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Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor

11 June 2024 Gareth Macready

Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor Rating

★★★★★

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Un Amor is a delirious dive into the torment experienced by a young woman who walked away from the stress of her work interpreting the tragic stories of refugees and moved to La Escapa, a small village deep in the Spanish countryside, only to be thrust into a story almost as horrible as the ones she was running away from.

Multi-award-winning and multi-lingual Spanish director Isabel Coixet co-wrote and directed this searing drama, told with interspersed flashbacks to the horrors of her previous work, paralleling her descent into indecency.

The cinematography is often breathtaking, showing the scope and beauty of the region and vividly bringing life to Nat’s mixed emotions. The villagers’ characterisations, foibles, intrigues, and veiled love triangles are all treated with gusto. There’s a delightful smorgasbord of humanity on display.

In a dilapidated house with an abused dog thrust into her care, thirty-year-old Natalia, or Nat (Laia Costa), faces overt hostility and sexist micro-aggressions from her landlord and covert hostility from nearly all her neighbours. Initially wooed by a slightly older man who demonstrates an artistic sensitivity with stained glass, she demurely dismisses his overtures.

Then after an extraordinary encounter, Natalia reluctantly gives in to an awkward illicit proposal from her brutish neighbour Andreas (Hovik Keuchkerian) so as to have her dwelling refurbished somewhat and made into a more liveable space. In so doing, she succumbs to a passion that punishes her and causes her to see who she really is.

The film is based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel of the same name. The Spanish newspaper El País named it Spain’s 2020 book of the year. Un Amor has been described as a bittersweet and striking exploration of gender roles, love, obsession, and desire.

It deftly deals with some eternally fundamental and gripping questions that have plagued humanity. What is love? Are we sexual in nature? It’s a disturbingly frank look at the dynamics of gender politics and sex as a commodity.

John Holland of Screen Daily, a website providing a real-time view of the film industry, said the film was sometimes “redolent of Coixet’s very best work.” Guy Lodge of Variety, a website featuring entertainment news and reviews, considered the film to be a return to form for Coixet.

In two top ten lists of Spanish films, it ranked 2nd (El Español) and 10th (Mondosonoro).

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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Spanish Film Festival: Upon Open Sky

11 June 2024 Gareth Macready

Spanish Film Festival: Upon Open Sky Rating

★★★★★

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Upon Open Sky is a Mexican crime drama set in the 90s, mainly in the Coahuila desert, an arid expanse covering much of the border between Mexico and the US. It is based on a screenplay by Guillermo Arriaga, the Mexican novelist and screenwriter who received an award at Cannes for his The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada in 2005. The film is the directorial debut of his two children, Mariana and Santiago Arriaga.

In a prelude, we see a father and son embarking on a hunting trip. They are full of anticipation, and the boy relishes the time with his father. An emphatically final accident happens. The screen goes black. The sound tells us the other vehicle drove off.

Fast forward to two years later, we see two upper-middle-class teenage boys, Salvador (Theo Goldin) and his older brother Fernando (Maximo Hollander), still grieving the loss of their father. They live with their mother, stepfather, and stepsister, Paula (Federica Garcia).

Short-fused Fernando haunts the local wrecker’s yard, doing amateur forensic reconstructions of car accidents, an obsession he is unable to shake, along with the anger that fuels his search for the driver of the truck that collided with his father’s car. He locates the man and persuades his younger brother to go on a revenge road trip. Salvador, who was with his father in the accident, says he does not remember what happened.

The trauma of the accident becomes so heavy they decide to go to the place where it occurred to find an explanation for what happened. The parents leave on a holiday, and the siblings take off to the Mexican border.

Joined by the pretty, telenovela-obsessed Paula, who they barely know, and her boyfriend, Eduardo, initially oblivious to the brothers’ intentions, the siblings embark on a tense journey into adulthood, which has them come to terms with losing their father. Paula has deep pockets and expensive tastes, so the boys find themselves travelling in style.

She seems unfazed by the discovery that her stepbrothers have stolen her father’s gun. The siblings are withdrawn, and Paula’s motivations are opaque. For each, the trip means something different: for Fernando, revenge, and for Salvador, closure. Eduardo sees it as an opportunity to sleep with Paula. She may just be bored or want to fit in with her newly found family.

Paula’s mother died when she was a baby, so there are no memories or ghosts. Paula appears spoiled and only looks alive when teasing her brothers. Halfway through the film, we find Paula is not just a sexual ornament; she is an important part of the story, with enough weight to provoke reactions.

Theo Goldin deserves a special note as Salvador. He is convincing, quiet, and thoughtful for most of the film. Despite being the youngest, he shows better judgment and acts with poise.

Upon Open Sky is a road movie and a coming-of-age. Sometimes, it is a Western, shown by the concealed revolver, the van they drive and the clothes they wear. The landscape is shown in panorama and small details. The score from Ludovico Einaudi aids in giving a mood to the unforgiving backdrop. This is a powerful thriller imbued with youthful rage that questions forgiveness and love within the family as each character learns about themselves and the world.

The action and relationships are also on the move while on the road. The outcome is not overdone, which is uncommon in Mexican cinema. It’s as if the directors discover, along with the siblings, that maturity comes not with revenge but self-restraint.

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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Spanish Film Festival: Artificial Justice

9 June 20249 June 2024 Katherine De Vere

Artificial Justice Rating

★★★★★

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Artificial Justice is an offering from Spanish filmmaker Simon Casal as part of the HBSC Spanish Film Festival. The film poses an important ethical question for our times: AI versus humanity. (Many Australians will remember our own Robodebt catastrophe.)

This film centers around the key character, Judge Carmen Costa, credibly played by Verónica Echegui, who is asked to audit the intended rollout of ‘THENTE,’ an AI justice delivery system.

Thente computes risk assessments for criminal reoffending. The AI appears accurate, cost-effective, and can deliver seemingly unbiased, consistent results in a fraction of the time its human counterparts can. Unsurprisingly, the Spanish government is keen to roll out Thente, removing (human) court judges from the decision-making process. A national referendum is called.

Enter the company behind Thente, and company executives Alex and Brais, well-played by Alberto Ammann and Tamar Novas. Thente’s designer, Alicia Kovak, is portrayed by ex-model Alba Galocha. Alas, a more believable IT nerd would have been a smarter casting decision.

The film cleverly parallels the bridge between the AI that we already use (such as in our cars – in essence, trusting lives to the technology) and its future use. However, Casal co-wrote the screenplay with Víctor Sierra, and truth be told, too much of the screen action takes place via dialogue, which is not cinematic.

The narrative, too, poses a few credibility issues. For instance, given that Costa is a judge, she’s pretty cavalier about security measures—not only going on lone ocean swims but also taking no precautions once realising that she is being watched. Also, her assistant declines to find an IP address (not that difficult these days), so Costa is forced to seek out highly illegal measures via an ex-con hacker. Really?

As far as the plot goes, when Alicia Kovak is mysteriously killed in a car crash, Judge Costa begins to realise things are not as they seem – and even her own life may be in danger. Described as a ‘taut political thriller’ – the film-making is patchy, so at times the tension is more washing line, than tightrope.

As a newish feature-length director, Casal hasn’t quite mastered the nuances of the Noir genre, but he will be an interesting director to watch. Importantly, the film raises significant questions regarding the balance between AI, humanity, politics, and government. For that alone, the film is worth watching.

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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Sydney Film Festival: Super/Man The Christopher Reeve Story

9 June 20249 June 2024 Linda Lokhee

Super / Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Rating

★★★★★

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The directors Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui present the documentary Super / Man: The Christopher Reeve Story to the world and by doing so, they bring him to a whole new generation of people who may not know who he is, seeing that Superman was released to box office success in 1978. Perhaps some people know him for being the man in the blue and red lycra suit, but Christopher Reeve was so much more than these four movies, and we are introduced to the man behind the Superman suit.

Through exclusive archival video footage, and interviews with his three children Will Reeve, Alexandra Reeve Givens and Matthew Reeve, we are given a glimpse into Christopher’s life.
The film explores his early years, as a student at The Julliard School, where he met one of his closet friends Robin Williams. He loved acting, treading the boards on stage in theatres. There is an interview with his then partner Gae Exton, the mother of his two children.

We see him as the family man, now in a relationship with singer and actress Dana, playing piano with Matthew sitting on his lap, bantering with his two eldest children Will and Alexandra and leading an extremely active and outdoor life. Christopher Reeve also narrates part of his biography, and various home movie footage scenes show his interactions with many sports and hobbies. He tells us that he loved horse riding, sailing, gliding amongst the clouds and tennis.

“I’ve always loved flying. It’s my passion in life.” he says. Christopher flew solo twice across The Atlantic. This was a man who lived life to the fullest.

Until an accident in 1995 which changed his life in a split second. Whilst at an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia, Christopher was thrown forward from his horse and suffered injuries which would leave him paralysed with spinal cord injury. He was 42 years old at the time of his accident and would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair and on ventilation needing 24-hour nursing care until his passing on 10th October 2004.

There are scenes which separate the archival footage which show a sculpted likeness to Christopher floating in space. When the accident happens, it was a clever artistic touch to see kryptonite crystals forming on his body.

We witness Christopher’s journey and his loving support from his wife Dana. It becomes a very human story from this point in the film. The family and directors have carefully pieced together the footage to show how Christopher Reeve was a man who, in his opinion after the accident, had lost everything. The documentary shows how scared he was. He went from being a participant to an observer and the audience could feel his loss, especially in one scene where he came home after the hospital.

However, Christopher Reeve was no ordinary man. He was intelligent and he was courageous. He began to want to live, and he credits this to his wife a couple of times. Christopher’s narration of how he became determined to walk again, with painful physical therapy sessions, and his journey to being an advocate for people with spinal cord injury is truly inspiring.

The documentary features interviews with his friends, Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Greg Daniels, Susan Sarandon and by way of archival footage, the late Robin Williams and Brooke Ellison, a friend Christopher made who also had a spinal cord injury. Brooke speaks of how Christopher spoke out, to educate people on the hardships people with disabilities face, and to lobby the government to pledge money to be used toward research. Just ten months after his accident, in an industry which was not inclusive of people with disability, he attended The Oscars sitting in his wheelchair on stage and was greeted with a standing ovation.

Together with Dana Reeve, they started the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, dedicated to researching a cure for spinal cord injury and improving the quality of life for those affected and for their families. The three children are actively involved in this foundation.

It is clear from this documentary that both Christopher and Dana Reeve were people who believed they could make a difference and help others, despite their challenges. This is a beautiful and bittersweet dedication to them both, and to love and courage. We are left with the wise words of Christopher Reeve, that the essence of life “is your relationship”.

I saw Super / Man: The Christopher Reeve Story on Saturday 8 June 2024 at The Hayden Orpheum as it was showing as part of The Sydney Film Festival.

Film running time: 104 minutes

SESSIONS: Monday 10 June 6PM
Ritz Randwick, Sydney

Sunday 16 June 2PM
Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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