Love, Pain and Vice Versa (2008)
"Violanchelo" (original title)

A pair of strangers become subconsciously connected after their recurring dreams turn into reality.

Director:

Alfonso Pineda Ulloa

Writers:

Alex Marino (screenplay), Blas Valdez (story)

Stars:

Bárbara Mori, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Marina de Tavira

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bárbara Mori	...	Chelo
Leonardo Sbaraglia	...	Dr. Ricardo Márquez
Marina de Tavira	...	Marcela
Joaquín Cosio	...	Agente
Irene Azuela	...	Gaby
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rodrigo Barbosa	...	Los Dorados - Drummer
Tony Dalton
Martín Hernández	...	Marcos
Carlos Maldonado	...	Los Dorados - Double Bass Player
Diego Velázquez	...	Paco
Dan Zlotnik	...	Los Dorados - Sax Player

Storyline

Chelo is an architect, withdrawing from her social life because of realistic dreams she's having of a romance with a strange man. She's convinced the man is real, out there, destined to be with her. She reports a rape to the police, describing the man of her dreams to a sketch artist. The police find a suspect: he's Marcos, a physician. Chelo tells the police this is not the man who raped her, but now she has Marcos in her sights. Her plan for him to fall in love with her is complicated by his having a fiancée. What can Chelo do? Meanwhile, Marcos has violent dreams about an unfamiliar woman. Chronologies overlap, glass breaks. Can a mind lie to itself?

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Plot Keywords:

dream | police | architect | fiance | artist | 

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Genres:

Romance | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [mx]

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

30 October 2009 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Love, Pain and Vice Versa

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

MXN 30,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fidecine, Filmax, Lemon Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"I Know"
Written by Brian Molko, Paul Campion, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Hewitt
Performed by Placebo

User Reviews

One Woman's Dream And Another Man's Nightmare

Two strangers who have met in one another's dreams come face to face in the real world with disturbing results in this psychological thriller from Mexico directed by Alfonso Pineda Ulloa in the film entitled,Love, Pain and Vice Versa. It features Bárbara Mori and Leonardo Sbaraglia together with Tony Dalton and Irene Azuela.

Consuelo is a successful and well-respected architect who found little satisfaction in her love life. While the men she dates cannot satisfy her, each night she dreams of a handsome man who can fulfill all her desires. Meanwhile, Dr. Marquez is a leading heart surgeon who is engaged to marry a beautiful woman, Marcela, but as he sleeps he's visited by terrible visions of a woman who wants to kill him. Consuelo believes she can't go on without finally meeting the literal man of her dream, who she is certain is real, so she devises a plan which she makes herself look as if she's been attacked, and goes to the police and tells them she's been beaten and raped. She gives a careful description of her assailant that closely resembled the man in he dreams, and they soon present her with a suspect who matches the description which happens to be Dr. Marquez. At the same time, when the doctor gets a look at she, he's terrified as he realizes she's a dead ringer for the malevolent woman from his nightmares.

In this Mexican film, Alonso Pineda-Ulloa's psychological thriller, one woman's dream turns out to be another man's nightmare.The director relies heavily on surprise twists and turns, and on the chemistry of matching sexpots Barbara Mori and Leonard Sbaraglia to sweep viewers along in a torrent of atmospheric stylings. But the slick pic pulls one too many rabbits out of its hat, disturbing even the voyeuristic dream/waking, his/her symmetry that takes the place of character and plot development. Also,the film's fractured fantasies fail to add up on even a symbolic level, as the pic builds to a dream-doubled climax that has little to do with motivation and everything to do with a notion of heightened cinematic suspense, complete with swelling music and fatefully repeated gestures. But nevertheless,it still manages to entertain the viewer especially those who love psychological dramas similar to Mulholland Drive and Vanilla Sky.