Abre los ojos
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Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes) is a 1997 film directed by Alejandro Amenábar and written by him and Mateo Gil. It stars Eduardo Noriega as César, a successful and handsome young man in Madrid who becomes severely disfigured in an automobile crash and then undergoes some disorienting experiences. The film also stars Penélope Cruz as Sofía, Najwa Nimri as Nuria (the girl who causes the automobile crash that disfigures César), Fele Martínez as César's friend Pelayo, and Chete Lera as Antonio, a psychiatrist who becomes something of a father figure to César.
Director Cameron Crowe remade the film as Vanilla Sky (2001), with Tom Cruise in the lead role (renamed David Aames), Penélope Cruz reprising her role as Sofía, Cameron Diaz as the girl who disfigures David (renamed Julie Gianni), Jason Lee as the friend (renamed Brian Shelby), and Kurt Russell as the psychiatrist (renamed Curtis McCabe). The remake also transplants the action from Madrid to New York.
Plot summary
After César's disfigurement, he begins to have a series of disorienting experiences, culminating in his arrest for the murder of a woman said to be Sofía but whom César believes to be Nuria. It is gradually revealed that, shortly after his disfigurement, César contracted with 'Life Extension', a company specializing in cryonics, to be cryogenically preserved and to experience extremely lucid and lifelike virtual reality dreams. He then committed suicide and was placed in cryogenic suspension. His experiences from about the midpoint of the movie onward have been a dream, spliced retroactively into his actual life and replacing his true memories. At the end of the film he elects to wake up and be resurrected.
The Cameron Crowe remake follows the original plot very closely but makes minor changes to the ending and incorporates a great many pop culture references. In general the mood of the original film is darker and more brooding.
The overall plot device and themes of unreality in Abre los ojos are very similar to those employed in the novel Ubik by Philip K. Dick.