El juego del ahorcado (2008)

Director:

Manuel Gómez Pereira

Writers:

Salvador García Ruiz (writer)
Manuel Gómez Pereira (writer)
Imma Turbau (novel)

Release Date:

30 January 2009 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A story of a passionate sentimental initiation out of the ordinary; with a crime story and suspects, and two young characters. |

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Teenager | Mad Love | Based On Novel

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Clara Lago	...	Sandra
Álvaro Cervantes	...	David
Adriana Ugarte	...	Olga
Abel Folk
Victòria Pagès	...	Madre de Sandra
Víctor Valdivia	...	Rafa
Boris Ruiz	...	Padre de David
Àngels Bassas	...	Madre de David
Mary Murray	...	Margaret
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jordi Ballester
Àlex Batllori	...	Jugador 2
Juanma Falcón	...	Carlos
Andrea Guasch	...	Chica colegio
Antonio Higueruelo	...	Toni
Luz Juanes	...	Mujer Dueño
Francesc Martinell	...	Violador
Álex Martínez	...	Chico basket 1
Sergi Ruiz
Javier Valdés	...	Dueño coche

Also Known As:

"The Hanged Man" - Europe (English title) (festival title)

Runtime:

Germany:114 min (European Film Market) | Argentina:114 min

Country:

Spain | Ireland

Color:

Color

Certification:

Spain:13 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

El Amigo de Lenon

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The story takes place in 1989 but the characters have a music CD of the Spanish group Pastora recorded in 2004.

Soundtrack:

Soy como dos

Excellent movie; much more than a thriller

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I used to play the HANGMEN GAME thirty or forty years ago when PS or Nintendo were only dreams. It is a simple guessing game with 6 opportunities to guess the single characters, word or phrase. Every mistake a part of the body is drawn (head, torso, arms and legs). if the body is completely drawn you lost the game. The guessing game the movie plays is more with the audience than with the characters. Even could be as surprised as we when events unfold. Sandra and David (Claro Lago and Andres Servantes, both outstanding actors) live in a small town in Spain and go the same school. They meet in the seventies when they were little children and due an accident they produce, have to stage a lie to cover and protect each other; becoming best friends since them. The tale jumps to 1989; Sandra is 16; a brilliant student trying to go to UK to finish her English studies. On the contrary David (almost 18) is a terrible student, not very bright who risk his life on dangerous bets to get some extra money; but a tender and likable person. One day, a psycho kidnaps and rapes Sandra. She manages to escape alive stabbing the men with his own knife. Convinced she committed a crime, she goes to the only person who trust, David. He promised to get rid of the body but she must keep everything as a secret. When families are presented; it is easy to understand why. Their middle class parents are different on the outside. David's father is violent and controlling while Sandra's is permissive on the outside but create obstacles to avoid or control his daughter decisions. Both mothers are basically moderators on their partner's reactions. It is easy to notice that differences aside, none of them is able to communicate or understand with their siblings. A series of intense events unfold and this two become passionate lovers, love becomes obsession and things gets pretty ugly. These are very young and inexperienced people, not mature enough to handle their fears and with nobody to ask for advice. The movie works perfect as a thriller as much as a sad love story but it is also a crude and very effective portrait of parents incapacity on parenting and young people incapacity on the twist of love and life. Telling more will ruin the many unexpected surprises of the movie provides. This movie was rated PG-13 in Spain; however it contains far more sex nudity and nudity ( not exploitative and far from gratuitous) than any recent USA movie; so it will probably get a hard R here if ever shown. It will be really a pity since it is an excellent movie to see for parents and youngsters as well.