santos-juanluis Reviews

Stalker (1979)

Three bald Russian men go hiking

[7/10 · 18 January 2020]

Stalker is a soviet film that is characterized by its long shots in which the camera barely moves. In the first section of the film, where everything is yellowish, we know about the stalker, a bald Russian man who lefts his wife and daughter in order to go to hiking to the fields with two men. He expresses his desire to hike, as he used to do before. The spectators know he left his family before and he did not come back home for a few years, therefore his commitment to walking in the fields is not ordinary, but steadfast and rentless. The wife moans about her unlucky life, as she does not share the passsion for hiking of her husband.

Still in yellow, the protagonist arrives to a bar where he finds another two bald men, one of them is a writer and the other one is a professor. They discuss about their long-lasting passion for hiking and how they enjoy being outside civilization with a few other men to enjoy themselves.

The group of three bald Russian men take a mini train in which they barely fit and they arrive to the zone where they intend to hike in peace. The area is unpopulated and therefore convenient for their intentions. Once they arrive, after near fourty minutes of film, the film starts to have colours. In this second section everythings goes to green, blue and grey tones.

It is unclear if the men are intented to pick berries and mushrooms or just they want to spend sometimes together as a mental refreshment from a hard life as bald men in Soviet society.

They are wandering around for about two days or so and they arrive to a tunnel that possibly represents their feelings when they started losing hair when they were in the late-twenties. After the tunnels, they arrive to an abandoned industrial building that is a symbol of their lifes as bald grownups who enjoy hiking in company of other men. Finally they arrive to a magic room where you can make a wish. It is unclear but some people argue they ask for hair. They argue about the convenience of using the room or not for a quite long time.

Going back to the bar, the film goes back to the yellowish colour. The stalker arrives to his home and goes back to sleep, exhausted after the trip.

¡No, hija, no! (1987)

Comedy of errors about the local politics of a city

[7/10 · 23 June 2019]

The film is a full-fledged low-cost movie. It was recorded in the times of commercial decline of Ozores, during his agreement with Cascales to produce several titles for very little money for VHS renting. The film is highly recommended for the current times, since the great Mariano Ozores gives a good stake to the politicians from his critical and cynical point of view.

The film criticizes the failures of an unstable society not used to vote. I recommend that you see this movie with a good beer and some doritos so you can appreciate this gift that the great Mariano Ozores gives us in the form of quintessential ART with capital letters. The film does not show nudes, although there are two ladies in their underwear. The film itself is almost a play, and it keeps the rhythm that Ozores had in his best films. Definitely, the best characteristic is the rhythm, it's almost a play taken to the cinema.

Chicken (1996)

Underrated freak comedy

[8/10 · 12 September 2015]

I bought the DVD of this movie only because I read the other review it has on IMDb. The average of about 5 is extremely low for a good film that in my opinion deserves a higher mark. The humour is different from stupid American films that most of you are accustomed to see. It reminds me some Spanish movies such as the ones by Alex de la Iglesia. One of the last works by this filmmaker made Quentin Tarantino laugh his arse off. Chicken has the same ingredients and the result is amazing. Archetypal characters with extreme situations and relations, bizarre dialogs and an awesome ending. This film has not a conventional sense of humor but if you are intelligent, cynical or do you like chicken I am sure this film is for you. Nevertheless, it is just an 8 for me. Giving it a 9 or 10 would be ridiculous. It is not a masterpiece but it deserves to be watched.

Sleepwalk (1986)

Preposterous comedy with terrible acting

[4/10 · 22 July 2015]

This film is not intended to be a comedy, but three combined things would make you laugh. The crew is so dreadful, the plot so crappy and the screenplay so wacky that sometimes the only possible reaction is laughing. I know the film intends to be a mystery story with an Asian atmosphere but it fails completely. I would highlight two moments that are especially hilarious. The first one is a dialogue between Ecco and the protagonist. She ask what is the name of the Asian young woman. She replies "Ecco". "Ecco?" "Ecco, Ecco." "Ecco, Ecco?" "Ecco. Ecco" "Ecco". I understand is a reference to the mythological story about Echo but is simply preposterous or dumb, as you prefer. The other scene that is amazingly absurd, extremely bad played and that makes you laugh is when the bald French woman tells to the protagonist her son has been kidnapped. It's more or less like this: "-I have bad news. I have lost the car -Where is Jimmy? -He has been kidnapped. Sorry, would you forgive me? -We have to go to the police. -We cannot denounce it. I have not driving license, the car is not insured, I am an illegal immigrant and I have not hair at all." If this is a serious film I am the queen of England. Sara Driver, shame on you!

I Fell Into a Black Hole While Searching For My Double (2013)

low-cost experimental film

[4/10 · 25 October 2014]

This movie did not have a large budget. However, with just six thousand euro they managed to produce a fair film. My group of friends agreed the main flaw is the large number of pauses that are not justified. If the film would only be a half an hour piece the quality would improve a lot. The film consists on a series of short conversations and reflections of the protagonist. These scenes are separated with images of Lisbon accompanied with music that is inappropriate, loud and distracts the attention of the audience. Certainly the selection of songs and the unreliability of some dialogs are the two main flaws of the movie. The most remarkable feature is the script with memorable moments with thoughts about individuality, memory and identity. It could be considered a philosophical film such as I Heart Huckabees, but this one is experimental and it is not advisable for an audience not used to this kind of movies that sacrifice the action and reliability in order to execute an exercise of exploration of concepts and atypical extreme situations.