Looking back over my picks since 2015, I have used Metropolis 3 times!! My apologies for this, I had no idea.
This weeks' picks were Suggested by Wendell! I thought this
week I would be bowled over for choice but all I had trouble with was
which Pedro Almodóvar film to pick. I thought I should have varied
choices so it’s just the one from Pedro and a couple of others that stood out
for me. Don't forget to check out what
Wandering
Through the Shelves picked, the blog that started Thursday Movie Picks
Spanish Affair
I loved this film, even if it was, dare I say, more relevant to the Spanish. I saw this at the BFI Film Festival in 2014 (if you fancy it, you can read my post
here) and it was then never released in the UK. Luckily it had been the second biggest box office hit in Spain so of course I found it on Amazon, complete with English subtitles. A comedy about an Andalusian (Southern Spain) guy who falls for and follows a Basque country girl home. After a few mishaps, he has to pretend he is also Basque in order not to enrage her father who happens to hate Andalusians. Its very Spanish but I loved it. It was so popular in Spain that there is even a sequel which I have put on my wish list on Amazon.
Bad Education
This is my Pedro pick. How could I resist Gael Garcia Bernal? It's actually a brilliant, complicated and tragic plot. Two school friends and lovers are reunited after years apart and decide to work together on a film, written by one, director by the other. But there are other mysteries left hanging in the air. With a story that involves a murder mystery, sexual abuse by Catholic priests, drag shows, drug abuse and wonderfully played out metafiction, this film, I'd say is one of Pedro's best. But it always seems to be over looked.
Jamon Jamon
Ham. Ham and a metaphor Spain, apparently, that's what this film is about. For me, its about lust, desire, infidelity, lies and ham, of course. Wealthy Jose is in love with factory worker Silvia, who is pregnant with his child. Conchita, Jose's mum, isn't happy about this union so she hires model, Raul to break the couple up. But after failing to get Silvia's attention, he genuinely falls in love with her. By this point Conchita, lusts after Raul and persuades him to have an affair with her. Jose is taking too long to decide whether he really does want to marry Silvia so she responds to Raul's advances, finally. This doesn't please Conchita. So you can see its a big mess resulting a duel with legs of lamb.
I picked one Pedro Almodovar film for this week and have yet to see more of his films. Spanish Affair sounds like a fun movie, and Jamon Hamon sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteIf you can find Spanish Affair - definitely watch that! Its crazy and bizarre :)
ReplyDeleteBad Education is a rollercoaster in the best way possible. haven't seen your other two choices, but they sound fascinating.
ReplyDeleteRegrettably I haven't seen any of these. I've been intending to see Bad Education for ages but just haven't gotten to it. I've never heard of Spanish Affair but it sounds fun. I'm vaguely aware of Jamon Jamon but never knew much about it, it also sounds kind of fun and it would be interesting to see Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem together so long before they became a couple in real life. Sort of like Carole Lombard & Clark Gable in No Man of Her Own years before they married.
ReplyDeleteI'm not real strong in my knowledge of Spanish language film and a few that I've seen I've used previous weeks but I did manage to poke around and come up with three.
Before Night Falls (2000)-Based on the writings of Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas this film spans his lifetime through his country youth, embracing of the Revolution and his later persecution as a writer and openly gay man in Castro's Cuba, his escape in the Mariel Harbor exodus of 1980, exile and death in the United States. Not a pleasant film but worthwhile. Javier Bardem is staggering in the lead, earning a well-deserved Oscar nomination.
Burnt Money (2000)-Argentine action thriller about two violent bank robbers who are also lovers, a bank job they pull that goes wrong and the pursuit and standoff that follows. Very erotic for this type of action film, based on actual events.
Tristana (1970)-Luis Buñuel directed this murky tale of emotional battery and vicious score settling. Tristana (Catherine Deneuve) is orphaned and taken under the protection of respected elder Don Lope (Fernando Rey). He takes advantage of the situation and makes her a virtual prisoner while demoralizing her to break her spirit, eventually the tables are turned in an unexpected fashion. Good acting by Deneuve, Rey and Franco Nero but the characters are ultimately all a pretty loathsome bunch to care too deeply about.
PEDRO! PEDRO! PEDRO! I actually haven't seen Bad Education yet but I have to - I LOVE Gael Garcia Bernal. Haven't heard of the other two.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of these or even heard of them but the last film just sounds so wild.
ReplyDeleteCan't say I'm not interested in a Spanish Affair, but Bad Education has sparked an interest.
ReplyDeleteBad Education is just brilliant, its different from Pedro Almodóvar's other films, its melodrama with a film noir tone.
ReplyDeleteIt's an odd film - especially the fight with legs of lamb.
ReplyDeletePEDRO!! BERNAL! It's cinema heaven!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of these but they all sound interesting.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Such a great film, I always fine myself absorbed in Almodovar's films.
ReplyDeleteAha Spanish Affair never got an international release, except at film festivals. But you can find it someone on the web :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Before Night Falls - I would like to see this, not too sure about Tristana though... Burnt Money sound fun/intriguing. I always try and watch more films from around the world but I tend to stick to Spanish, French and some Scandinavia films. But most of the time I do find that I stick to UK and US. I might start my World Film Challenge again.
I watched Tristana expressly for this week when I was having trouble coming up with a third film and I figured even if I didn't like it at least it had Catherine Deneuve. She was a bright spot but to be honest the characters were all so horrid I didn't want to spend any time with them. So if you're on the fence about watching I'd say you could safely skip it.
ReplyDeleteI was looking it up - I;m sure it will be something I'll seek out. But I do love Catherine Deneuve, I've only seen her in more recent films though.
ReplyDeleteBad Education sounds interesting. I don't think I've seen a Spanish romantic comedy before, so does Spanish Affair as well.
ReplyDeleteNeither me! I'd only every seen serious dramas or wonderfully melodramatic films. Spanish Affair was great fun - I'm not sure why it needed a sequel but it was popular so there you go.
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