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Método, El (2005)

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19 comments in total

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21 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Gripping, exciting, thought provoking, and all around brilliant!, 10 July 2006

Author: Potty-Man from Israel

From the moment all the main characters are gathered inside the conference room, you know you're in for a rare treat. The first part plays out like a classic, Agatha Christie-like whodunit, where you know just as much as the rest of the characters, and are as qualified as they are to make your assumptions.

The rest of the movie is just as interactive. The method of restricting our point of view to that of the character's makes you as much a part of what's going on as they are. It almost feels like a reality TV show, where you get to be one of the judges.

From the get-go, the movie grips you. It doesn't waste any moment and delves straight into the drama. The actors all do such an excellent job that you can't take your eyes off the screen. The pacing is perfect - here is not a dull moment - and the film's structure is brilliant.

There is one particular recurring motif which first appears in the first few scenes - dividing the screen into thirds. See if you can find similar compositional arrangements in key moments and deduce their meaning. It is the kind of movie where every tiny element serves a purpose (symbollic or otherwise), and it will make you think. Don't get me wrong - you will enjoy the movie as pure entertainment. But those who wish to search for deeper meanings, commentary about human nature, subtle social critique etc. will be far from disappointed.

In my opinion, the movie was perfect in every way (reminding me of "12 Angry Men", one of my all time favorites). I can't urge you enough to go see it. It is one of the best movies of the year.

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17 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
the best Spanish-Argentinian cinema ever, 2 January 2006

Author: zorglub3 from Spain

El method is probably the best movie of the 2005.With a exceptional script and great actors. This movie represents the human feelings of group of candidates who want to get a job.It's a psychological movie. The director mix the best actors of Spain and Argentina to get a successful movie that you should watch!! The group of candidates represent all the stereotypes that you can find in a company!! this movie won't go to the Oscars because (obaba) another Spanish movie has a director with better reputation and for this reason the Spanish academy has decided to select (obaba)instead of the method But the method is a exceptional movie!!

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18 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent movie, 17 December 2005

Author: demonskull-1 from United Kingdom

This movie tells us about a group of people that are gathered at the premises of a company in order to take part in a selection process for an executive job. Soon they will realise that they're not attending a conventional group-interview.

One of the assets of this movie is the cast, with a bunch of the best actors and actresses of the moment in Spain and Argentina. They had a good movie to show their talents, and they have done it. Particularly surprising was the acting of Eduard Fernández. Although with a good acting record, he was a complete unknown to me. However, his incarnation of the disgusting 'macho ibérico' was extremely realistic and natural. Ernesto Alterio shows us once more that he's able to convincingly play any role. One just have to compare his Antonio in 'Días de Fútbol' (Football Days) with the nervous Enrique of this movie. Outstanding, I think. On the other hand, I dislike Noriega and Verbeke.

The movie as a whole is developed coherently and in a dynamic line, it will catch your interest from the beginning. Only two negative points, however. Although I'm not a puritan at all, I think that the sex scenes were unnecessary. I also disliked the final sight of the street, I think it was completely exaggerated, but that's just a detail.

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13 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Good script, actors and suspense, 2 October 2005

Author: reeagbo from Madrid, Spain

The script is based in in a theater play, and though I'm not familiar with the original, I guess the action probably remains close to the original (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

The cast is a good bunch of popular actors and actresses here in Spain, some of them somewhat popular out of Spain. See Eduardo Noriega, Carmelo Gómez, Ernesto Alterio and Natalia Verbeke. I find the acting very believable in general, maybe Noriega is not that real, but maybe this is what he is supposed to do in his role.

The story: Seven people are dated to have their final interview for an important position in a big company. All of them get together for the interview in the same place and the method used by the company for the final selection is call Gronholm method.

All the action takes place in the interview room and the restrooms. This, in spite of being drawback for the entertainment, makes it more interesting. The director gets rid of superfluous elements and leaves space for character development.

In opposition, and in order to prevent the public from getting lost in so much isolation, the director sets the action in the same day and place of a World Bank and IMF, although this doesn't really have an influence on the story.

My only complaint has to do with some restroom scenes that I believe don't add anything to the movie and look really silly to me.

Very entertaining and good story.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
A sadistic analysis of the contemporary business world., 26 September 2006

Author: incitatus-org from Paris

Seven candidates show up at some multinational in Madrid, all of them in the last round of a recruitment process. While the city is immersed by anti-globalization protests on the streets down below, the candidates are turned on each other for the selection. A sadistic analysis of the contemporary business world, pushed just that little bit further to earn it the title of a satire.

The cruel game is played out in the confines of the office, with the candidates fending for themselves under the presumed watchful eye of the named, but anonymous, entity which is the corporation. The tension mounts quickly, as the strong characters clash head-on in their perfectly developed manipulative manners after their years in business life. An excellent cast plays clever but tough dialogues in scenes which are a little too close to reality for comfort. A clear message surfaces as the film comes to a close, leaving a sour aftertaste. Not an uplifting movie to watch, but ingeniously crafted. Bare in mind that you may want to lay in the sun after surviving this one.

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11 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Casting is the scent of this movie., 3 October 2005

Author: gatomorto2 from Spain

If you want to see a movie with the best special effects,explosions, gunfigths and other exciting sequences, you are in the wrong lounge. But if you like movies with interesting argument, funny dialogs and very good performances, without any doubt, you'll enjoy with this movie. The first called my attention was the very high quality casting of this film,probably five of ten best actors of Spain are in this movie (Javier Bardem was busy in other productions). The actors are impressive, specially Eduard Fernandez and Pablo echarri. The argument is very curious and it will captivate you from the beginning.Finally the director do a good job giving the film the right rhythm. topnotch!!!

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9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Perfect psychologically intense examination of the job application process, 7 August 2006

Author: Disk-Breaker

This is one of the best films I've seen all year! If you've ever been to a job interview with multiple applicants or even to one of those assessment centres big companies have you will recognize a lot of things in this movie.

"The Method" starts off with an engaging split-screen title sequence reminiscent of the TV series 24 which introduces the characters and the events around them: The story takes place on the day of the annual IMF & World Bank meetings and a huge anti-globalization protest is mounting that is threatening to shut down the city. This however belies what will follow in the next two hours.

Seven applicants for an executive position at a large company are more or less locked up inside a room and put through a novel mysterious selection process called "The Grönholm Method" which is supposed to determine the one applicant who is most fit for the job. The limited setting of the movie works perfectly and allows the audience to concentrate on and engage with the characters and the clever dialogue. Adapted from a theatre play the script takes the characters through little insidious games aimed at eliminating one applicant after the other. The movie quickly gets into a state of heightened reality, amping up the tension as everything gets more and more psychologically violent. Without giving anything away all I can say is that there's no backing down, it gets pretty hardcore and you can expect quite a few twists! After a particularly intense round in The Grönholm Method the audience is suddenly assaulted by the sound of the violent riots going on in the streets below while the camera remains focused on the actors. This moment is pure Haneke and through the contrast of non-diegetic sound perfectly illustrates the violence behind the ruthless shoot-first-or-be-shot modern day job world.

Watching this movie carefully while giving it your full attention pays off since the plot twists are carefully build up and you can have a lot of fun and gratification in correctly predicting them. Also, if you're a cynical bastard like me, you will find a lot of laughs in the dialogue.

Highly recommended!

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
The group interview, 29 May 2007

Author: jotix100 from New York

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Somehow, all the job applicants we meet, as the film opens, seem eager to please until they start comparing notes; for some, this is a second interview. Since it's never clear for what position they are applying, one must assume it will be, at least, well paid. The five men and two women we meet turn out to be fierce competitors in a game where only one will get the prized employment.

In a way, one wonders who, in its right mind, would like to be subjected to such an intense and grueling process of elimination in order to have the privilege of working for this mysterious firm. After all, nothing is made clear. As they go through the paces, outside chaos reigns as people take to the streets to protest against a global conference now taking place in Madrid.

Enrique is the one that discovers what the game is like. He tells the others it seems to be the Granholm Method, in which aspiring employees must compete with one another until it's clear who will be the chosen person. Ana, who is an older woman, has her age against her. Julio, who was an executive that had to make a tough decision doesn't seem to have much chance at succeeding. Fernando, a sexist man, shows no mercy for anyone. Ricardo, who speaks loudly, but appears to be overly confident, doesn't seem to be a sincere contender, although he questions everything. Only Carlos and Nieves, who knew one another before, show the intelligence for being the logical choice.

Marcelo Pineyro, a director we have admired before, shows great restraint in the way he shows the material on the screen. In fact, this film has a theatrical feeling, which can't hide this is a work that was created for the stage by Jordi Galceras, and brilliantly adapted by Mateo Gil.

"El Metodo" shows an excellent cast of young Spanish actors that interact well with one another. Eduardo Noriega and Najwa Nimri are seen as Carlos and Nieves. Both give controlled performances. Mysterious Pablo Echarri, also impresses. Eduard Fernandez, Carmelo Gomez, Adriana Ozores, Ernesto Alterio and Natalia Verbeke complete the cast on this interesting film.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
intriguing one-set drama, 17 November 2007

Author: Roland E. Zwick (magneteach@aol.com) from United States

In the tradition of "No Exit" and "Twelve Angry Men," "The Method" gathers a small group of people into a single room to observe what happens when they are forced to spend an inordinate amount of time together, essentially cut off from the outside world. (The movie throws in elements from such wide-ranging and eclectic sources as "And Then There Were None," "1984," "To Tell the Truth" and "Survivor" as well).

Seven high-powered job applicants, all vying for a single position in a prestigious company, arrive at a high rise office building in downtown Madrid. As a part of the selection process, the seven are immediately put into a room and subjected to a battery of bizarre psychological tests designed to pit the applicants against one another until only one of them - the default "winner" and future employee - is left.

Predictably, the stress of the ordeal brings out the worst in the applicants, leading to personal betrayals, the exposing of secrets, and a cutthroat jockeying for power. Part of the fun of the movie is in seeing just how long it takes for the veneer of civilized behavior to be stripped away, exposing the ruthless animalistic nature within. For this is how the natural law of "survival of the fittest" is played out in the modern world - no longer with clubs, bows and arrows, but with duplicity, deviousness and carefully chosen words.

However, the individuals are not the only ones to come under the scathing censure of the filmmakers. The movie also attacks the Big Brother aspects of corporations in their insistence on total allegiance to the company in exchange for "job security" and their willingness to drain their employees of their humanity to secure that allegiance. Yet just outside this bleak, stark and sterile office building, where "civilized" people are subtlety tearing each other apart for corporate advancement, masses of people are marching in protest against the World Bank and the IMF who are holding a conference in the city.

Mateo Gil and Marcelo Pineyro have written a sharp, thoughtful screenplay that gets to the heart of the human condition, while, as a director, Pineyro manages to keep the action fluid despite the single-set restriction of the conceit (the film has been derived from the play by Jordi Calceran). The acting is uniformly excellent with each performer given his or her moment to shine as well as the chance to be an indispensable part of an extraordinary acting ensemble.

"The Method" may be derivative of other works at times, but the view of human nature it reveals to us is often unnerving and chilling in its honesty and precision.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A good "theatre like" flick, 11 December 2005

Author: Nandokin from Spain

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

If you liked films like Glengarry Glenn Ross, American Buffalo, Hurlyburly or The Big Kahuna, you might want to take a chance with this one.

This film reunite some of the best actors working in Spain, with some of the most commercial. It deals with a group of candidates applying for the same job in a prestigious company and the sadistic method the company uses to eliminate them one by one. It's a talky film, that mostly takes place in a room, but the quality of the dialogue and the work by some of the actors make it seem more entertaining than some alleged big epics.

Eduard Fernández is absolutely brilliant, as usual. He's never been less than great in any of his movies and continues to demonstrate he is the best working actor in Spain right now. (Bardem doesn't count as a working actor, since he makes one movie and rests three years). Ernesto Alterio is very good in his peculiar comedic timing. Carmelo Gomez and Adriana Ozores are great, but underused in their limited screen time. Pablo Echarri and Nawja Nimri are nothing special and Eduardo Noriega and Natalia Verbeke plain suck. I have nothing against them, they've been good in other movies, but with such shallow characters and against some great actors you can see they weren't at ease.

The worst thing about it, is at the plot goes on, the good actors keep disappearing, and in the last 15 minutes, you're stuck with Noriega and Nimri, which makes for a weak ending. Anyway, it's one of the most watchable Spanish movies you'll see this year and is representative of the ferocity and competitiveness in the business world. Recommended.

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