Joaquin Sabina - 19 días y 500 noches

They still carry his house keys with them, Joaquin Sabina's old friends. It does not matter that the Madrid-based singer, who is adored throughout the Spanish-speaking community, changed the locks to his house years ago. After the brain haemorrhage that hit him in 2001, Sabina suddenly could not bear the dozens of friends anymore that invaded his house. This was a raw deal for them, as the interviews reveal that director Ramón Gieling had with them. As in Gieling's previous documentaries, he created a cinematographic form for the interviews, which he consistently applies. Friends and former lovers are introduced in a minutely reconstructed copy of the living room they were expelled from. In the real living room, they used to lead a loose life without thinking about the health risks. The film shows Sabina during a performance in the arena in Madrid where he likes to watch bullfights. How deep his music affects people is clear from the confession of a nationalistic Spanish woman: she considers him a dirty, left-wing swine, but knows all his records by heart.