Following hot on the heels of the theatrical release of Julia's Eyes in cinemas last week, Momentum Pictures release another film from the producers of Pan's Labyrinth, Agnosia is another Spanish thriller which made its UK debut at the London Spanish Film Festival.
Directed by another Guillermo Del Toro protege Eugenio Mira, and written by Antonio Trashorras (who also collaborated with Del Toro on The Devil's Backbone) the film tells the story of a young Joana Prats who after an accident suffers from a neurological illness, agnosia, that affects her perception.
As a doctor explains, we normally have a filter that reduces all the stimuli into senses of sounds and sights, in Joana's case she cannot interpret the stimuli she receives, leaving her in this perplexed state - she knows you are there but is not necessarily deaf or blind.
After the death of her father, Joana becomes victim of a sinister plan; whilst two men fight for her affection the true love of her man will become crucial; Carles (Noriega), her father's right hand man who seeks his industrial secret and Vicent (Felix Gomez) an impulsive servant who falls in love with Joana whilst working at the mansion. Does Joana find the strength to seek out the truth, as the tagline suggests perception is not reality.
The film is blessed by the Spanish tradition of film-making influenced by the work of Victor Erice in the rich period detail of the baroque setting of the film, and the work of Del Toro's fantasy work specifically Pan's Labyrinth in terms of the visual richness and fantasy elements - the narrative themes it shares are that of a vulnerable young girl in distress, to be saved by a downtrodden young man as she escapes into a fantasy world of which neither she nor loved ones can grasp, and how love can be a mistake or mistaken for something else.
Often in Spanish/Latin film (even in the work of Almodovar) there is an ulterior motive to someone's affection for an individual; in this instance we are aware of someone's sinister motives, and it is the young girl who finds out too late to her cost; another genre convention where for certain characters they find out too late.
The specific details of familial relationships and the fractured household in which they belong reminded me of the seminal Latin American film Like Water for Chocolate and the weight of magical realism that exudes over the film is apparent.
Starring Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others) and Eduardo Noriega (Open Your Eyes), along with the impressive Barbara Goenaga as the suffering Joana. The film is elegant and entertaining to a certain degree, the film just falls short of matching the Hispanic heights of Del Toro's work, even though the best of young Spanish cinema on display here finds that particular national cinema is in good spirits.
Agnosia is released by Momentum Pictures on 30 May on DVD for £12.99 and contains special features aplenty.
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