A brief review: "Lejos de mar" [2015 Spain]

Imanol Uribe has frequently dealt with the subject of ETA and Basque nationalism in his films before - understandably so, since he also hails from the region. His latest thriller "Lejos del mar" [Eng. Title: Far from the Sea] too is no different and is set against a similar premise.










The film begins with former ETA separatist Santi (Eduard Fernández) arriving in Almería to meet a friend - he'd just been released after serving twenty two years for murdering a military officer in the presence of his eight year old daughter. The daughter, Marina (Elena Anaya), is now a doctor at the same hospital where Santi's friend is undergoing treatment. Marina faints after recognising him, and Santi, not knowing that she's the girl who saw him murder her father, carries her back into the hospital.

After recovering from her shock, Marina drops her son at her mother's house in Madrid, picks up her father's handgun and shoots Santi when she catches him alone on the beach. Having fled the scene, Marina returns to the beach after some deliberation to see Santi still breathing, but unconscious. She drags him back into his cabin to treat him for his wounds, and nurses him back to health.

When Marina's journalist husband Andrés (José Luis García Pérez) is informed of Santi's release from prison and his arrival in Almería, he tries to track him down since he is also aware of Marina's tragedy. When he informs Marina about Santi's release, her ambivalent reaction disappoints him a little, but he nevertheless notices a change in her general attitude, and coupled with the increasing frequency of her 'night shifts', begins to suspect that she might be having an affair...

Uribe has dealt with the pathology of hate in some of his earlier films, but this one is slightly different in exploring issues bordering on Stockholm Syndrome, and it also directly addresses reconciliation, which could be a painful process. Obviously, Elena Anaya had the most challenging part in the film, but she performs impeccably as ever. While it is a low-budget thriller, it is still well made and some shot selections are an interesting departure from Uribe's earlier films, particularly the long shot of Anaya's character dragging a heavy and motionless Santi back into the cabin. We're also shown an Almería completely devoid of its ubiquitous tourist-brochure glamour (or Spaghetti Western dustiness) - it might just as well be some bleak seaside in northern Spain. The taut thriller is certainly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Elena Anaya and Verónika Moral
Elana Anaya is nude when she emerges from the sea, and Verónika Moral, who play's Santi's sister, is also briefly nude when she goes skinny dipping. There's also a brief sex scene featuring Elena Anaya.



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Elena Anaya in "Alatriste" [2006 Spain] 1080p

Agustín Díaz Yanes has the distinction of having directed one of the most expensive films ever made in Spain, "Alatriste". Based on a series of popular novels about the exploits of a seventeenth century soldier and mercenary - El Capitán Alatriste, it is a swashbuckling epic spanning some four decades of one of the most eventful periods in Spanish history, one that also saw its world superpower status seriously challenged by upstarts like England and France.

Storyline:
I haven't read any of the original novels, so my storyline is based purely on what one sees in the film. Almost episodic, the film starts with Alatriste as a soldier under King Philip IV involved in quelling a revolt in the restive Flanders (Dutch) region. When one of his comrades dies during battle, Alatriste promises to take care of his young son Íñigo. Alatriste soon becomes prominent enough to get noticed in royal circles, and is commissioned odd and sometimes unofficial assignments to do their dirty work. Romance is part of the film's offering too - between Íñigo and the Queen's lady in waiting Angélica, and Alatriste's own affair with actress María de Castro, upon whom the King himself had set his eyes on. María de Castro is probably the most tragic character in the film as she will spend her last days at a syphilis hospital, and Angélica will also change her mind about eloping with Iñigo after realising she has the opportunity to become a countess - practical lady. There are several more battles and intrigues than I'd care to write about - let's just say it is action packed from beginning till the end.

The film aims to appeal to an international audience by casting Scandinavian-American Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings) in the titular role. It is also around two and a half hours long - not enough to fit in five novels and do justice to the original work, but that's what it tries, and fails. People who're not aware of the original stories will find the film an information overload. With regard to the production, I'm still not convinced about the film's supposed technical merits save the exquisite costume design, and even that job is made easier by focusing on too few types of characters - soldiers, nobles, and slaves - I don't remember seeing a single peasant or trader in the entire film. I'm afraid every other aspect is only trying to compare itself to production levels of Tirante el Blanco, a film that also came out the same year. I found the cinematography, set design, and lighting spending too much effort trying to look like a sombre Velázquez or early Goya composition instead of making us feel and breathe the late medieval air. Apart from the boat scene with the slave rowers, there's little else that impressed me in cinematic terms.

May be my opinion is clouded after watching recent ground-breaking productions like The Game of Thrones, may be because I'm not generally a sucker for historical epics unless it is researched and seen through the eyes of a Pasolini, or may be I'm just plain annoyed that having watched too many things happen on-screen, precious little has indeed registered. This film has failed to impress me. Among the performances, the best is that of Ariadna Gil who plays the actress María de Castro caught between the affections of Alatriste and the King. Elena Anaya also is a joy to watch even if there's nothing too challenging for her to do here. This post is more of an excuse to write about a brief minute-long nude scene shot with all the coyness of late imperial catholic Spain - that of Angélica being persuaded by Íñigo to elope with him and get married. Angélica is played by an angelic Elena Anaya.



Amazon Blu-ray Link
English Subtitles

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Paz Vega & others in Julio Medem's "Lucía y el Sexo" BR720 [2001 Spain]

I could safely guess that among all of Julio Medem's classics, his 2001 drama, "Lucía y el Sexo" [Eng. Title: Sex and Lucia] is probably the most seen by a non Spanish audience. While some may have been drawn to its liberal sex scenes, many, at least from my neck of the woods, would relate the film to Spain's stereotypical image of sun, sand and sea. Sr. Medem however, had gone the extra mile in ensuring these images are not merely used as props but essential elements to tell his poetic story, rich in symbolism.

Even though this isn't my favourite Medem, it is nevertheless beautiful (and somehow I feel, very feminine) cinema. You have the symbolic mother, the lover, and the whore, intertwined, each playing an important part in connecting the story. And then you have 'the island', in itself is a metaphor, where everything starts and ends (and starts again). This film can be nothing but art, because every time I see it, it is like looking through a kaleidoscope - there's something new to discover, whether intended by the director or not. For this reason, the film occupies prime space in my library, within easy reach - so that it could be seen again, and again. If you haven't seen this film before, it is about time you did. Needless to say, Highly Recommended Viewing.

Here's the gist: Lorenzo, a writer, meets Elena at an island and they have sex - by the sea at night - it also happens to be his birthday. He never hoped to see her again, but fate had other ideas - he had after all just planted the seed for the rest of the story to unfold. He meets Lucía, a woman working in a restaurant opposite - she had already fallen in love with him and his work, and he loves her in return. Life now seems so tranquil that he now has nothing much to write about. But thanks to his friend, he learns he now has a daughter (through Elena), and attempts to bond with her secretly. Her frisky child-minder Belén enters his life, and events take a turn for the worse from then onwards, until the main characters converge on 'the island'.

The scenes below have been re-cut from Blu-ray, specifically for my blog.







Paz Vega: Compilation 1
For many, the film will be remembered for the lovely Paz Vega. She plays Lucía, the girl madly in love with Lorenzo.



Scene guide:
Lucía discloses her love to Lorenzo, and they return to his flat drunk, Lucía explores his house the following morning and they have sex for the first time. Contains some explicit sex scenes which was body-doubled by porn actress Diana Suárez.









Najwa Nimri:
The beautiful Najwa Nimri steals our heart as Elena - a character who's probably the kindest woman in the planet. The first part of the scene is of her with Lorenzo, followed by her discovery that she's pregnant, at which point she breaks up with her partner, through his secretary over the phone. The first scene is probably one of the most romantic underwater love scenes ever filmed. The second half has no nudity, but sexy nevertheless. The compilation as a whole showcases Julio Medem's artistry.











Paz Vega: Compilation 2
Some more scenes of the lovely Paz Vega playing Lucía. The scenes are more or less continuos - depicting Lorenzo and Lucía's developing relationship. The first half is very 'visual' that require little description. The second half of the compilation (unfortunately forgot to include caps for these in the graphic) is of Lucía visiting the island on her own after she presumes Lorenzo is dead after an accident. She stay's at Elena's place, where she's introduced to Carlos (Antonio had taken on another identity), also a tenant there. Elena tells Lucía that Carlos and she have a purely sexual relationship, and the fact that he had the biggest penis she's ever seen, which was enough to make Lucía curious about Carlos. It includes some nude scenes by the beach, and Lucía receiving a sensual mud massage from Carlos. She however stops him from going all the way.











Elena Anaya, Diana Suárez, and Paz Vega:
This compilation is made of several scenes involving Paz Vega (Lucía), a young Elena Anaya (Belén), and Diana Suárez (Belén's mum):



Scene guide:

1. When Belén tells Lorenzo that her mother's a retired pornstar, living with her hunky former colleague, Lorenzo is intrigued and asked if she too fancied her mother's boyfriend. Reluctant at first, she admits to flirting with him, and relates an incident one night, when she was masturbating in the nude to one of her mum's porno movies. She hears Antonio (mum's boyfriend) enter the room. The remainder of this scene is of Lorenzo building up that fantasy for his own writing material - his novel was gradually becoming autobiographical.
2. Lucía who habitually reads what Lorenzo had written, is shocked and tries to comfort him in bed.
3. Belén invites Lorenzo over to the child's house - she's baby sitting that night, and Lorenzo accepts. They are interrupted when the door opens, and tragedy unfolds (not shown here).
4. Another fictional scene where the disturbed Lorenzo builds layers upon the relationship between Belén, her mother, and her mother's lover. He is now ridden with guilt and self-hatred after the tragic event.
5. Elena calls her former chlld-minder Belén, and invites her to the island where she lives, while Belén's mum sunbathes in the nude and takes a shower by the balcony in broad view.
6. Lorenzo pens a terrible end for his mother-daughter characters (Belén and her mum).

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