Spain
Film Review – Official Competition
It’s been said that any movie – regardless of quality – is something of a miracle. That’s because cinema is the most collaborative artform. Painters have themselves, a brush, and a canvas to work with. In contrast, it can take dozens (sometimes even hundreds) of…
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Film Review – Parallel Mothers
Pedro Almodóvar is one of the few filmmakers in the world who can depict melodrama with such precise observation. Others would steer away from the genre, thinking it too schmaltzy or overdramatic. That is not the case with Almodóvar. His stories involve love, deception, sex,…
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Film Review – The Sharks
The slow build of The Sharks is too subdued to make a strong impact. Rosina (Romina Bentancur), a fourteen year old girl who is very much an enigma as a character, keeps her face blank through much of what is happening around her. All we…
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Film Review – The Platform
The central allegory of the Spanish film, The Platform (201) is about as subtle as a punch to the face. It is a direct reference to the economic and social imbalance between the wealthy upper classes (that enjoy all the excesses of luxury) and the…
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Film Review – Pain and Glory
Pedro Almodóvar has too much he wants to talk about and that keeps the film from reaching great status, which is a shame because what he wants to discuss is really fascinating. In Pain and Glory Salvador (Antonio Banderas), a stand-in for Pedro Almodóvar, is…
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SIFF Double Feature – Rubén Blades Is Not My Name and Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle
Rubén Blades Is Not My Name: My Anglo husband likes to make fun of me for my Rubén Blades love. HE JUST DOES NOT GET IT. OR ME. I mean, mostly he does. But not this. He just thought of Blades as some character actor…
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