Sunday, July 18, 2010

Angsty Kindergarteners

Highly recommended: Cria Cuervos... , a ghost story- sad, sweet, and brilliant.

In one moment I thought suddenly of Todd Solondz- no, it's not really as obsessive, nor is it ugly or even despairing, ultimately- but like Solondz's work, it can startle you by shifting among sadness, horror and humor, all in a small and quiet moment. The moments are the key here- this is outstanding neo-realism, built of its very strong moments (but with a true narrative thrust as well, and a creeping sense of danger).



The way Ana plays the record of "Porque Te Vas" over and over in this film- look at how angsty she is in this clip, mouthing the words- I instantly remembered Enid listening to Skip James in Ghost World.

You can't tell for the compression in the clip above, but this is one of those 70's films with a hushed, delicate brown palette and close-ups with intense shallow focus... gorgeous. What a great find this is.

No comments:

Post a Comment