Carícies (1998)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Ventura Pons

Writers:

Sergi Belbel (play)
Sergi Belbel (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 February 1998 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Eleven episodes portray different encounters in a large city during the course of a single night towards the end of the millennium...

Plot Keywords:

Homeless | City | Lesbian | Female Nudity | Female Frontal Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

David Selvas	...	Home jove
Laura Conejero	...	Dona jove
Julieta Serrano	...	Dona gran
Montserrat Salvador	...	Dona vella
Agustín González	...	Home vell
Naím Thomas	...	Nen (as Naïm Thomas)
Sergi López	...	Home
Mercè Pons	...	Noia
Jordi Dauder	...	Home gran
Roger Coma	...	Noi
Rosa Maria Sardà	...	Dona
Jordi Cercos
Sandra Pascual
Guillermo Pardevila

Also Known As:

Carícias (Spain: Castilian title)
Caresses (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish | Catalan

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | France:U | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Els Films de la Rambla S.A.

Quotes:

Song at the end: I would surrender to whoever who would take me

Bringing the Shadow into the light

Well, Spanish cinema does tend to the weird (think Almodovar), and Ventura Pons' Caresses is no exception, though it's a bit more down-to-earth than El Mar. The closest well-known American movie to compare it to would be Magnolia. According to "A Course in Miracles," Everything is either love, or a desperate cry for it. Caresses is definitely in the "desperate cry" category.

It consists of 11 very distinct two-person conversations in which the dominant character from the previous scene becomes the non-dominant character in the next. The first three scenes are marked by shocking, unmitigated hatred, and each is a painting of tremendous emotional dissatisfaction. Most are downright disturbing.

Furthermore, although each conversation is presented as though it's simply happening in the place, each is unsettlingly surrealistic and wildly improbable. The characters usually talk past each other as though they can't even hear the other. On only a few occasions does the listener even respond to the talker.

My interpretation is that none of the conversations is real, but we are hearing what the characters WANT to express to each other, but don't, such as what the teen-age junkie wants to say to the homeless man he robs, or what the man would want to communicate to him. Regardless of whether any of the dialog is imaginary, Caresses undoubtedly focuses on bringing the "Shadow" into the light... uncomfortable for most of us, and hence the negative reviews.

I can't give it a positive review myself. The acting is erratic, the motivation of the characters incomprehensible. More than half the movie is downright painful to watch. Furthermore,the actors seem to be playing such different roles in their two scenes, it's almost impossible to see them as playing the same character in different circumstances.

I think it might have worked if it actually amplified the surrealism and used dream sequences and to show us we're looking at the hidden parts of the characters. Or maybe not.

At any rate, like the other films I've seen by Pons (Morir O No, and El Mar), I find it mostly interesting for studying Catalan, a language that fascinates me. And unlike El Mar, these conversations takes place in colloquial Catalan in the Barcelona dialect... But God forbid you should say phrases like these if your visiting there!