heist and is even unhappier that the child is participating with them, as this puts both him and them at risk. The robbery turns sour and several people die in the resulting gunfire. The men hijack a taxi and stow its unwilling passenger in the trunk, then force the driver, Manuel, to drive towards Spain's border with the intent to flee to France.

The group is followed by Sergio's mother and José's ex Silvia as well as two police investigators Pacheco and Calvo, who are tracking Silvia. The men end up in Zugarramurdi, Navarre, where they come across a group of cannibalistic witches led by Graciana, whose mother Maritxu tries to cook Sergio in her oven. They manage to escape the witches once but are forced to turn back, and are swiftly captured by the witches.

Silvia manages to find the witches' house, enlisting the help of the cops to break into the house. José, Antonio, and Manuel end up escaping in the ensuing chaos, however Silvia and the two cops are captured, with Silvia turned into a witch with the use of tainted toad juice. The three men are captured by the witches except for José, who survives only through the intervention of Graciana's daughter Eva, who has become infatuated with him. She demands that he leave with her right away, yet José refuses to leave his son behind. With help from Eva's brother Luismi, José finds his way to the ritual chamber. Along the way they free Eva, who had been buried alive by her mother for her betrayal.

Already in the chamber, Luismi and José are witness to Antonio, Manuel, Pacheco, and Calvo slowly burning in a pyre and the emergence of Graciana's goddess, a grotesque gargantuan woman resembling a fertility statue. The goddess devours Sergio, who passes through the giant and emerges alive. José confronts the witches with the help of Eva, who manages to cause the goddess's destruction, and José manages to escape the chaos with Sergio, Eva, and the other men. One month José and Eva are shown to be a couple raising Sergio, who is growing into his powers, yet Silvia, Graciana, and Maritxu are shown to be all alive and are content to wait for the couple to grow discontent with their happiness.

Cast

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Release

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Distributed by Universal Pictures International Spain,[2] the film was theatrically released in Spain on 27 September 2013, opening with €1,236,390 in its debut weekend (a 21% share of the entire box office).[3]

Reception

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On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rating of 84% based on 31 reviews. The site's the consensus states: "Dark, nasty, and delightfully subversive, Witching and Bitching is gross-out genre fun with a heaping helping of warped comedy for good measure".[4] On Metacritic it has a score of 73% based on reviews from 10 critics.[5]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2014 1st Feroz Awards Best Comedy Film Nominated [6]
28th Goya Awards Best Original Score Joan Valent Nominated [7][8][9]
Best Supporting Actress Terele Pávez Won
Best Production Supervision Carlos Bernases Won
Best Cinematography Kiko de la Rica Nominated
Best Editing Pablo Blanco Won
Best Art Direction Arturo García "Biaffra", José Luis Arrizabalaga "Arri" Won
Best Costume Design Francisco Delgado López Won
Best Makeup and Hairstyles María Dolores Gómez Castro, Javier Hernández Valentín, Pedro Rodríguez "Pedrati", Francisco J. Rodríguez Frías Won
Best Sound Charly Schmukler, Nicolás de Poulpiquet Won
Best Special Effects Juan Ramón Molina, Ferran Piquer Won
1st Platino Awards Best Ibero-American Film Nominated [10][11]
Best Original Score Joan Valent Nominated
1st Fénix Awards Best Costume Design Paco Delgado Nominated [12][13]
Best Art Direction José Luis Arrizabalaga, Arturo García Won
Best Sound Carlos Schmukler, Nicolás de Poulpiquet Nominated
Best Music Joan Valent Won
Best Editing Pablo Blanco Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About the film". Film Factory Entertainment (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  2. ^ "'Las brujas de Zugarramurdi' – estreno en cines 27 de septiembre". 23 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Vídeo en exclusiva de Las brujas de Zugarramurdi". HobbyConsolas. 1 October 2013.
  4. ^ "WITCHING AND BITCHING (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 24 Jan 2022.
  5. ^ "Witching and Bitching". Metacritic.
  6. ^ Agudo, Jesús (28 January 2014). "Lista de ganadores de los Premios Feroz 2014". ecartelera.
  7. ^ "'Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed', Big Winner at The 28th Goya Awards". Golden Globes. February 9, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  8. ^ "Los ganadores de los Goya 2014". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). February 10, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  9. ^ "Las brujas de Zugarramurdi". premiosgoya.com. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Premios Platino, el inicio de la celebración del cine iberoamericano". rtve.es. 4 April 2014.
  11. ^ "'Gloria', elegida la mejor película de la primera edición de los Premios Platino". Fotogramas. 7 April 2014.
  12. ^ "Anuncian nominados a los Premios Fénix". El Universal. 29 September 2014.
  13. ^ "Lista de ganadores de los Premios Fénix". 20minutos.com. 30 October 2014.
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