Nunca pasa nada


Nunca pasa nada or Nothing Ever Happens is a 1963 Spanish-French drama film directed by Juan Antonio Bardem. Starring a mixed cast of French and Spanish actors it was shot both in Spanish and French. It was a commercial flop at the time of its release.
The film was entered into the Venice Film Festival. Julia Gutiérrez Caba was named Best Actress in Spain by the Cinema Writers Circle, and received the Fotogramas de Plata prize.
Nunca pasa nada depicts an environment and characters similar to the ones appearing in Bardem's great success, Calle Mayor, to the point that some critics nicknamed it disdainfully Calle Menor. However, current evaluation of Bardem's works consider Nunca pasa nada a very appreciable film.

Plot

A French variety company travels across Spain, coming back to France. Their bus stops when damaged in a small village in Castile, called Medina del Zarzal. The vedette star Jacqueline is sick and has to remain in the hospital where she is operated upon. The doctor falls in love with her. She represents the freedom, the foreign, the forbidden. Her presence in the village is a revolution for all the people: students, priests, rich men. The doctor's wife, Julia, has to fight with the love proposition made by the local French language teacher, the only person in town who can speak to the foreigner.

Cast