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Barcelona, nit d'hivern (2015)
Treat yourself to a beautiful movie
Spectators' opinions may differ very much but when films get reviewed by very few persons, they are bound to be unfairly judged. This is the case of 'Barcelona, nit d'hivern' which partly follows from the delicious 'Barcelona nit d'estiu', and which is also a delicious comedy. There is absolutely nothing trite or predictable in this film, which reflects very well Barcelona's local colour in its situations and characters. The formula used to bring diverse characters together may be nothing new but what these characters feel and the solutions they find to their quandaries is often original - at least it is hard to recall a scene like the family dinner and the announcement which the grandmother makes. Give yourself a treat, and enjoy 'Barcelona nit d'hivern'...
Arrival (2016)
Please, read Ted Chiang's short story
SF fans congratulated ourselves when seeing that, finally, somebody was paying attention to Ted Chiang's beautifully-crafted short fiction. 'Arrival' is based on his 'Stories of your life' but it is, ultimately, a sad distortion of what Chiang's story is about. Instead of an intimate tale and a mystery, we're given the typical militaristic story told 1,000 times. The screenwriter insists on explaining what needs no explanation and absurdly misses what the story really narrates. No wonder many spectators are confused, believing that the opening minutes are actually a flashback... So, please, do yourself a favor and read Chiang, forget this flat, conventional film as soon as you can. Except, that is, for the accomplished way in which the alien language is represented, the only saving grace of the film.
Truman (2015)
If this is male friendship...
This movie has been highly praised for its portrait of male friendship but it is, rather, a portrait of two men unable to communicate even in the worst circumstances. This is why, as usual, the screenwriters need to bring into the story a stereotyped female character whose only function is to channel the emotions the men cannot express. She, of course, is completely at their service, as carer for one as sex object for the other, never demanding anything from them. I just wish the two men had jumped into bed together rather than this woman being used in this pathetic way... Perhaps I'm being unfair and this IS a realistic portrait of how men connect with each other and how they need women to fulfill the need to express emotion. Yet, there are much better portraits of male friendship for which women need not be used: see 'Master and Commander' for an outstanding example. And hundreds of other films.
Son & Moon: diario de un astronauta (2009)
An overlooked gem
'Son & Moon: Diario de un astronauta'is a beautiful documentary made by the well-known Catalan director Manuel Huerga, which portrays the stay on board the International Space Station of Spanish-American astronaut Miguel Lopez-Alegria (now retired). Instead of the habitual heroics of space exploration, Huerga chose to show, with Lopez-Alegria's collaboration, an intimate side of the astronaut. Here he is portrayed as a concerned father, worried by his seven-tear old son's resistance to go on communicating with him, as he stays 400kms above their home. Son & Moon is in this sense a very good portrait of the career father, always under pressure to balance work and family life. Closer, then, to '2001' and to 'Moon' than to 'The Right Stuff', Huerga's film offers a glimpse of actual life in space, with its wonders (the amazing views) and its downside (the routine, the distance from home). It really deserves more attention - certainly more than the acclaimed but utterly shallow 'Space Tourists' which describes the same ISS mission.
Las maestras de la República (2013)
An homage to unsung female heroes
This is an excellent documentary that does a very good job of presenting its subject and making a very valid point about it. 'Maestras de la República' pays homage to the many women who, mainly as primary school teachers, brought much-needed fresh air to the Spanish classrooms in the brief years of the Republic (1931-9). Representing a new generation of Spanish women, co-educated and trained with the men to be the teachers a new Spain needed, they did their job as well as they could, only to be ostracized, stripped of their positions and even worse by Franco's regime. Beyond its valuable topic, the documentary happens to be very well built, with insightful interviews with key specialists, the right human interest touch and a very successful overall didactic tone. All this deserved a Goya award but, what is more important, still deserves catching the attention of many more spectators.
Edificio España (2014)
Documenting what?
This is a documentary that should have been great but that is not. It deals with an emblematic building in Madrid, its first skyscrape: Edificio España, inaugurated in 1953. Built by foreign investors, the building is now the object of much controversy between the new Madrid Mayor, Manuela Carmena, and the owners -she wants to keep it as intact as possible, they want to modify it as much as they can. For money, of course. Now, this documentary has nothing to with all this controversy. It just follows a crew of workers as they strip bare some of the floors. The documentary attempts to be creative, in imitation of the wonderful 'En construcción' but only manages to be inmenseley boring, excruciatingly slow and, sorry to be traditional, not didactic at all. If, after seeing a documentary, the spectator has learned nothing, then, what is the point?
Barcelona nit d'estiu (2013)
Love Actually, in Barcelona
If you enjoyed the crossing paths of the love stories in 'Love Actually', here's a refreshing alternative, this time set in a Barcelona awaiting the passage of a comet one summer night. Characters of diverse ages engage in new relationships or examine the ongoing ones they're involved in. Special attention is deserved by the gay couple formed by two young footballers of different projection and success, and the teen boy trying to get his dreamgirl, couched by his quirky step-sister. A sequel set in winter is currently in the making, following the widespread acceptance of a film that deserves much praise for its modesty and sincerity.
El crac (2014)
Laughing at yourself (in an excellent Catalan TV product)
Joel Joan, perhaps better known for his politics than for his acting, chooses here to laugh at himself very cleverly. Taking as his cue the making of a film about General Moragas and the events of 1714, now so popular because of the Catalan independence movement Joan supports, he narrates the adventures of 'Joel Joan', a mediocre actor in pursuit of international fame as he wavers between the good and the bad girl (both actresses in his film).
This is the perfect series whether you love or you hate Joel Joan, as the whole point is that nothing the character does has the outcome he expects... much to his own chagrin. It is also a great example of how a limited budget will stretch a long way when the scripts are good. By the way: excellent soundtrack by Maikmayer!
Voces en imágenes (2008)
Homage to the dubbing actors
This documentary gathers together a series of interviews with the main names in the already long history of dubbing into Spanish. Although dubbing is essential for Spanish audiences, we pretend that the actors carrying out this task with so much dedication and care do not really exist: their names are unknown with very few exceptions. We even take it for granted that it's OK for some foreign actors to share the same voice... Here these terrific professionals narrate their experience of dubbing as they consider what has been lost with recent technological innovations. They have made dubbing a lonely process instead of the communal effort it used to be. Worth watching for anyone interested in cinema, and how it works in dubbing.
La gran familia española (2013)
Not Sánchez Arévalo's best effort
I was quite disappointed by 'La gran familia española' which was just nice to see but not a film to remember, or revisit. Too many elements are pushed together onto a plot that is too close for comfort to old-fashioned Spanish 'costumbrismo'. If this is your introduction to Sánchez Arévalo you run the risk of missing much better films by him, like the super 'Azul Oscuro, Casi Negro', the excellent 'Gordos' and the very funny 'Primos', a much better comedy than 'La gran familia española'. I'll grant, though, that the cast is very solid, with Arévalo's fetish actors Antonio de la Torre and Quim Gutiérrez doing their best, with interesting performances by Verónica Echegui and the younger actors.
Los últimos días (2013)
A strange view of Barcelona
I had high expectations about 'Los últimos días' as Barcelona is not precisely an habitual setting for sci-fi films. In the end, though, the setting was one of the main problems for me, or rather, the absurd pilgrimage that the Pastor brothers force their characters to undertake. I know that New Yorkers must be used to having the geography of their city distorted on film but, believe me, there were 100 more solid alternatives to the erratic wandering of the two protagonists. I'm left, then, with some impressive moments, like the burning of a well-known city landmark and that lost deer.
The film also suffers from the weakness of the last segment, which asks us to stretch our credibility to impossible limits by simply ignoring the many difficulties that trying to survive in a very hostile environment must entail.
Quim Gutiérrez and Jose Coronado are, as usual, excellent but I wished Marta Etura had been given a more interesting role - or that she was the one in search of her lost boyfriend.
El esfuerzo y el ánimo (2009)
The problem of how to succeed a master artist
This is a very interesting documentary in the first place about ballet and in the second place about the problems facing the artist (Gil Roman) called to succeed an absolute master (Maurice Béjart). The documentary narrates Roman's efforts to take over from Béjart, his mentor, who named Roman his heir as head of the prestigious Maurice Béjart Company of Laussane. The documentary plays with the tension around whether Roman will succeed or not, focusing on the process of his developing he first choreography after Béjart's death. The tension is well sustained though the film would probably have benefited from using more time for the aftermath of the new ballet's first performance. Worth watching, particularly for ballet aficionados and those who love art in general.
Per sempre (o no) (2013)
Group portrait about love today
'Per Sempre(o no)' considers the current state of love, family and relationships in Catalonia. The episodes follow a certain chronological order based on the evolution of the relationships in each period of life, although the interviews cover very many different cases and ages in all episodes. Most current hot issues are dealt with, from casual flirting to new trends in single parenthood.
Somehow, though, the portrait that emerges is too sanitized, with the uglier aspects in the wide-ranging experience of love hidden under the carpet (in particular couple-related abuse, but also other matters such as rejection, infidelities, homophobia, etc.). Whenever serious problems are mentioned, this is always from the positive point of view of people who have overcome them. Also, family is always considered from the angle of the parents, with the children being given no voice, which seems odd.
At any rate, a very interesting contribution to the debates around the complicated reality of love, family and relationships today, far less local than it might seem.
Ted (2012)
Reverse the gender roles and see what happens...
Whenever you're in doubt that something is wrong with the gender roles presented in a movie, do this: reverse them. Now try figuring this out and imagine a story in which a girl can't get rid of her whining doll - and now ask yourself whether this would be fun for a guy and whether he would put up with the woman and her doll. I hope the answer is not.
This could have been a sweet comedy about how this 35-year-old man cannot let go of both his childishness and his adultescent sense of irresponsibility -instead, it turns into a pathetic portrayal of a pathetic man... and into a message for us, girls, to accept guys like this no matter what.
We, of course, must be mature and responsible for them, and, well, their teddy bears. No dolls.
El tren de la memoria (2005)
The testimony of the fogotten
Even though Spain has received hundreds of thousands of migrants, if not millions, from Africa and South America in the last two decades, there's very little exploration of the time when Spaniards themselves migrated massively to European nations like France, Great Britain, Switzerland and Germany. Now when the best educated youth are packing to migrate due to the long crisis is the right time to recall the experiences of the uneducated ones that left in the 1960s and 1970s in trains, packed like cattle. This documentary narrates the story of one of them, a woman who left Castille for Nuremberg. The film is a heart-breaking testimonial not only of her sad adventure but also of that of thousands of Spaniards ruthlessly exploited to support the German miracle. Absolutely worth watching particularly if you live in Spain and are one of those packing right now. Or one of those who pretend that under Franco all was well.
Españolas en París (1971)
A film deserving more attention
'Españolas en París' is one of the very few Spanish films to deal with the experience of Spanish migration to other European countries in the 1960s and 1970s. If only for this, it does deserve more attention. All in all, even though the film is quite poor in many senses, it offers a sad, poignant testimony of the (implied) contrast between mid-1970s backward Spain and 'civilised' France. It's very melancholy to watch. The diverse experiences of the Spanish women employed as maids by the Parisians in the film might or might not be representative but feel so. The film, though, unwisely mixes in the main plot a romantic subplot involving the protagonist, played by a very young Ana Belén. This raises crucial issues such as abortion but feels tangential to her experience as a migrant abroad and seems, somehow, to be part of a separate film.
Breaking the Mould (2009)
Honouring the right men
I saw this TV movie as part of a documentary series on Catalan TV which specialises in docudrama and I'm still a bit confused as to which genre it belongs. Having said that, the film tells remarkably well the gripping story of how Howard Florey, Ernst Boris Chain and Norman Heatley developed penicillin between 1938 and 1942. This was after reading the paper in which Alexander Fleming made public his work with the the mould Penicillium notatum (in 1928). The film's clear aim is to honour Florey and his research team, painting a somewhat egotistic portrait of Fleming. The film transmits very well the despair of patients suffering from incurable infections before antibiotics became household items, aided by very efficient work by the make-up artists. It's peculiar to see Dominic West, usually an action man, play the Australian scientist Howard Florey yet he does very well and the film does quite fulfill its aim as a lesson in the history of science.