Los ojos de Julia (2010)

The story of a woman who is slowly losing her sight whilst trying to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister.

Director:

Guillem Morales

Writers:

Guillem Morales (screenplay), Oriol Paulo (screenplay)

Stars:

Belén Rueda, Lluís Homar, Pablo Derqui

11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Belén Rueda	...	Julia Levin / Sara
Lluís Homar	...	Isaac
Pablo Derqui	...	Ángel
Francesc Orella	...	Inspector Dimas
Joan Dalmau	...	Créspulo
Julia Gutiérrez Caba	...	Soledad
Boris Ruiz	...	Blasco
Dani Codina	...	Iván
Andrea Hermosa	...	Lía
Daniel Grao	...	Dr. Román
Pere Ventura	...	Policía Aparcamiento 1
Oscar Foronda	...	Policía Aparcamiento 2
Ramón Moreno	...	Enfermero 1
José Sánchez Orosa	...	Enfermero 2 (as José Sánchez)
Carlus Fàbrega	...	Subinspector (as Carlus Fabrega)

Storyline

After the death of the blind Sara, who hanged herself in the basement of her house, her twin sister Julia suspects that she was actually murdered. Julia has a degenerative problem with her eyes and is losing her sight, and she temporarily moves with her husband Isaac to Sara's house to arrange her funeral. Julia goes to the Centro Baumann for the blind, which Sara frequented, and she learns from other members that Sara had a boyfriend. Julia is chased by a mysterious man, but police inspector Dimas does not believe her. Julia follows Sara's last steps trying to find the identity of her secret lover. Julia is surrounded by deaths and weird events while she loses her sight.

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Plot Keywords:

twin sisters | suicide | sister sister relationship | blindness | female protagonist | 

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Taglines:

En la oscuridad no puedes esconderte. [You can't hide in the dark.]

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the second time that Belén Rueda plays a character named Julia, who coincidentally also suffers from a degenerative disease, after The Sea Inside (2004).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sara: [Talking to someone hiding in the dark] Listen.
[pause]
Sara: Alright, you win. Could you at least stop that song? You know I hate it.
[she receives no answer. Only music playing in the background]
Sara: [nervous] Why are you so quiet?
[thunders strike, briefly lightning the living room]
Sara: Say something, for fuck sake!

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Connections

Featured in Starfilm (2017)

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Soundtracks

The Look of Love
Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David
Performed by Giulia y los Tellarini

User Reviews

An enjoyable, highly unpredictable thriller

A respectable blend of drama and horror, using strengths of both but also succumbing occasionally to the weaknesses.

Suspense is present from the very beginning, building to an exciting and unexpected climax, unfortunately falling a bit flat afterward. In fact, the last 30 seconds of the film somewhat blemish the drama of the story as a whole, mostly because the ending touches on a relationship that was hardly explored and not at all significant through the rest of the film, partly because of the focus on the very thing that makes this movie good: the constant twists and turns in the story. This also leads to some ideas that are passable but don't make nearly as much sense as they're supposed to; particularly the whole "people who aren't seen"/"There was no man with her (Sara)"/"Don't look at me!" motif. I still don't get it, but it has little impact on the story anyway.

I believe the entirety of the story could have used some fine tuning, and run time could have been trimmed by 10 to 15 minutes... But overall it's engaging, well acted, and sets an excellent and fitting mood visually. Thrillers that can't project the protagonist's experience to the viewer fail horribly... this movie does an outstanding job providing a sense of confinement that fits the title character's world, and this is where its greatest strength lies.

Although character relationships are a bit thin and suspense doesn't hit many high notes, this is a fairly exciting thrill ride and a good effort all around. One last thing, I would recommend watching it without distraction... the mood is more visual and in the flow of the story than it is intellectual or suspenseful, and it's easy to lose interest if you step away for a few minutes.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain] Official site [France]

Country:

Spain Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

29 October 2010 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Los ojos de Julia

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

EUR5,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,934,369

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antena 3 Films, Canal+ España, Catalan Films & TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1