The Good Life (1996 film)

The Good Life
The Good Life
	Theatrical release poster
Original title	La buena vida
Directed by	David Trueba
Written by	David Trueba
Produced by	Ana Huete; Cristina Huete;
Starring	Fernando Ramallo; Lucía Jiménez; Luis Cuenca; Isabel Otero; Vicky Peña; Jordi Bosch; Joel Joan; Jesús Bonilla;
Cinematography	William Lubtchansky
Edited by	Ángel Hernández Zoido
Music by	Antoine Duhamel
Production; companies	Fernando Trueba PC; Kaplan; Olmo Films; L. Films; Academy Films;
Distributed by	United International Pictures
Release date	13 December 1996 (Spain);
Running time	1h 47min
Countries	Spain; France; Italy;
Language	Spanish

The Good Life (Spanish: La buena vida) is a 1996 comedy-drama film written and directed by David Trueba,^[1] starring Fernando Ramallo and Lucía Jiménez.

Cast

The film is a Spanish-French-Italian co-production by Fernando Trueba PC, Kaplan, and Olmo Films alongside L. Films and Academy Pictures.^[2]

Distributed by United International Pictures (UIP),^[1] the film was released theatrically in Spain on 13 December 1996.^[4] It screened in the Directors' Fortnight at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.^[5] It also screened at the 32nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in July 1997, winning the Special Jury Prize.^[6]

Jonathan Holland of Variety deemed the film to be "a charming, carefully crafted and low-key tragicomedy".^[1]

Trueba wrote and directed a 2018 sequel, Almost 40, with Ramallo and Jiménez returning to their roles over two decades after.^[7]


Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1997	11th Goya Awards	Best Original Screenplay	David Trueba	Nominated	^[8]
		Best New Director	David Trueba	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Luis Cuenca	Won
		Best New Actress	Lucía Jiménez	Nominated

^ ^a ^b ^c Holland, Jonathan (11 January 1997). "The Good Life". Variety.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Benavent 2000, p. 128.
^ ^a ^b "La buena vida". Fotogramas. 29 May 2008.
^ Benavent, Francisco María (2000). Cine español de los 90. Diccionario de películas, directores y temático. Bilbao: Ediciones Mensajero. p. 128. ISBN 84-271-2326-4.
^ "Quinzaine 1997". quinzaine-realisateurs.com. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
^ "History - 32nd festival". kviff.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
^ Belinchón, Gregorio (20 April 2018). "'La buena vida' de Trueba sigue ahora con 'Casi 40'". El País.
^ "La buena vida". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 16 July 2023.