Spoilers herein.
The title is a reference to Kar Wai Wong's film of a similar name, and one with - I think - similar aspirations. Kar Wai's film is a masterpiece and recognized as such. This one ( I saw the `middle-core' version) is dismissed as simply inept.
But its more than that.
I watch a lot of films, and I watch them closely. There are many that impress, but the best ideas in cinema today are coming from Spanish-speaking filmmakers. Medem really impresses, but there are a dozen or so from all over the world worth watching. Where did they come from?
Well, in part they came from Franco, who is a Spanish Goddard in a way. You don't really believe that they intended you to take this seriously? On the other hand, it is not exploitation, nor parody nor camp. It is deliberately meaningless. The incessant zooming and wandering of the camera in long shots, often unfocused, is what this is all about (as also with Kar Wai). The water-torture repetitiveness of the score (like `In the Mood for Love') is equally deliberate.
Usually, such techniques are used to suppress the normal rewards of a movie which are replaced by essays on filmmaking, as was with the French and Swedes and now the Danes. Medem weaves a dense metafabric.
What happens here? This has had the life deliberately sucked out of it. The reason Lina the vampire bumps the camera at the beginning is because she first seduces and drains us.
Go to `House of 1000 Corpses' if you want truly stupid, you won't find it here.
As for Lina, she is no Nico, which is to say that she has no idea what this is about. That's the final Latin touch. But I do give every Catalan my extra appreciation for existing. Incidentally, I make a private hobby of how directors use their lovers in films. This has to be one of the most fascinating (and longest lived at 100 films!) of all.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
The title is a reference to Kar Wai Wong's film of a similar name, and one with - I think - similar aspirations. Kar Wai's film is a masterpiece and recognized as such. This one ( I saw the `middle-core' version) is dismissed as simply inept.
But its more than that.
I watch a lot of films, and I watch them closely. There are many that impress, but the best ideas in cinema today are coming from Spanish-speaking filmmakers. Medem really impresses, but there are a dozen or so from all over the world worth watching. Where did they come from?
Well, in part they came from Franco, who is a Spanish Goddard in a way. You don't really believe that they intended you to take this seriously? On the other hand, it is not exploitation, nor parody nor camp. It is deliberately meaningless. The incessant zooming and wandering of the camera in long shots, often unfocused, is what this is all about (as also with Kar Wai). The water-torture repetitiveness of the score (like `In the Mood for Love') is equally deliberate.
Usually, such techniques are used to suppress the normal rewards of a movie which are replaced by essays on filmmaking, as was with the French and Swedes and now the Danes. Medem weaves a dense metafabric.
What happens here? This has had the life deliberately sucked out of it. The reason Lina the vampire bumps the camera at the beginning is because she first seduces and drains us.
Go to `House of 1000 Corpses' if you want truly stupid, you won't find it here.
As for Lina, she is no Nico, which is to say that she has no idea what this is about. That's the final Latin touch. But I do give every Catalan my extra appreciation for existing. Incidentally, I make a private hobby of how directors use their lovers in films. This has to be one of the most fascinating (and longest lived at 100 films!) of all.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.