La niña de tus ojos is Fernando Trueba's first Spanish-based feature since 1993's Oscar-winning Belle Epoque. The time is 1938 and the place Berlin, recreated by Trueba in Prague, with a troupe of Spanish actors, under director Fontiveros, in Nazi Germany to shoot a cheesy Andalucian musical. A strong cast includes golden-hearted Macarena Granada (Penélope Cruz), leading man Julían Torralba (Jorge Sanz), gay art director Castillo (Santiago Segura), and alcoholic Rosa Rosales (the ever-dependable Rosa María Sardá).

Ironic cross-cultural humour abounds and the shadows of wartime gather as the Nazi's propaganda minister Josef Goebbels (Johannes Silberschneider) falls for Macarena's eyecatching Latino charms. Trueba skilfully negotiates a range of moods, from large-scale set pieces to moments of intimacy as the Macarena/Fontiveros relationship falls apart. Confrontation with any of the troubling wartime themes it raises is subordinated to a strong, basically comic plot. John Hopewell