The Year of Maria
# The Year of Maria

The Year of Maria (Spanish: Año mariano) is a 2000 Spanish black comedy film directed by Karra Elejalde and Fernando Guillén Cuervo, who also star in the film alongside Manuel Manquiña, Gloria Muñoz, and Sílvia Bel.

## Plot

Mariano, an alcoholic cassette salesman, crashes on a marijuana plantation being burned by Guardia Civil agents, so dazed and hallucinated by narcotics, he sees the Virgin Mary. With help from a middling showman (Tony Towers) he becomes a messianic figure in rural southern Spain.

## Cast

* Karra Elejalde as Mariano
* Fernando Guillén Cuervo as Antonio Torres (Tony Towers)
* Manuel Manquiña as sargento Pablo Talavera
* Gloria Muñoz as sor Trini
* Sílvia Bel [es] as María Vélez
* Fernando Guillén as don Simón
* Juan Viadas as don Javier
* Pepín Tre [es] as Hopper
* Karlos Arguiñano as Viriato

## Production

The film was produced by Asegarce with the collaboration of TVE, Vía Digital [es], and ETB. Shooting locations in the province of Almería included Cala Carbón (Níjar).

## Release

Distributed by Aurum, the film was released theatrically in Spain on 11 August 2000. It was the second-largest grossing Spanish film at the 2000 domestic box-office after Common Wealth.

## Reception

Jonathan Holland of Variety deemed the film (otherwise stylistically a baby brother to Juanma Bajo Ulloa's Airbag), to be "at worst sloppy and uncontrolled, at best nicely imaginative".

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2001 | 15th Goya Awards | Best Special Effects | Juan Ramón Molina, Alfonso Nieto | Nominated | |
