Streaming tip: Caldera, Garrido & Valor's goofy delight, GHOST GRADUATION, is finally available

Another in the seemingly endless array of wonderful films from Spain, GHOST GRADUATION (Promoción fantasma), which I covered when it made its New York premiere during the FSLC's late-and-much-lamented annual series, Spanish Cinema Now, is finally streamable via Netflix and elsewhere. This goofy little comic/supernatural gem tracks an adult teacher from his school days onwards, as he comes to grips with an ability to see ghosts when no one else can. When he befriends an ill-fated group of these -- high school students killed in a fire a couple of decades back -- and they him, an increasingly funny, surprising and finally sweetly moving story comes to life (and also, well, to death).

As written with charm and smarts by Cristóbal Garrido and Adolfo Valor and directed with style and barely a misstep by Antonio Ruiz Caldera, the movie -- from its wonderful opening scene at a school dance to its final "dab away those tears" finale, the film combines a fine story with characterizations richer than this genre usually offers, excellent performances and a just-about-perfect use of special effects, as needed.

There's a delightful subplot involving our hero (the usual great job by Raúl Arévalo, at left, two photos above, shown with Alexandra Jiménez) and his shrink and the shrink's dead father -- Luis Varela (above, left) and Joaquin Reyes (above, right).

Most of all, however, it's that group of students, shown at right -- all deceased, except for the young lady, bottom right -- who manage to make this movie so much fun and so full of small surprises and charms. Look for that crack Spanish comic actor Carlos Areces (from The Last Circus) in a plum role, too.

So whenever you're in the mood for something feel-good that's actually "earned" (or as earned as any tale of the supernatural can be), start streaming -- and have a lovely time. (I suspect that fans of that fine Spanish TV series Grand Hotel will enjoy this film, too.)

SCN goes mainstream: Caldera, Garrido & Valor's sweet, goofy GHOST GRADUATION

What is it about the afterlife that attracts so many movie-makers (not to mention audiences)? I mean, really -- we know nothing about it, but that doesn't stop us from imagining. Yes, of course: It's a way to cheat death. Even if the whole idea is complete nonsense we can still bask in the possibility of some sort of continuation once we're finished. I'm musing on this subject because two of the sweetest films I've seen in quite a while are both ghost-related: Ferzan Ozpetek's wonderful Magnificent Presence (click and scroll down), from this year's Open Roads festival, and now the less meaty, but charming and delightful GHOST GRADUATION (Promoción fantasma) which had its one and only screening last Friday night as part of Spanish Cinema Now.

In this alternately funny, cute, gross and romantic comedy -- written by Cristóbal Garrido and Adolfo Valor, and directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera (shown at right) -- a school teacher who, all his life, appears to have been able to see and relate to ghosts, is placed in a high school where five of these "beings" -- students who were killed in a fire 20 years ago --  are wreaking havoc on teachers and staff. (They seem to leave the "live" students alone. Professional courtesy, I guess.)

Turns out the ghosts have unfinished business to take care of, which means, in the teacher's mind at least, graduation. The ghosts, however, are not so sure.

In the leading role of the teacher, one of our favorite actors and a staple at SCN, Raúl Arévalo, does his usual terrific job without seeming to break a sweat. He's charming and funny and sexy and helpless, winning us over in a flash.

Arévalo is supported by a fine cast that includes Aura Garrido (above, and just seen at SCN in The Body) as a live student who falls in love with one of the ghosts and Alexandra Jiménez (below, right) as the principal of the school, who falls in love with Arévalo.

Also on view is the very funny Carlos Areces (below, of The Last Circus and last year's Extraterrestrial), as what appears to exist in Spain as something like the PTA president.

I make no grand claims for this very mainstream Spanish movie. Yet, taken on its own terms, it is quite enjoyable. Compared to what most of our Hollywood people might do with the same subject, Ghost Graduation comes off as a surprisingly sweet and generous movie.

The film played only once at this year's SCN, but because its opening frames sported the Fox International logo, I suspect there is a chance that we'll be able to see it again over here on DVD. Let's hope so, as it'll make a lot of people smile.