Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes (1988)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Fernando Birri

Writers:

Fernando Birri (screenplay) and
Gabriel García Márquez (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 November 1990 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Plot Keywords:

Glowing Eyes | Caribbean | Based On Short Story | Old Man | Island

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Daisy Granados	...	Elisenda
Asdrúbal Meléndez	...	Pelayo
Luis Alberto Ramírez	...	Father Gonzaga
Adolfo Llauradó	...	Lucky O'Capitone
Marcia Barreto	...	The Spider Woman
Fernando Birri	...	A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
Silvia Planas	...	Mrs. Eulalia
María Luisa Mayor	...	Myrurgia
Parmenia Silva	...	Pìa
Marabú	...	Talia
René Martinez	...	Usnavy
Rodrigo Utria	...	Anajan
José Miguel Lugo	...	Young Anajan
Adrián García	...	Young Anajan
Raúl Castellanos	...	Neighbor with Donkeys

Also Known As:

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

Spain | Cuba | Italy

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Alquízar, Cuba

Company:

Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC)

Soundtrack:

Tango de nuevo pueblo viejo

One of the Worst, Most Disheartening Movies I've Ever Seen

Let me put it this way: I hated this movie. For the first five minutes, I believed that the film was going to be interesting: During a storm, an angel washes up into two peoples backyard, and although a married couple take the angel in, the man decides to free him the next day. While the skepticism and curiosity from the neighbors would be a natural plot point, it soon turns to absolute shameless exhibitionism and cruel treatment of this supposed "divine messenger". This is only coupled with the fact that a carnival rolls into town. For well over an hour, all the viewer sees is the angel being tortured by spectators and his captors, and the gyrating "Spider-Woman". After a while, the angel is pretty much forgotten, substituted with "Spider-Woman" wiggling her hips and huge mob scenes. The last five minutes of the film, between the son and the angel is like the beginning: decent. However, the 80-90 minutes in between is pure trash, and I'm angry that I wasted two hours of my life on this film.

If this film is trying to say that there is no redemption in humanity, then it got its point across. While the angel manages to escape, I felt like there should have been some kind of retribution against these thoughtless, backwoods idiots.

With the angel being freed from his captors, so was I from this movie. I felt like I was being tortured right along with him, and was relieved when it ended.