osprey_archer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
osprey_archer) wrote2008-08-10 12:43 am
osprey_archer) wrote2008-08-10 12:43 am
Entry tags:
Spanish Film
I don’t know if I’ve watched a representative sample of Spanish filmography or if my teacher for Spanish film was just a weirdo, but I’ve noticed some definite motifs in Spanish film.
First, SEX. Lots and lots and lots of exceptionally explicit sex, whether or not the film needs it.
Two, the Spanish Civil War. I realize that this was a traumatizing event for the country, but so was World War II for France, and the French haven’t dedicated their entire film industry to that.
Three, depression. Spanish films just wallow in depression. The Sea Inside is quite possibly the most depressing movie in the universe. It should have a content warning about how watching it is likely to induce suicidal thoughts.
This is a problem. I would like to watch movies to brush up on my Spanish, but the TV is right in the middle of the house and my mother really does not need to walk in on that kind of graphic sex or violence or misery porn.
I have hope, because I have liked a few Spanish films I’ve seen. I like The Orphanage and Talk to Her (the latter rather against my will, because it culminates in extreme ick) and I adore Pan’s Labyrinth.
Pan’s Labyrinth suffers from hokey special effects at times--the Pan character looked silly to me--but it really brought the creepy when it needed to (the hand creature! EEEEEK!). The settings were just gorgeous—I loved the whole fantasy world—and Ofelia is wonderful, as is Mercedes, the housekeeper who is secretly one of the rebels and becomes Ofelia’s surrogate mother (sort of) and is believably kick-ass without being superwoman.
I even love the ending, although normal people seem to think it’s depressing.
As a side note, the director of Pan’s Labyrinth is slated to direct The Hobbit, which seems to be a good choice. He’s a good director and his talents seem well-suited to The Hobbit, which is filled with creepiness and lacks most of the grandeur and epic battle scenes of the Lord of the Rings.
So if anyone knows anything about Spanish film and has suggestions for good movies that won’t traumatize my parents, I would be very grateful. (Or if you just want to rave about Pan’s Labyrinth, I’m up for that too.)
First, SEX. Lots and lots and lots of exceptionally explicit sex, whether or not the film needs it.
Two, the Spanish Civil War. I realize that this was a traumatizing event for the country, but so was World War II for France, and the French haven’t dedicated their entire film industry to that.
Three, depression. Spanish films just wallow in depression. The Sea Inside is quite possibly the most depressing movie in the universe. It should have a content warning about how watching it is likely to induce suicidal thoughts.
This is a problem. I would like to watch movies to brush up on my Spanish, but the TV is right in the middle of the house and my mother really does not need to walk in on that kind of graphic sex or violence or misery porn.
I have hope, because I have liked a few Spanish films I’ve seen. I like The Orphanage and Talk to Her (the latter rather against my will, because it culminates in extreme ick) and I adore Pan’s Labyrinth.
Pan’s Labyrinth suffers from hokey special effects at times--the Pan character looked silly to me--but it really brought the creepy when it needed to (the hand creature! EEEEEK!). The settings were just gorgeous—I loved the whole fantasy world—and Ofelia is wonderful, as is Mercedes, the housekeeper who is secretly one of the rebels and becomes Ofelia’s surrogate mother (sort of) and is believably kick-ass without being superwoman.
I even love the ending, although normal people seem to think it’s depressing.
As a side note, the director of Pan’s Labyrinth is slated to direct The Hobbit, which seems to be a good choice. He’s a good director and his talents seem well-suited to The Hobbit, which is filled with creepiness and lacks most of the grandeur and epic battle scenes of the Lord of the Rings.
So if anyone knows anything about Spanish film and has suggestions for good movies that won’t traumatize my parents, I would be very grateful. (Or if you just want to rave about Pan’s Labyrinth, I’m up for that too.)