Or The Soul of Flies to give El Alma de las Moscas its English title, is a film written and directed by Jonathan Cenzual Burley and centres on the journey by two brothers who have never met before, who must journey together to the funeral of a father they never knew.
The brothers meet at a train station, where to their surprise the train has not gone by in years. It is the beginning of a journey through barren landscapes punctuated by chance encounters with offbeat and weird characters that inhabit these wastelands.
Eventually, the brothers learn more about themselves and each other through these interactions with these odd ball people.
That is the general gist of the film, and the film does have the appeal of magical realism that typically Latin generic eccentricity and yet the production is a victim of its techncial accomplishments. Shot on high definition with just one camera, a microphone and a tripod with a production crew of 7 who muscled all together - the film is imprisoned by these technical restraints.
The actors seem to wander aimlessly throughout in a state of purgatory; some harsh critics have said the film is banal - such a word makes the film seem unwatchable. The only problem for a film that is Spanish is that it is not thrilling or have any Latin exhilaration coursing through its veins. Even the beauty of the La Armuna in Salamanca is not used to great effect; with no great photography utilised you get a sense that this is anywhere in Spain not identifying as a region would have been of benefit.
Recently, I have watched American independent films revolve around the same discourse of troubled brothers working together for a common goal. This film has the right idea, perhaps the message has just been lost in translation which is unfortunate considering the initial one is a good, waiting to be let loose on a larger scale model.
El Alma de Las Moscas is out on limited release on Friday 13th July
Showing posts with label magical realism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magical realism. Show all posts
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Agnosia - DVD review
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.
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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