Spanish-language cinema: a log

[blaurebell]

Some Argentinian recommendations:
* El aura
* Al final del túnel
* Relatos salvajes
* Wakolda
* Historias minimas
* El cuidadano ilustre
* XXY
* Nueve reinas (sooooo much slang in this one, it's fun though)

[kunsttyv]

Thanks blaurebell. I've only seen El aura from that list, and I've been meaning to watch his previous film Nueve reinas as well. Some friends of mine recommended me Relatos salvajes when it screened here in Norway.

Other Argentine movies on my wishlist:

Viola / Todos mienten / El hombre robado by Matías Piñeiro
Sur by Fernando Solanas
Historias extraordinarias by Mariano Llinás
La niña santa by Lucrecia Martel
La libertad / Los muertos / Jauja by Lisandro Alonso
Hombre mirando al sudeste by Eliseo Subiela

By the way, the best Argentine movie I've seen is the four and a half hour long political documentary La hora de los hornos: Notas y testimonios sobre el neocolonialismo, la violencia y la liberación from 1968

[Sol]

Seeing your log makes me consider reviving my Spanish... I might pick a few of these movies to watch this week, since consuming foreign movies makes up the bulk of my language "study" time.

[kunsttyv]

Cría cuervos... (Carlos Saura, 1976)

Beautiful, beautiful movie. I'm crying now.

[Ogrim]

Cría cuervos... (Carlos Saura, 1976)

Beautiful, beautiful movie. I'm crying now.

It is a very good film indeed. I saw it a long time ago but I remember it made quite an impact.

Here are some other recommendations from me (all Spanish films):

Amance, que no es poco. If you like surrealistic comedy, then this movie from 1989 by José Luis Cuerda is a must.

I also like a lot the works of the director Julio Medem. My favourites are Tierra from 1996, Los amantes del círculo polar from 1998 and Lucía y el sexo from 2000.

Son de mar from 2001 is a movie based on a novel by the Valencian author Manuel Vicent. I recommend both the film, directed by Bigas Luna, and the novel.

Another comedy based on a novel is El rey pasmado by Imanol Uribe (1991). It was a great success which won seven Goyas.

[kunsttyv]

Thanks for the recommendations Ogrim! Amanece, que no es poco looks fun, I'm getting that one. I've only seen Caótica Ana by Medem, and I absolutely hated it, but I've also been told that his earlier movies are better. Whenever I give him a second chance, I think I'll watch Lucía y el sexo.

Finished the second season of El internado, ¡pero qué coño es esto! Thinking about letting this one go and look for something else.

[Ogrim]

Julio Medem's work isn't to everyone's taste, that is true. Tierra, for example, is a bit strange, with lot of symbolism, but I sort of liked the atmosphere. Lucía y el sexo is probably somewhat "easier" although here as well Medem plays with symbolism and mood changes. I have not seen Caótica Ana, but I seem to remember it got rather negative critics in the press.

[kunsttyv]

El compadre Mendoza (Fernando de Fuentes, 1934)

The eponymous anti-hero of this early Mexican classic has found his place in the Mexican revolution by being equally friendly and hospitable towards both the zapatistas and the governmental forces. By turns, he's welcoming both fractions to his hacienda on the outskirts of the capital. When the zapatistas arrive, he makes his servant go and take down a painting from the living room wall which has "Viva El General Huerta" printed on it, and put up one that says "Viva Emiliano Zapata". And when the huertistas arrive, vice versa. He'll sit down and drink mezcal with them all! He's the most chameleon-like bastard you can imagine. Hilarious stuff! And we will soon find out he's a capitalist with capital letters. After all, it's all right being friendly towards the socialists and the revolution as long as there is something to gain from it.

If it sounds like this juggling of roles will cause some complications, it's because it will. And if it sounds like this can't possibly end well in a tense and violent day and age like Mexico during the revolution, it's because it won't.

I have to say it's intriguing knowing that the events of the revolution were as close in time to this movie as the post 2001 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are to our time.

Mendoza's final line (his excuse for his actions) is savage: "Yo soy enemigo de romanticismos y de suspiritos. Las cosas hay que hacerlas pronto, y bien hechas."

[klvik]

Two recommendations for classic Mexican movies:

Los Olvidados (Luis Buñuel, 1950). I found this to be a thought provoking film about young boys in the slums of Mexico City during the middle of the previous century. Exploitation, sexual aggression, pedophilia (implied, nothing explicit), loss of hope – it has it all. The story revolves around three boys; the ringleader of the gang of delinquents, the boy at odds with his family due to his bad behavior and the young boy from the country who has lost his father. The ringleader of the gang has no moral compass and his anger and violent behavior is the catalyst for much of the tragedy in the film. The second boy wants to behave better and regain his mother’s esteem but is unable to escape the corrupting influence of the ringleader. The young boy from the country has a smaller role but exhibits a strong sense of right and wrong that seems impervious to the corrupting influences around him. Very good movie.

Macario (Roberto Galvadón, 1960). This film is set during the Mexican colonial period and tells the story of a poor, self-sacrificing woodcutter who goes hungry so that his children can have a little more to eat. After witnessing a parade of servants carrying platters of roast turkey for a Day of the Dead feast, he decides that, just once, he would like to have a roast turkey all for himself. After his wife steals a turkey to grant him this wish he meets three strangers (the Devil, God and the Grim Reaper) in the woods and his life changes dramatically…

I loved this movie. It covers a lot of profound themes (the limits of self-sacrifice, income inequality, greed, envy) but I also think it would be enjoyable on a more superficial level. It even taught me a new (Mexican) word for turkey, guajalote. Also, the turkeys that they used during the filming of this movie look very similar to North American wild turkeys, except the wild turkeys that I see in the parks around here are fatter.

[kunsttyv]

Great write up klvik. Los olvidados is indeed an amazing movie, possibly my favorite in the Spanish language. Macario just went to the top of my list, thanks for the recommendation!

I've been on an Almodóvar spree lately:

¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto! (1984): hmmm, no thanks. I don't know, this seemed to me like a poor man's Fassbinder. In the "I can't take this any more, one more straw and I'm gonna explode"-genre I would rather recommend Fassbinder's "Why does Herr R. Run Amok?"

Matador (1986): much more interesting, although quite speculative and a little silly. Sex as murder, love as obsession and other aphorisms. None of the comedic touches you can find in almost all of his other movies. Ends with an eclipse and a double suicide.

La ley del deseo (1987): my favorite among the bunch. It's a gay erotic thriller of sorts, very energetic and sexy, and towards the end quite sad. I felt it like none of his other ones. I'm surprised if this isn't a touchstone of queer cinema.

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de "nervios" (1988): much less bleak than his previous ones and even more crazy. Seemed like Almodóvar really had a surplus of energy and ideas during the late eighties. Some of his ideas seem overblown and overdone to say the least, but I don't think he could give a shit about that, he just kept going doing his thing squeezing out a new move every single year. Oh, and by the way, after hearing María Barranco speak in this movie, the Andalusian accent is now surely my new favorite in Spanish.

¡Átame! (1989): super edgy stuff, touchy touchy. How can you make kidnapping, physical and psychological abuse, and even rape into a sweet love story between the abuser and the abused. It's hard to do, and why would you even try? You're bound to shit on women's fight against the misogyny and structural mistreatment that most would agree still very much exist in our society, by suggesting that kidnapping, locking in and tying up a woman is something she will get used to and eventually start to love. I don't think Almodóvar had any bad intentions with this, I just don't see what he's aiming for. And... I have to admit he almost makes it work somehow... but no. In all of these last four movies, Antonio Banderas plays a role more crazy than the previous, and I have to say it culminates with this particular one. For people who think that Almodóvar makes safe and cute festival circuit arthouse movies aimed at middle aged women (how many times have I heard this), try watch something from the eighties.

La piel que habito (2011): out with the colors and quirks, in with a monochrome, sterile, tight and steady aesthetic. It's a plastic surgery thriller after all. I generally don't enjoy movies with a lot of twists, and this movie leans on a couple of them. They were kind of interesting though, and more bearable than some other aspects of the movie. Like the in your face violent rapey scenes. Still think it's a good movie, but I think it could be better had it been more sober.

Los amantes pasajeros (2013): a giant turkey of a queer sex comedy. I get that he was maybe trying to get back to his roots after a string of more serious dramas for which he has become renown. But this was not edgy, and not funny, unless I misunderstand something, which I'm pretty sure I do all the time when watching movies in Spanish.

Julieta (2016): met all my expectations for how an Almodóvar move of our day should look like. It's not exactly my favorite style, but this movie was executed well. Based on three stories by Alice Munro. Feel like I want to check out some of her writing now.

I think I'll continue this Almodóvar mission, because it's enjoyable, and I can feel how my Spanish is growing inside.