The Miracle of P. Tinto

It was the highlight of Göteborg Film Festival the year I saw it (around 2002 I believe) and I have been looking for it in stores ever since, but not yet found it (though I had mistaken one of the words in the original title so that may explain why).

It is in the same spirit as such weird comedy masterpieces as Jeunet & Caros Delicatessen and City of Lost Children at in no way less than those two.

I'm sad that it doesn't seem to have reached a larger audience. It really deserves to be a classic.

If you can see this film, don't you miss it!

Many convergent histories to a lost place in the middle of nowhere: A man escaped from a psychiatric, two E.T. lost in the Earth, an E.T. hunter working in the construction, a train, and P. Tinto, a man who ever knew what his life was going to be, frustrated by his fallen attempts to make his own family.

Just Fesser's point of view, his gallery of freaks, and the great presence of Luis Ciges filling the screen.

Funny flick plenty of offbeat characters , haunting mood-pieces , slapdash ,fun scenes , Kafkian situations and sense of style . Entertaining picture, fundamental for lovers of absurd humor and it has a high budget for its spectacular digital special effects . It deals with Wafer factory-owner P. Tinto (Luis Ciges) and his spouse blind Olivia (Silvia Casanova) , both of whom really wish a son of their own more than anything else in the world . Years of trying , however , have left them with nothing but a couple of strange extraterrestrial midgets (Javier Aller , Emilio Gavira) living in the spare bedroom . A series of disconcerting events result in an escaped adult mental patient who fled from an asylum ruled by a nasty director (Pepe Viyuela) ; he is called Joselito (Pablo Pinedo) and suddenly arriving at their door . P. Tinto and Olivia accept this without question and welcome him in as their wanted child .

This entertaining film packs amusement , slapstick , thrills , comic situations , tongue-in-cheek , surrealist comedy including conventional pitfalls and many other things . Sitting in a strange middle ground between the completely absurd and the stylishly cool . This is a fast crazy movie with lot of fun situations , antics , bemusement and with a bunch of very hilarious roles . Sensitive film full of good feeling , offbeat characters , haunting mood-pieces , diverting scenes and sense of style but not totally satisfactory , including some flaws . Wonderful protagonist couple , Luis Ciges/Silvia Casanova , an enjoyable marriage who become involved into problems when they decide to try adoption, then take place a series of misroutings and rare encounters . It turns out to be pleasantly fun that offers no intellectual stimulus whatsoever ; an exercise in pure amusement in which entertainment and fun are guaranteed . The amusing characters are quite odd , grotesque and weird and the film races on at incredible speed . It is a light , wistful comedy , easy to watch , and easier to love . It is as beautifully filmed as it is written and acted . The actors faithfully represent their characters and not to leave out of place the viewer at any time . Exaggerated accidents in a nonsensical world created by the writers/director : Javier/Guillermo Fesser brothers , embarrassing situations , miracles , shaking , falls, and other highlight sequences , all of them through some breathtaking special effects . In addition , a spotless pictorial cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space ; being filmed in La Revilla, Burgos, Castilla y León . Aguirresarobe subsequently would make a prestigious career in Hollywood such as ¨Fright night , ¨The twilight saga: eclipse¨, ¨The road¨ , ¨The others¨ and many others . And an evocative musical score by Suso Saiz , adding songs of the 50s and 60s , including Eurovision Festival. Suso had composed nice soundtracks for films as ¨Juego De Luna¨, ¨Africa¨ and ¨Detectiva y Muerte¨. The picture achieved some prizes and nominations , as it won Goya Best Special Effects : Félix Bergés , Nominated Goya Best New Director ; in Locarno International Film Festival 1999 Won Special Mention Javier Fesser for the movie's style, humor and originality ; in Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival Won Best Cinematography : Javier Aguirresarobe and Won Best Director and Sant Jordi Awards 1999 Won Sant Jordi Best First Work : Javier Fesser .

The film was well produced by Jose Luis Garci and Enrique Lopez Lavigne , a great producer who has financed national and international hits as ¨28 weeks later¨, ¨The intruder¨, ¨Lucia y el Sexo¨ and ¨Lo Impossible¨. The motion picture was compellingly directed by Javier Fesser , as he shows us a surrealist and absurd humor applied to the characters , however he overdoes the same premise , P. Tinto's ingenuousness . Writer/Actor/Director Javier Fesser was born in 1964 in Madrid . Javier is a writer and actor, and along his brother Guillermo Fesser forms the Radio comical group ¨Gomaespuma¨ , both of them have written and directed some amusing films , such as : The great adventure of Mortadelo y Filemón (2003) , Cándida (2006) and the best movie : The miracle of P. Tinto (1998) .

It's been a long time since I last saw a Spanish comedy this genial! It has a little of everything and everything is in its place. Like a giant puzzle where all the pieces fit and not even one is missing. No loose ends, no nonsense. The two parallel stories join when we least expect it and after all we have seen and laugh we are sure there's more. We just don't know if it will keep the level or will go higher. P. Tinto (Luis Ciges) and his wife had tried everything in the book to have a child, to no avail. They need children to take care of them and the family business. One of the problems is that ''dad'' never told ''son'' about the flowers and the bees and when ''son'' heard it through the grapevines, he got everything wrong. The couple move to a lonely place where the train passes every 25 years. Pray to God for a miracle and one day they get it. Two cute little martians arrive at their door and they take them as their own. Now they're happy but could be happier, so they write to the African Embassy in order to adopt a little orphan from over there. I need to stop here. Everything is hilarious and you have to see it to enjoy it!

Good film, I loved it.

El Milagro de P.Tinto is a mixture of the slapstick and the sick humour, a sort of "slapsick", if you will. It takes pains not to base the film in reality (which is a good thing: all too often comedy is sacrificed to the god of reality - why? Life appears to be more tragedy than comedy). The visual effects are nicely realised, and the humour leaps out of every frame. If you´re an English-speaker who is learning Spanish, you could do a lot worse than see this film, as the humour is very visual, so it is easy to understand.

But most of the Spanish people I´ve been talking to absolutely hated it. They all say the same thing: that the film is stupid, a silly, pointless film with little to recommend it. The question is: is your local cinema a place for such a film?

The thing is, I came, I saw it, I laughed (a lot), and I left. It was a good way to pass a couple of hours. After all, isn´t that what cinema´s about, entertainment? And P.Tinto certainly entertained. It is a witty, observational view of the world (if a little warped). The cinematography is excellent, and it takes pains to replicate the atmosphere created by other classic films (the opening sequence, set in the psychiatric hospital is a good example, as is the parody of E.T.).

So, come on, Spain - stop worrying about the intellectual impact of the movie and see El Milagro de P.Tinto for what it really is: a bloody good laugh.