Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved” is the story of a famous film director, Esteban Martínez (Javier Bardem), who returns to his native Spain to shoot a movie in the desert and hires his estranged actress daughter, Emilia (Victoria Luengo), to play one of the leads. He claims that she’s the best one for the role, but we assume he’s doing it to mend fences (he is). That makes the movie sound a lot like “Sentimental Value,” in which Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve played similar roles. The two films overlap in numerous ways. But “The Beloved,” unlike “Sentimental Value,” really is one of those movies about the making of a movie, like “Day for Night” or “The Stunt Man.” It’s a meaty and enjoyable entry in the genre, one that updates it to the present day, when it’s not as easy as it once was for a director to bully a cast and crew (and Esteban, make no mistake, is something of a bully).
In the opening scene, Esteban and Emilia meet for lunch at a restaurant in Madrid to discuss the possibility of her doing the film. He’s all feints and jabs and courtly charm, befitting his status as a celebrity director who won an Oscar for best international film. By contrast, Emilia, in her mid-thirties, has a face that lights up with sunny enthusiasm and, just as quickly, turns downcast. The Spanish actress Victoria Luengo exudes a fascinating quality of pensive engagement — she suggests a more anxious version of Brooke Adams.
