Thursday 12 May 2016

Thursday Movie Picks - Spanish Language movies.


Buenos Dias! Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves, this week's theme is movies in the Spanish language. 

 
Patricio Guzmán's breathtakingly moving look at the reign of Augusto Pinochet is a beautiful masterpiece. Having ruled Chile with an iron fist for over fifteen years the high numbers of those exiled, imprisoned or executed under his reign remains a shockingly high statistic, considering the fact that the attention he receives is very little in comparison to other dictators. It is clear that the wounds opened during the period are still open almost thirty years after his dictatorship ended. The viewer discovers the impact of the Pinochet regime from the words of those who survived the concentration camps and those who still search the desert hoping that they will find the remains of a loved dumped unceremoniously in the desert by the country's military. From the viewpoint of those interviewed and the documentary’s director, the women who search the desert are just like the astronomers searching the night sky. Breathtaking stuff.


Do you know this really annoying, happy person who always seems to be a ray of sunshine no matter what the situation? Do you dislike them for it? Well Cesar (Luis Tosar) does and he wants to make Clara's (Marta Etura) a living hell. You won't be sleeping tight after this. Sleep Tight is a creepy thriller.


In the 1980s and the majority of the 90s movie violence was blamed for delinquent behaviour, particularly in England. This Spanish thriller looks at how society has been dulled to violence so much so that it's easy to find extreme violence as though it was an everyday thing, it is even displayed on front pages of mainstream newspapers. Remember the live murder of Alison Parker and Adam Ward? Some mainstream websites auto played the video of the killings and newspapers such as the New York Post, New York Daily News, Daily Mail (this one has a cartoon graphic of a gunshot!) and The Sun posted frames of the killing. Fucking barbaric. Thesis is very much a film about society’s dulled senses to violence.

15 comments:

  1. These all sound very intense. My knowledge of Spanish language films isn't great and unfortunately I haven't seen any of them. Great picks though.

    As I said my viewing is limited but I was able to come up with these three.

    Before Night Falls (2000)-Based on the writings of Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas this film spans his lifetime through his country youth, embracing of the Revolution and his later persecution as a writer and openly gay man in Castro's Cuba, his escape in the Mariel Harbor exodus of 1980, exile and death in the United States. Not a pleasant film but worthwhile. Javier Bardem is staggering in the lead, earning a well-deserved Oscar nomination.

    Burnt Money (2000)-Argentine action thriller about two violent bank robbers who are also lovers, a bank job they pull that goes wrong and the pursuit and standoff that follows. Very erotic for this type of action film, based on actual events.

    Tristana (1970)-Luis Buñuel directed this murky tale of emotional battery and vicious score settling. Tristana (Catherine Deneuve) is orphaned and taken under the protection of respected elder Don Lope (Fernando Rey). He takes advantage of the situation and makes her a virtual prisoner while demoralizing her to break her spirit, eventually the tables are turned in an unexpected fashion. Good acting by Deneuve, Rey and Franco Nero but the characters are ultimately all a pretty loathsome bunch to care too deeply about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting choices. Like the sound of Before Night Falls and Bardem is a great actor.

      Delete
  2. Haven't seen any of these, but they all sound incredible. Gotta go find these. Great work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All of them easily accesible. Should not have any issue finding them.

      Delete
  3. I've only seen Sleep Tight, and it was creepy but I liked it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I haven't seen any of these, but I'm intrigued by all now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nostalgia for the Light is the best of the three.

      Delete
  5. Ah wow - not seen any of these - they all sound intriguing though :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Umm...I'm noticing a pattern here haha

      Delete
  6. I guess that as a Chilean I should be ashamed I haven't seen NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT? I have seen THESIS and I loved it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha. No. There's a lot of English films I have yet to see.

      Delete
  7. It is very disturbing what so many have experienced and the documentary sounds like an excellent film. I haven't seen any of these films but considering how we can view violence on YouTube , on tv and anywhere else, I'm not surprised how we are becoming more desensitized to it. Now, saying this, if we actually experience it first hand, I bet we wouldn't want to see it any more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah. Completely agree. Films can't really prepare you for it no matter how voilent.

      Delete
  8. Haven't heard about any of them. The bottom two posters both look creepy.

    ReplyDelete