Mario TSR Reviews

Bilbao (1978)

Essential Bigas

[9/10 · 3 September 2002]

A lonely man in Barcelona lives with his wife that he does not love and gets obsessed with Bilbao, a stripper/prostitute. His desire to possess her physically leads him further and further to a fetishist climax and a tragedy with a more or less surprising ending.

Fifteen years ago, I saw the final 30 minutes of this movie, I was struck by it's imagery, and proceeded to check out the other works of this very particular Spanish director, with a very personal view of Spanish culture. Being an admirer of his work, I should admit that his career has its ups and downs. But Bilbao is sure one of its peaks. Bigas Luna achieves to get the viewer really inside the obsessive universe the main character with his excellent direction, the music, the editing, the frequent close-ups, and the voice-off. It was for me the discovery of Bigas and it has now made clear some of his obsessions, cliches and recurring themes. And if sometimes in his recent work (like in Jamon, Jamon or Bambola) there is too much of "artificial" cliches, in Bilbao there is frankness and truth in the story being told.

If you were offended by the (apparent, imho) misogyny which lead to criticism of some of his recent movies, than don't watch this one: here, women are really objects, although not mere but fundamental objects. La Carne, by Marco Ferreri, has a similar point of view. Besides the relationship of Leo with Bilbao and his wife Maria, it is also very interesting to see the way he mingles and relates with the city itself and the urban life in which he hides and finds comfort.

This movie created a big controversy in Spain (like Tristana in 1970). In 1978 Franco had already died and Spain was starting to live in democracy. But even today, some will find this movie offensive. Sex is depicted quite graphically. Well, if you know Bigas Luna you know what to expect: this time his hero has fishing line, ropes, a bottle of chloroform and an electric shaver...

Belarmino (1964)

a landmark in portuguese cinema

[7/10 · 19 June 2002]

After the so-called golden age of Portuguese comedy in the 40's, and the stagnation in the 50's, the 60's brought a new cinema (Cinema Novo)to Portugal, namely by Paulo Rocha, Manoel de Oliveira and Fernando Lopes.

Fernando Lopes' Belarmino is not really a documentary about boxing, but a documentary about the life of a boxer, Belarmino Fragoso, at the end of his short career. It is a very live, frank, surprising portrait of the life of a common man in Lisbon during the 50's and 60's.

It was very much influenced by the Italian Neo-realism, but it's cinematically much more stylish than most of those features. There are some wonderful shots of Belarmino training, strolling through the streets of Lisbon or at home with his family.

The main flaws, for me, are in the interviews, which, maybe because of the editing, become repetitive at times.

Compare to Kubrick's "Day of the Fight".

The Novel of Werther (1938)

A romantic comedy adaptation of the classic

[6/10 · 7 May 2002]

This was Ophuls rendering on film of Goethe's classic. Although not the best of his work, the acting is quite good. The most remarkable aspects are the cinematography and the direction. There is a with very interesting use of lighting, with pools of light drawing attention to specific parts of the set and characters, more typical of theater than 30's cinema. But the direction uses others devices to avoid the "stagy" look, like the interposition of objects between the camera and the action to create depth, sometimes using deep focus. But that was shortly before Citizen Kane...