Horror-ble!: [REC]

Is a remake usually better than the original? The Spanish language film [REC] was remade as Quarantine for the U.S. market.

[REC] continues in the recent horror trend of found video footage (started by The Blair Witch Project I think). In this scenario, the story begins innocuously when a soft-news tv reporter follows some firefighters overnight. The reporter, Angela, hopes to get some exciting footage although the firemen tell her most days it is just waiting around. A call does come in though, a report of an elderly woman who locked herself in her apartment, and Angela and her cameraman Pablo excitedly ride along.

When they arrive at the small apartment building, most of the inhabitants are gathered in the foyer with a couple policemen. Things are a bit confusing but they go up to the woman’s apartment, she is a bit incoherent and they approach her carefully, but suddenly she goes berserk and fiercely bites one of the men. As everyone tries to make sense of what has just happened, they discover that the building is in lockdown, with policemen on the outside telling them to stay indoors, that some sort of contagion is loose in the building.

As the film continues, it comes out that a sick dog may have been Patient Zero, spreading a rabies-like virus that is causing the havoc inside the building. Meanwhile, Angela naturally has Pablo continue filming the story, giving on camera commentary when she can. It turns into mayhem and she and Pablo become less of journalists and more of victims like the others, as they accuse each other, hide secrets, and try to get as much info as possible from the people outside. We see, through their camera, as a health technician is sent in to tend to the injured victims, but that he really has something to hide. One by one, they are picked off, and as they get infected, they become killers.

Free event: Intacto

Intacto is a sort of "bet-with-the-devil" story. Max von Sydow plays the devilish character, a gambler and owner of a casino.  Several characters lives are changed.  This Spanish-language film is presented by Instituto Cervantes.

Intacto
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
6:00 p.m.
Instituto Cervantes
31 W. Ohio Street

CIFF 2012: Sleep Tight

This Spanish horror thriller takes place in an apartment building, and focuses on the live-in concierge Cesar who works there during the day. He seems friendly and helpful enough and caters to his tenants' needs and whims. But we see his dark side at night--he hides in the apartment of a beautiful tenant, Clara, drugs her so she won't wake up, then lies beside her all night, waking in time to leave and pretend life is normal.

Although at first we are led by his actions and narrating dialogue to believe he is a typical stalker, this is not exactly (or not initially) about sex. Cesar is depressed, to the point where he cannot stand that Clara always has a smile on her face. His vendetta against her to is to make her as unhappy as he is.

Cesar's actions against Clara get more and more extreme. He injects chemicals into her lotions to cause a rash. He infests her apartment with bugs. In one scene he is almost caught by Clara's boyfriend. Later we come to know that Cesar has sexually violated Clara without her knowledge.

We see that the neighbor kid across the hall has seen some of this illicit behavior and has been blackmailing Cesar. A curmudgeon tenant has looked into Cesar's past and discovered he has never been able to keep a job, suggesting to us that Cesar has done this many times before. Cesar frames the cleaning lady's son when the police discover the stalker letters. All this causes Cesar to contemplate suicide.

Mouth to Mouth

1995 Spanish film starring Javier Bardem. Usually I find Spanish and Mexican comedies a bit too broad and loud but this one didn't get too bad.

He stars as Victor, a struggling actor. His agent keeps promising him auditions, and there is a big one down the road, but Victor can barely make ends meet. He delivers a pizza to a phone sex office, and eventually ends up working there to tide things over until, he hopes, he can pass the audition and get a good acting job in a Hollywood movie.

While doing his new job, which involves chatting up men as well as women, he impresses "Bill" with his smooth talk. Bill (Joseph Maria Flotats) is a closeted gay but married. Later, another client, Amanda (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon), calls and also is impressed with Victor, so much so that somehow she finds out where he lives and they have a tryst. She confesses she is married to "Bill" in a loveless marriage and cannot escape. Victor is taken with her and agrees to help by being in flagrante with Bill so she can get a divorce. But, Victor finds out things are more complicated than that as the mastermind behind this ruse is not really Amanda at all.

Flores de Otro Mundo

Lonely Spanish men organize a matchmaking festival with a busload of women from South America.  The film focuses on a couple of the matchups, as well as a couple of non-matched people.  There are two immediate matches:  Patricia, a Santo Domingan with two young kids, with Damian, a meek farmer who lives with his mother; and Marirosi, a supposed virgin, with Alfonso, a greenhouse gardener, who are both almost middle aged. There's Damian's middle aged friend Carmelo brings his sexy young girlfriend over from Cuba, Milady--she's going to see how she likes it here before she decides if she wants to marry Carmelo.

CIFF 2011: Chico & Rita

I read about Chico & Rita some time ago and had planned to watch it if and when it came around to my town.  Seeing it on the film fest lineup, I was quick to include it to my schedule. This Spanish film is an animated memory tale, focusing on Chico, now an elderly man, thinking back on his younger years in 1940s-50s Havana when he was a jazz musician.  It was a time when jazz mixed successfully with Cuban and other Latin and African influences.  Chico sees and hears the lovely and sensual Rita, and they start a musical as well as a romantic collaboration.  After they win a music contest, Rita is signed to a lucrative contract that takes her to New York and Paris, leaving Chico behind.  It is a typical tale of stardom dividing lovers..

Neither of them are able to reconcile their romance to their careers, and Rita goes on to be a star while Chico continues to be a working musician with momentary fame.  The highlights of the film are its great soundtrack and the vivid, colorful depiction of Havana, along with name-dropping depictions of famous musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente.  While the animation is not always fluid, the storyline itself is a classic story of heartbreak.  The romance between Chico and Rita comes full circle when Chico hears their old song on the radio and by chance discovers her again, giving us a fell-good yet bittersweet memory of the years lost between the two characters.