Reviews of three of the films that screen today at the NW Film Center, as part of its series on Contemporary Spanish Cinema:
DeProfundis: The Sound of the Sea
Dir: Miguelanxo Prado
A woman lives alone in a mansion on a small rocky island. The mansion is filled with paintings. The woman sits on the front porch playing cello, smiling at a man who sails by in a fishing boat. He's the artist, and her husband, it seems. He's out on the boat sketching the colorful specimens the fishermen drag up from the depths. Sharks patrol these waters, but sharks are not the problem. When a freak storm sinks the boat, the artist finds himself on an underwater voyage through many of the scenes he's painted, guided by a mermaid, whom he also painted. The film is wordless and quiet, slow-moving and absolutely lovely. The images are animated from thousands of Prado's drawings and paintings (they're a little reminiscent of Max Ernst's watery, surrealist swamps and forests, but more childlike, less insanely detailed). Probably a bit too slow for children, it's an odd and beautiful fable for adults. A
The Shame
Dir: David Planell
A heavy drama about cross-cultural adoption in modern Spain, this film - which has won awards for its screenplay - takes itself very seriously indeed. It's about a yuppie couple who are foster-parenting an 8-year-old Peruvian boy and trying to make a go of adopting him, despite the boy's behavioral problems and the strain he puts on their marriage. The writing is good and the performances are solid, but most of the characters are so selfish and irritating that it's hard to muster up any sympathy for them. C
A Fiance for Yasmina
Dir: Irene Cardona
This is a delightful film about a young Moroccan woman, Yasmina (Sanaa Alaoui), counting on marriage to get a visa so she can stay in Spain. Her boyfriend, a cop, crumbles under pressure from his family, so she turns to her co-workers at an immigrant center for help in finding a marriage candidate. Every character in the film seems like a wholly developed person with a complicated life; the subplots aren't just filler, as they so often are in romantic comedies. All the actors get to do interesting things, and they're all likable and fun to watch. The story feels realistic and straightforward but not dumbed-down, and despite the potentially grim subject matter the tone is hopeful, never preachy. Definitely recommended. A