Fragmentary, not really enough left for me to connect with. "Costumbrismo" was a literary current in the 1910s/20s, kinda "Zola-based naturalism in rural settings." I've seen that reflected in movies from Spain and Portugal from the early 20s, and this does its work in similar ways.
Favorite films
Recent activity
AllRecent reviews
More-
-
Felix in the Swim 1922
These Felix cartoons are very slight in content, do';t like 'em. In one eye and out the other.
Popular reviews
More-
Vicky Cristina Barcelona 2008
Glib and carelessly-imagined ode to privilege. I tried to ignore my distaste for the superficial artsiness of the characters, but after the scene where the blonde girl decided it would be kicks to go to a slummy-looking neighborhood and photograph sex-workers I just couldn't. Esp. when the SW were all "Hello, American Lady Woman! We love you! Come taste the wines and cheeses of my village!"
An art-adjacent lifestyle is one thing, an arts career is another.
-
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders 1970
If this were by a female director, it'd be a compelling menstrual-hut-power fantasy ode to Goddess Reproductive Magic, but that's not a movie that any man could make, so...
Disturbing crypto-pedo fantasy that reads like Charles Dodgson and Roman Polanski brainstorming on heavy doses of MDMA.
It's got vampires + a very girly magic-realism drawn from fairy-tales and dream-work. A bit kitsch, innit? In a good way, though, like a lo-fi Nazareno Cruz.