Anything You Want (Achero Mañas, 2010): Spain

Reviewed by Addie Rosales. Viewed at The 2011 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Anything You Want (Todo lo que tu quieras), directed by Achero Mañas, is based off the unconditional love a father has for his young daughter. I went to the screening of this movie unaware of what it was actually about, but soon enough found myself captivated with the story and crying in one of the first senses. The sense that made me lose it right from the beginning was when young Dafane (Lucía Fernández) witnessed her ill mother die on a bench in a park and was completely alone sitting with her dead body. I couldn’t believe what had just happened because the sense before this one led me to think this movie was going to be about a happy family and their time in spent in Mexico together.

This tragedy and terrifying occurrence suddenly changed the whole mood and dynamic of the film. Leo (Juan Diego Botto), the father of Dafane, is unexpectedly forced into the role of a single parent which he is so clearly not ready for. But after consulting with his friend, who assured Leo that the only thing important in life is the happiness of your child, is what helped Leo gain the courage, determination, and strength to give his daughter anything she wants.

You can see how truly devastated Leo is for the loss of his young beloved wife, but he manages to stay strong when he is in the presence of his daughter because he doesn’t want her to see him at his weak points. Everything seems to be going as good as possible, until Dafane requests her father to put on her mom’s beautiful red lipstick. Resisting at first and not fully understanding why, Leo finally gave in and agreed to put on lipstick while he read his daughter a bed time story. This soon leads to Leo dressing up as his dead wife in order to keep his daughter satisfied and able to somewhat coupe with the loss of her mother.

Leo received help from a character named Alex (José Luis Gómez) who is an entertainer and also happens to be a homosexual, who dressed him up as closely related to . Alex didn’t want to help Leo out at first, due to Leo’s hostile ways towards him in a previous scene, but finally agreed to do it for the sake of Dafane. I found it to be surprising that the one character Leo was nasty towards, was the only one who understood and supported Leo with his efforts. Closer towards the end of the movie you discover Leo and Alex have more in common than what would be expected.

As Leo’s appearance stared to change more and more drastically throughout the movie, I found myself becoming more and more uncomfortable and upset with Leo’s misleading actions. But the point where I felt the most uncomfortable, and wanting to yell “stop!” at the screen was when Leo started to go out in public dressed as his deceased wife. I knew Leo was only concerned about his daughter’s happiness, but I don’t think he should have carried this act on to where it got to the extent that Dafane seemed to completely lose sight of who her father really was, as she got in the habit of calling him “Mama” seeing him dressed up as her mom.

Even though most of the time I didn’t agree with what Leo was doing (although I understood why), I thought this movie was absolutely beautiful. I completely lost it at the last scene in the hotel when Leo and Dafane, together, found a different and more healthy way to remember Dafane’s mother and to coupe with their loss, this is done when the both resorted to seeking her presence in a spiritual way rather than an inappropriate manner. Together, Dafane and Leo take off Leo’s false appearance and returns to only playing the very important role of being a father.