Sergi Lopez

Pan's Labyrinth (New Line Two-Disc Platinum Series)

Average customer rating:

Mildly overrated but definitely worth picking up
absolutely magnificent!
Beautiful and thought provoking
It is the phrase "fairy tale" that is bogging folks down.
Different

Pan's Labyrinth (New Line Two-Disc Platinum Series)
Starring: Ariadna Gil , Ivana Baquero , Sergi López , Maribel Verdú , and Doug Jones
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Fountain (Widescreen Edition)
Children of Men (Widescreen Edition)
Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (Widescreen Edition)
The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)
Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition) [Region 99]

ASIN: B00005JPA6
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Amazon.com

Inspired by the Brothers Grimm, Jorge Luis Borges, and Guillermo del Toro's own unlimited imagination, Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale for adults. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) may only be 12, but the worlds she inhabits, both above and below ground, are dark as anything del Toro has conjured. Set in rural Spain, circa 1944, Ofelia and her widowed mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil, Belle Epoque), have just moved into an abandoned mill with Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergi López, With a Friend like Harry). Carmen is pregnant with his son. Other than her sickly mother and kindly housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú, Y Tu Mamá También), the dreamy Ofelia is on her own. Vidal, an exceedingly cruel man, couldn't be bothered. He has informers to torture. Ofelia soon finds that an entire universe exists below the mill. Her guide is the persuasive Faun (Doug Jones, Mimic). As her mother grows weaker, Ofelia spends more and more time in the satyr's labyrinth. He offers to help her out of her predicament if she'll complete three treacherous tasks. Ofelia is willing to try, but does this alternate reality really exist or is it all in her head? Del Toro leaves that up to the viewer to decide in a beautiful, yet brutal twin to The Devil's Backbone, which was also haunted by the ghost of Franco. Though it lacks the humor of Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth represents Guillermo Del Toro at the top of his considerable game. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

Following a bloody civil war, young Ofelia enters a world of unimaginable cruelty when she moves in with her new stepfather, a tyrannical military officer. Armed with only her imagination, Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother. But soon, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and before Ofelia can turn back, she finds herself at the center of a ferocious battle between good and evil.DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Video Prologue by Guillermo Del Toro Audio Commentary by Director Guillermo Del Toro
Featurette:The Power of Myth Featurette The Faun and the Fairies Featurette The Color and The Shape Featurette The Charlie Rose Show featuring Director Guillermo Del Toro The Director's Notebook
Production Sketches
Storyboards:Storyboard Video Prologue by Guillermo del Toro. Storyboard/Thumbnail compares
Theatrical Trailer:Theatrical teaser, Theatrical trailer, TV spots

Customer Reviews:

Mildly overrated but definitely worth picking up.......2007-06-25

First I must say that the previews were a bit misleading. The film contains fantasy elements but it is mostly a film about war, treachery, and rebellion in 1940's Spain. The two "halves" of the movie are well-done and I would say that this gives the movie wide appeal. Since the film combines two very different elements and the scenes rarely overlap these elements, I'll review them separately.

Fantasy - When we hear the word "fantasy", we thing "kid's stuff". This, however, I would not recommend for children. The fantasy elements revolve around a young girl who is a reincarnation of the Princess of the Underground Realm. The Princess had escaped from the Underground Realm only to have her memory erased by the sun. She eventually fell victim to the illnesses of the surface world and died. The reincarnation of the Princess stumbles upon a labyrinth and meets a faun who gives her three tasks to prove that she has not turned into a mortal. Each of the tasks are interesting and the first two are quite visually appealing. They might not be appropriate for children since the first is disgusting, the second is scary, and the third is implicitly violent. However, these scenes are a joy to watch for adults.

Rebellion - This is what the movie mostly focuses on. It's a rather violent narration of rebellion and treachery in Spain. The Princess' stepfather is an extremely cruel military officer whose followers are not always the most loyal. The scenes of treachery will make your heart jump because there is always a constant feeling of dread and the traitors are so close to the stepfather that they are bound to be caught. Also, the stepfather is an intelligent man who catches onto things quickly. This part of the story also follows the Princess' earthly mother who is sick with baby and the daughter's attempts to heal her suffering. This part also ties into the fantasy elements. Overall, the rebellion story is even better done than the fantasy part. Any filmgoer will surely feel nothing but hatred for the stepfather and nothing but sympathy for the girl and her mother. The plotline is a bit simplistic, but the dialogue is good and the plot is played out well and at a reasonable pace. However, do note that this part of the film is very graphic and is not appropriate for children.

Overall, I would say there is something here for just about everyone. I wouldn't say it's the masterpiece that many make it out to be, but it's still a very enjoyable film.

absolutely magnificent!.......2007-06-24

There are few movies that leave me with a sense of complete fulfillment. This was one of them. I was pleasantly surprised. At first, from the previews, I thought this was a children's movie, but about 5 minutes into it, I knew that was not the case. It was violent, bloody, action packed, basically, it was awesome.

I really enjoyed the two-in-one plotline this movie had. In one plot, the girls discovers she's the lost heir to a magical land and thrown. In the other, we have a resistance battling an oppressive government. Not to mention, everything in between the binds these two plot together.

Wonderful acting, wonderful writing and this is what movies are supposed to be made of!

Highly recommended.

Beautiful and thought provoking.......2007-06-23

I'm a big fantasy fan, and this movie definitely ranks among the best of the genre. The story of Ofelia's three tasks is interesting and easy to get into. The special effects are incredible. And the message is valuable: listening to one's conscience is better than blind obedience. Fantasy lovers rejoice in this amazing film!

It is the phrase "fairy tale" that is bogging folks down........2007-06-22

Waaaaay back when I was a kid, fairy tales were not cute, funny cartoons. Fairy tales, in society, function as cautionary tales: Children who wander in the woods might meet an evil witch whose aim is to serve them with noodles. Never trust a stranger with large teeth, even if they are wearing your Grandma's nightie...et cetera

I watched this movie with my incredibly bright 12 y/o dd. We both got it. The tyranny that can occur by egomanical little men given an iota of power. The tragedy for Ofelia, which began at her fathers death, and continued through the auspices of her weak-willed, purposefully blind mother. Her mother refuses to acknowledge what she knows to be true: that she married for her own comfort, to allay her own fears, at her daughters expense. There is no going back and it cannot end well for Ofelia. Children are nearly voiceless in our modern society, let alone back in post-war Spain. The step-father, captain, whatever, is an emotional and moral monster. He is war. This story could have been told in any age, during any war. Children will always be the most vulnerable casualty of any war. I am sorry that some reviewers didn't seem to get it. This is a deep, mournful, lovely, intense movie that I for one cannot wait to see again...with my 12 y/o dd.

Different.......2007-06-22

I gotta say that when I first watched this movie, I was taken aback. The previews led you to believe that the movie was a majority if fantasy, but in reality, it was more about a war. Very brutal scenes, so NOT a kid movie. It did, however have a great plotline and graphics.

Average customer rating:

Mildly overrated but definitely worth picking up
absolutely magnificent!
Beautiful and thought provoking
It is the phrase "fairy tale" that is bogging folks down.
Different

Pan's Labyrinth
Starring: Ariadna Gil , Ivana Baquero , Sergi López , Maribel Verdú , and Doug Jones
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Fountain (Widescreen Edition)
Children of Men (Widescreen Edition)
Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (Widescreen Edition)
The Last King of Scotland (Widescreen Edition)
Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition) [Region 99]

ASIN: B000O76ZQC
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

Mildly overrated but definitely worth picking up.......2007-06-25

absolutely magnificent!.......2007-06-24

Beautiful and thought provoking.......2007-06-23

It is the phrase "fairy tale" that is bogging folks down........2007-06-22

Different.......2007-06-22

Average customer rating:

Dirty Pretty Things
Dirty Pretty Things...
A European thriller with important social elements and plot twists galore
An engrossing human drama, stylish noir, social commentary and much more:
Dramatic Art House Feel, Inside Look at Immigration

Dirty Pretty Things
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor , Kriss Dosanjh , Israel Aduramo , Yemi Ajibade , and Nizwar Karanj
Director: Stephen Frears
Manufacturer: Miramax Films
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A Very Long Engagement
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not [Region 99]
L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)
Happenstance
Venus Beauty Institute

ASIN: B00018D3LE
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Amazon.com

The luminous Audrey Tautou (Amelie) stars in Dirty Pretty Things, a riveting thriller about an illegal immigrant in London named Okwe (Chiwetal Ejiofor, Amistad), a doctor in his homeland who now works days as a taxi driver and nights as a hotel desk clerk. When a hooker tells him there's a mess in one of the hotel's bathrooms, Okwe finds a human heart in the toilet. He soon discovers a snare of desperation, poverty, and black-market body organs--and finds that his only friend, a Turkish hotel maid (Tautou), may be the next to be caught. Dirty Pretty Things, skillfully directed by Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, Dangerous Liaisons, My Beautiful Laundrette), fuses taut suspense with an unsettling portrait of life among the British underclass of immigrant service workers. Thanks to the excellent cast and script, the movie makes its social points subtly, while the gripping story coils itself around you. --Bret Fetzer

Description

From Stephen Frears, the Oscar(R)-nominated director of THE GRIFTERS (Best Director, 1990) and DANGEROUS LIAISONS, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS stars Audrey Tautou (AMÉLIE) in a harrowing tale of struggle and survival for two immigrants who learn that everything is for sale in London's secret underworld! Part of an invisible working class, Nigerian exile Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Turkish chambermaid Senay (Tautou) toil at a west London hotel that is full of illegal activity. Then late one night Okwe makes a shocking discovery, which creates an impossible dilemma and tests the limits of all they know! Honored with numerous European film awards and nominations -- including wins at the London Critics Circle Film Awards and the Venice Film Festival -- you'll find this gritty urban thriller to be thoroughly engrossing and impossible to forget!

Customer Reviews:

Dirty Pretty Things.......2007-06-05

After falling in love with Amelie and (especially) He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, I was on a desperate hunt for more Audrey Tautou films to watch. Dirty Pretty Things is a movie about illegal immigrants and organ harvesting in London. Some great social commentary exists around the twisted knots of sub plots making this a pretty good film. However, roughly 20-minutes could have been chopped out (i.e. the hooker with the heart of gold type character who poorly provided comic relief) and this definitely made parts of the movie just drag. Warning: A good bit of rather graphic sexual violence directed at women.

Dirty Pretty Things..........2007-06-02

This movie was better than I thought it would be, and the acting was very good! Audrey Tautou makes the most of her role...four stars!

A European thriller with important social elements and plot twists galore.......2007-04-30

Dirty Pretty Things is a suspense thriller with both a love story angle and a healthy dose of social commentary about the plight of illegal immigrants in London. It's packaged with a sexy Audrey Tautou on the cover, but the title and cover belie the gritty, intense nature of this sublime European film. The central character, Okwe (Chjwetel Ejiofor), is an illegal immigrant from Nigeria working as a night porter in a London hotel. His love interest Saney (Audrey Tatou) is a Turkish immigrant seeking asylum in Great Britian and working illegally as a chambermaid and seamstress. Okwe discovers evidence of a murder in Suite 510 at the hotel, and despite the fact that his co-workers tell him to mind his own business and ignore any dirty things that happen in the pretty hotel, he starts to unravel a criminal web of black market transactions. Soon, he and Saney are waist-deep in the criminal underworld, unable to turn to law enforcement for fear of deportation.

This outstanding movie can be viewed as a gripping suspense thriller or as an important expose on the plight of immigrants, and the viewer will delight when justice is delivered to the evil people who wield all the power. Prepare to be captivated by a compelling storyline with a first-rate cast.

An engrossing human drama, stylish noir, social commentary and much more:.......2007-04-16

"Dirty Pretty Things" (2003), a film directed by Stephen Frears is not quite a thriller, romance or a drama, but it does manage to fit all three successfully.

An illegal immigrant in London (Chiwetel Ejiofor), working a day job as a cab driver and a hotel clerk in the Baltic Hotel at nights, discovers a human heart stuck in the bottom of a hotel room toilet one night and worries about what goes on behind the closed doors of his hotel. In the meantime, he develops a friendship with an immigrant woman from Turkey (Audrey Tatou ) who is also just trying to get by first as a maid in the hotel, then, as a seamstress in a sweatshop.

Acting by everybody, especially by two leads is wonderful. I am so glad to see Tatou in the part very different from her Amelie. The story is gripping; and we see London the way we have not seen it before and many of us did not even know that London existed.

The film manages to work on many levels - an engrossing human drama, stylish noir, social commentary, lives of immigrants, characters study - with the characters deep, human, and very real. There is no cheap pulling the strings, no manipulation. As a result -one of the best films of that year.

And that ending.... Fans of "Lost in Translation" - watch "Dirty Pretty Things", and then we'll talk about what the good ending is.

4.5/5

Dramatic Art House Feel, Inside Look at Immigration.......2007-03-15

"Dirty Pretty Things" has the quality an art house film wants. With strong performances by Audrey Tatou and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and supporting characters who carry their roles well, an important message about immigration is delivered.

Stuck in London, we watch the sordid compromises made by different immigrants who want to keep their status hidden. Each manipulates the other, from whores to organ harvesters.

Okwe works in a hotel which seems to be a center of the trouble. Illegal immigrants are abound, and making choices needed to survive. Okwe, formerly a physician, is asked to get involved in organ harvesting. He won't, but when faced with watching the life of Senay (Audrey Tatou) crumble, he must decide. To operate, he'll get passports and other papers for both of them.

The storyline is relatively simple, but the challenges are not. Who, when and why people make the decisions they do is at the heart of the movie's interest.

It is apolitical, and deals with the problems in London, not the USA, and so escapes the current milieu the White House is working through. What's true? I don't know, but the tale's told well.

Instead, it is about people. There's little here to feel good about, but we are left with a glimmer of hope. Good people still exist.

I fully recommend "Dirty Pretty Things."

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

Average customer rating:

Ahh....a great somewhat romantic comedy...
A Sweet Little Movie
American films about relationships should be this good
fresh and sweet!
Avanti in an airport - a slight diversion

Jet Lag
Starring: Juliette Binoche , Jean Reno , Sergi López , Scali Delpeyrat , and Karine Belly
Director: Danièle Thompson
Manufacturer: Miramax Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Children of the Century
La Buche
Rendez-Vous
The Lovers on the Bridge
The Crimson Rivers [Region 99]

ASIN: B0000E32V2
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Amazon.com

A glammed-up Juliette Binoche and a slimmed-down Jean Reno are the main attractions in this very slight comedy--sort of a Planes, Trains, and Automobiles without the trains and automobiles. After they meet repeatedly at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris, beautician Binoche and chef Reno decide to share an airport hotel room during a layover. She's a self-dramatizing chatterbox with a fondness for make-up and perfume; he's a fussy neurotic who can't stand artificial fragrances. They've just met and they're headed to different parts of the globe, but still... could this be... amour? Director Daniele Thompson, whose previous feature, La Buche, was a much more entertaining effort, would like it to be so. But the setting gets monotonous and the stakes never seem terribly urgent. Without the Chocolat smile of Binoche and the uniquely rough-and-tumble coolness of Reno, this one would never get off the ground at all. --Robert Horton

Description

Oscar(R) winner Juliette Binoche (Best Supporting Actress, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, 1996; CHOCOLAT) and Jean Reno (RONIN, THE PROFESSIONAL) soar together in a wonderfully fun and sexy comedy where opposites don't just attract, they collide! Pampered beauty queen Rose (Binoche) and over-stressed insomniac Felix (Reno) have only one thing in common: They're through with bad relationships and have both sworn off the opposite sex. So when an airline strike grounds these total strangers together in Paris -- and they're forced to share the last available hotel room in town -- neither can wait to leave the other behind. But the more they try to go their separate ways, the more obvious it becomes that there's no place else they'd rather be!

Customer Reviews:

Ahh....a great somewhat romantic comedy..........2007-05-19

I watched the first hour and wasn't sure why this was labeled "romantic" comedy when there was no romance at all in the story, which is fine, but left me a bit confused. But like most french films, as the story went on, the characters came to life. I began to understand them, their choices, their situations, their intentions, and their past. This movie is a Woody Allen type of me -- not much happens, but nothing much needs to...it's about the deep intimacy you develop with the characters. Great movie.

A Sweet Little Movie .......2007-02-28

Listeners will love this movie because of the conversations, and because of the slight turns of mood which feel much the same as getting to know someone interesting often does.

"Do I like this person?" "Are they quirky or disturbed?" "Did they mean that in the way it sounded?"

It is trite in places, even in important places, but these places didn't disrupt my enjoyment. It was a matter of remembering the genre and appreciating the attempt at subtlety.

American films about relationships should be this good.......2007-02-23

Two people with nothing in common stuck at an airport? I know it might sound kinda boring, but this film has much more going on under the surface, much like our 2 main characters.

Don't be fooled by the "oh we're having so much fun" (which I am assuming is an American-ized) dvd cover, and if you've seen the American/English preview, it is just as misleading.

Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno serve wonderful performances as two people who are struggling with their very livestyles and personal problems. Initially they are not impressed with the other person but as this story grows, so does their realization that a book cannot be judged by its cover.

It is exciting watching them challenge one another, and each character takes what they have learned in order to find the courage to take giant steps in improving their lives.

I would not call this a comedy, nor a drama. Its a "dramedy", more like. Funny at points, dramatic, sad, romantic, and real. If you dislike the rubbish that Hollywood churns out, please check out this film. C'est magnifique!

fresh and sweet!.......2007-02-12

At the beginning of the movie, the narrator talks about sneaking off to see American movies when she was young, particularly Roman Holiday, and she wondered and hoped that life could turn out the way it did in the movies. By coincidence she happens upon a handsome and enigmatic stranger, who ultimatley seems as interested in her as she is in him... Sometimes a little unexpected, but always sweet, this plot is quite lovely and heartwarming! I higly recommend this movie!

Avanti in an airport - a slight diversion.......2005-06-19

Jetlag began life as a high-concept Hollywood romcom before becoming a French vehicle for Jean Reno and Juliette Binoche. Similarities to 'One Fine Day' notwithstanding, this is pretty much 'Avanti' in an airport, albeit without Wilder's wit or romanticism. Reno is the Jack Lemmon substitute, an uptight chef-turned-frozen-dinner-company-owner in a hurry to reach his ex's grandmother's funeral while Binoche takes the Juliet Mills role as the working class beautician. When their planes are constantly delayed and they find themselves sharing a hotel room... fill in the blanks. It's not particularly good and wildly over-reliant on starpower to hide the gaps in the script, but it's a watchable soaper which does have one nice scene in a hotel kitchen when Reno cooks dinner while revealing family secrets (the equivalent of the nude swim in 'Avanti' where the two characters' barriers finally come down). Thin stuff even at the 81-minute mark (seven of which are credits), but it just about manages to fill the gap between real movies.

The transfer is acceptable but although the film was shown in theaters in 2.35:1, once the titles are over the film is presented 1.85:1.

Average customer rating:

A Fascinating Experiment, Hobbled by Its Conventions and Artifices
On crossing bondaries
Warning: Censored, 'cleaned-up' american DVD version
Foreign Film Lover
Disappointing and ultimately shallow love affair

An Affair of Love
Starring: Nathalie Baye , Sergi López , Jacques Viala , Paul Pavel , and Sylvie Van den Elsen
Director: Frédéric Fonteyne
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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With A Friend Like Harry
Intimate Strangers
Un Coeur en Hiver ( A Heart in Winter )
Intimacy (Unrated, Widescreen Edition)
Besieged

ASIN: B000055YV3
Release Date: 2001-01-23

Amazon.com

Nathalie Baye and Sergi López are lonely lovers who meet through an ad in a singles magazine for anonymous sex and fall in love. Frederic Fonteyne's tender portrait of a brief affair is framed in flashback: the two lovers recall their relationship for an unseen interviewer (a technique that recalls Ingmar Bergman's Hour of the Wolf and Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives), putting on a tough, scarred front that hides their regret. In the flashbacks, however, Fonteyne captures a sense of discomfort and anticipation in their first meeting that turns relaxed and passionate as their relationship deepens. Baye's nervous smiles become genuine and joyful as she grows more confident in López's company, and he nicely straddles the line between nonchalant openness and emotional defensiveness. Fonteyne's naturalistic style is broken only for the almost surreal vision of the hotel where they meet: they pass through a hellish crimson hall before entering their room, a cool blue sanctuary--a heaven on the other side of purgatory. It was released under a different name in France, an ironic title that translates to A Pornographic Affair, but the film is a sensitive, delicate portrait of fragile souls who allow self-doubts and second guesses get in the way of their own honesty. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

A Fascinating Experiment, Hobbled by Its Conventions and Artifices.......2007-05-27

This is certainly not my favorite film, but it was fascinating to watch and is worth seeing just for the astonishing Sergi Lopez, who is one of the sexiest men working in pictures today.

The film concerns a woman and a man who meet through a personals ad posted by the woman, in order to explore a long-desired kink of hers. The external world intrudes when a neighbor in the building where they meet suffers a medical crisis and together they accompany him to the hospital. As their regular assignations continue, they flirt with developing something deeper, but "pull out" as it were. The movie is presented as separate post-mortem interviews as well as scenes from the affair.

Each work of art has its conventions and artifices. It is not the obviousness of the conventions used here that bothered me -- indeed, I found them admirably rigorous. I can even grasp the purpose of these conventions, but in the end I felt that some of them worked against the filmmaker's intentions and encumbered the film.

The conventions imposed by the filmmaker revolve around an artificial absence of context: not knowing the protagonists' names, not knowing the particular kink that brings them together, knowing nothing of their outside lives. This underlines a very important point -- it is precisely the lack of context that fuels affairs based on casual or adulterous sex. It's easy to have great sex if the arrangement omits day-to-day trials and tribulations, if neither partner is exposed to the other's B.S. It's also a truism that the longer a casual or adulterous affair continues, the likelier it is that real life will bleed into it. To this extent, the trajectory of the film is quite true to life. And the conventions of the film serve to codify the conventions of the affair. Lack of context is the foundation of the affair and the framework of the movie.

I even understand why the only sex we are "allowed" to see is the vanilla encounter -- and, indeed, this scene (shot if I'm not mistaken in one continuous take) is a veritable tour de force. Again, there is a certain rigor and irony to asserting that the particular kink is irrelevant and then sharing the straight sex as something "kinky" and even risky in this context, an encounter demanding vulnerability, an encounter that could bridge the couple to real life.

In sum, though, the conventions seem coy and encumbering in their extremity, hence counterproductive. That the characters don't even have names (just "Lui" and "Elle") is coy and annoying. It's not like these characters are representing Everyman and Everywoman. We're all grown-ups, so failing to acknowledge the particular kink just strikes us as silly, and it makes the straight sex scene rather gratuitous. The quasi-documentary style reinforces this reverse prurience. On the other hand, the subjects are entitled to reveal whatever they want about themselves. To that extent, I aver that superficially at least the conventions of this movie are consistent and airtight. But for me, somehow, they didn't hang together.

On crossing bondaries.......2006-09-05

Frederic Fonteyne's Une Liaison Pornographique (US title, An Affair of Love) is an unusual love story, insofar as it unfolds "in reverse." Every Thursday, at the same hotel, at the same café, "He" and "She" (they are totally anonymous) meet in order to satisfy their sexual phantasm. Their anonymity is not without recalling Alain Renais' characters in Hiroshima Mon Amour (1958) or Last Year at Marienbad (1961). But here the ordeal is not that of the memory nor of the bomb, but that of a trite story of two people who do not know how to love and communicate.

"She" (Nathalie Baye), a mid-fortyish, confident, unattached woman, felt the need to realize a sexual phantasm. To this end, she placed a classified ad in a pornographic journal (or was it on the internet?). "He" (Sergi Lopez), a handsome man, ten years her junior, answered it. Now sitting at two different locations, they recall their adventure to an unseen man, answering his questions, as the camera goes back and forth between the two characters. Their descriptions of the circumstances which lead to their first meeting are remarkable by their lack of consistency. But, if their recollections of specific facts have grown vague, the strong emotions engendered by their love for each other and their tragic break-up are still very much alive. The rest of the story is presented in a series of flashbacks, interspersed with the characters' comments to the interviewer.

In spite of their national origins, young Belgium director Frederic Fonteyne and Iranian scenarist Philippe Blasband have managed to create the quintessential French film: a film created for adults, with a theme to match, unusual maybe, but still taken out of "real" life, psychological, philosophical and challenging to the viewer. Fonteyne, in spite of his young age (he was born in 1968), speaks about love and feelings with great maturity. He mystifies the viewer with his approach to modern sexuality. No longer is it about a budding love implicating sexuality, but about sexuality implicating love, the latter being reconsidered by the urban individualism and a fear of commitment prevalent in our modern society.

Blasband's scenario presents his love story "upside-down." Starting from a fantasy, which will eventually end up in love, he surrounds the slow but inevitable drift of the protagonists' feelings for each other. Refined, with simple and subtle dialogue, he facilitated enormously the director's work. For these two protagonists, it is not even a question of a "love at first sight" incident which leads to an immediate sexual encounter, and which, with time, gives birth to romantic love. In this story, they meet, not having even seen each other (although "She" first states that he had sent her his picture, but she seems to contradict herself later on, and "He" says he had not sent a picture) for the only purpose of satisfying a very particular fantasy that she has proposed in her ad and that "He" had, at one point, obviously considered himself. It could have been a complete mismatch of personality, physicality, mentality, and emotionality. As it turned out, however, there seemed by some stroke of fate to be some mutual attraction right from the start.

The two characters recount to a third party, with emotion and an air of propriety, the passion that they were unable either to control or to really confess to each other. We know that their experiment was a failure, because from the outset, their testimonies indicate that they are apart. But the way each talks about "the other" makes us want to discover this "other." We would like to get involved in their story, know their pasts, their presents, and understand why they speak about the "other" with so much nostalgia. They will never know each other's names, their ages, professions, what they do after their trysts, and we'll never know, either.

The rhythm and content of the story is controlled by the two protagonists who refuse to disclose the nature of their fantasy, allowing the director to impose upon the viewer the role of voyeur by limiting the viewer's space to that of the fantasy never revealed. Actually, the word "pornographique" in the original title, Une Affaire Pornographique, is a joke, as there is nothing pornographic about this film. Unfortunately, the distributor's arbitrary change of the original film title for the distribution in the United States, in order to conform to its apparent puritanism, denies Fonteyne's intention to fully condition, right from the start, the viewer's state of mind. Each time the camera in the red hotel hallway bumps against the closed door of room 118 (red is the color of a phantasm that remains a secret), it renews and heightens the voyeur-viewer's interest. This contrasts sharply with the only time the camera penetrates in the lovers' blue room to witness a banal love scene, which in fact leaves the viewer even more bewildered as to the nature of the fantasy.

The success of this film rests entirely on the flawless acting of Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez. In this film, these two actors developed chemistry, which is the undeniable sign of mature actors. Their interaction is totally genuine in their exchanges, both verbal and unspoken. We can read on her face the birth of her love for "He": she wants to be happy next to this man, this one and none other. "He" drinks cognac and dips sugar cubes into it while undressing her with his eyes. We can tell that this man knows how to love women, mixing tenderness with desire. There are also their gestures: "Her" expressing herself with her hands, admitting her need to always talk, even during love-making. "He" is reserved, observant, always answering her many questions.

The original film score is some electronic music, unfortunately up to now unavailable on CD, by Andre Dziezuk, Marc Mergen, and Jeannot Sanavia. There is a Rachel's track, "Lloyd's Register," which is available on their album, "The Sea and the Bells." When the credits are rolling, one hears a downtempo/trip-hop, drum and bass music, which recalls Funki Porcini. It all fits perfectly with this unreal situation.

The shooting of the film took place in Paris, more exactly on the Avenue Kleber, which runs between the Place Charles de Gaulle and Place du Trocadero, right at the metro stop, Boissiere, where the cafe is located. However, the hotel which in the story is just nearby the cafe is in fact physically located near Pigalle.

The main theme of this film is boundaries and their perilous crossings. At the beginning of the film, "She" is within her own world, inside her own boundary. This is symbolically represented during the opening as a crowd of pedestrians seen from her point of view, out of focus. "She" has a sexual fantasy, but in order to satisfy it, she will have to cross the first boundary, one set by society. Her fantasy cannot be fulfilled with members of her own entourage, husband, or intimate friends. For this, "She" must look beyond the boundaries of sociially accepted behavior, to a stranger. As both meet, they will be beyond society's boundaries in their fantasy world. This accomplished, they breach another boundary when feelings develop: the boundary fixed by love. A whole new world appears to them, a totally unexpected world. Finally, there are the boundaries of understanding and commitment, which they are unable to cross. At the very end of the film, we see again a crowd of pedestrians out of focus: she is back within the confines of her own boundary.

As a result, Fonteyne shows us a modern society where sex is no longer taboo, but love is becoming such. He never moralizes or resolves these apparent contradictions, but instead brings them into harmony as never done before him: the modern world denying love and the Judeo-Christian world negating sexuality. In the process, Fonteyne destroys the actuation of the phantasm and reinstates it in the secret, in the intimacy, both personal and private of the viewer.

Finally, the film tackles another great theme in the relationship between man and woman: the incommunicability. The fears that each feels: the fear of love, the fear of confessing this love one bears for the other to the other, the fear of appearing ridiculous, the fear that the feeling may not be reciprocated or has not progressed as rapidly in the other. The final scene at the café reveals and underscores a cruel, intense moment, the like of which I do not remember having ever witnessed in any film before. Very little is actually said, as most of the dialogue is in individual voice-overs. All the walls come crashing down on one woman and one man who, by all accounts, we judge were meant to be united for life. And this failure in a relationship which we were starting to take for granted is due to their incapacity to communicate.

Warning: Censored, 'cleaned-up' american DVD version.......2006-08-28

This is an adult movie, for adult audiences. A love affair between two strangers. A misunderstanding and a memory of what it could have been.

I longed for this DVD and just received it from Amazon last week.

But to my disappointment is was a CENSORED version, for the american audiences: Ten minutes were cut from the original european version! All the sexually explicit scenes were banned (true: the movie still keeps it's atmosphere).

I never tought I was ordering a 'clean movies' version.

I'd rather have ordered it from Amazon.fr (integral full-version, with english subtitles)

:-(

Foreign Film Lover.......2006-07-14

I watch mostly Foreign Films, Documentaries,and or Cannes types of Films and I have to say I really liked this film. It has a little of everything. Love, humor, sex, realism. It is just a "nice" film without being boring at all. Most French Films I have watched end and then one has to come up with their own ending. This one does leave some mystery as to exactly what they "did" but you find yourself ok with the ending instead of being frustrated (like many French Films can leave you feeling)(think "Irreversible", for one). It is never fully explained what exactly it is they "did" and to think it as simple as a shallow love affair would mean one really missed the point. You can "assume" you know for sure but I like that it is never exactly defined, so you cannot really judge the characters since you do not know exactly what it is they did.I intrepreted that they "made love" .I like that there was not a lot of "drama" in this love affair and I think we always associate love to being dramatic. I think some people would not like this film also because it comes and goes without a lot of drama. The acting was great and to me,both characters are just really likeable nice people. Ok I made it sound boring but trust me it is not! Same with another movie I loved called In the Mood for Love.
An Affair of Love is for people who like a lot of dialogue and who are into Foreign Films with some depth so it is not for everyone. Another great "nice" love movie with an outstanding director and cast is In the Mood for Love,by Wong Kar-Wai.

Disappointing and ultimately shallow love affair.......2006-05-29

The premise of this story is simple, two people meet for sex with no strings attached through a small advertisement. They start sleeping with each other on a regular basis, but they refuse to learn any intimate details of each others lives. Ultimately they fall in love, but neither is willing to admit it, either to themselves or each other. In the end, both want to have a more enduring relationship, but each thinks the other is not interested, so they go their separate ways. There is a heavy sense of melancholy over this film, and the director tried very hard to tell the story of a love that `might have been'. In the end though, I found that two lovers who were so intimate for months, but who had no capacity to really talk to each other, not to really be in love, and the sense of melancholy misplaced. This total lack of communciation made their entire (purely sexual) love affair, in the end, shallow and trite (although perhaps this is the tragedy). They never made their connection: how could they really have been in love if they couldn't connect better? The acting is good, if not uniquely memorable. The initial scene is particularly compelling, however, as both actors make a convincing performance of the uncertainties and hesitations surrounding two total strangers meeting for sex. Overall, this is a solid, if not outstanding, performance by Nathalie Baye. A solid performance by Sergio Lopez as well, although I found his character to be annoying, he looks and in some ways acts in this film like a thirty-five year old guy who is still living in the basement of his parent's house. A good, if ultimately unsatisfying, story.

Average customer rating:

Hitchcock wannabe
mind-bending, creepy, highly entertaining
We Need More "Friend"s Like This
Too obvious, or not obvious enough?
Friendship, Obsession, Murder: A First-Rate Movie

With A Friend Like Harry
Starring: Laurent Lucas , Sergi López , Mathilde Seigner , Sophie Guillemin , and Liliane Rovère
Director: Dominik Moll
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
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Alias Betty
The Taste of Others
An Affair of Love
Read My Lips [Region 99]
Lemming

ASIN: B00005NTN4
Release Date: 2001-10-23

Amazon.com

It takes nearly an hour for anything unusual to happen in With a Friend Like Harry, but that first hour is oddly unsettling. German filmmaker Dominik Moll reveals the trouble with Harry (Sergi López) with low-key precision, his thriller sensibility channeled from Hitchcock through Claude Chabrol, while emphasizing casual conversation in the style of Eric Rohmer. Harry's found Michel (Laurent Lucas) in a public restroom, identifying himself as an old schoolmate who remembers far too much about Michel, even though Michel has no recollection of Harry at all. But Harry's an ingratiating type, and nice enough on the surface, so Michel invites Harry and his girlfriend, Plum (Sophie Guillemin), to the summer cottage he's renovating with his wife, Claire (Mathilde Seigner), and their three young daughters. The Spanish actor López (from An Affair of Love) modulates his performance so carefully that Harry's psychosis--never explained, but strangely compelling--reverberates well beyond the film's shocking conclusion. It turns out Harry's been a helpful friend after all, but that's cold comfort in a film that warns us against the kindness of strangers. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Acclaimed by critics everywhere, WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY is a highly suspenseful psychological thriller about a family vacation that takes an unexpectedly wicked turn! While travleing with their three daughters in the midst of a stiffling heat wave, Michel and Claire run into Harry, a wealthy eccentric who claims to have known Michel in high school. Swayed by Harry's persuasiveness and a ride in his air-conditioned Mercedes, Michel and Claire find themselves inviting Harry along on their vacation. As this nail-biting story unfolds in a series of unpredictable twists, you'll find yourself riveted as Harry's motives soon become suspect and one strange episode after another begins to change Michel's life.

Customer Reviews:

Hitchcock wannabe.......2007-06-03

This movie was too "in-your-face" to be a thriller.

It lacked any finesse. It was not polished and in the end, I felt a little cheated.

I have many of the movies done by Alfred Hitchcock & David Mamet. I find their movies well directed and have some genuine tense moments that leave you guessing what's going to happen next.

This movie however is about as subtle as a kick in the groin. The acting is passable but certainly not as enjoyable as a Hitchcock or Mamet movie.

mind-bending, creepy, highly entertaining.......2006-11-17

I saw this movie in the theatre the first time and was totally confused as to the Harry character. After reading reviews and watching it again many years later, I'd agree that the Harry character is supposed to represent the id or dark side of Michel's personality. Those evil impulses that everyone has and suppresses either because they want to or have to are in this story personified in Harry. Harry goes on to act out these evil impulses.
Some clues: Michel first meets Harry while looking at his reflection in the mirror. Michel's conversations at night in the kitchen with Harry sound like a guy debating conflicting ideas in his own head. No one comes looking for Harry and Plum at the end. By the movie's end it seems that Michel has sold himself out or given in to his dark side in some way - I guess that's the main point.

Very entertaining.

We Need More "Friend"s Like This.......2005-04-14

Michel and his wife are making their annual trek to a rural farmhouse they purchased a few years ago in the French countryside. Every summer, they spend their vacation there, fixing it up. Their three young girls sit in the back seat of the hot car, complaining, crying and venting their misery. Finally, Michel decides to stop at a gas station and freshen up. There, he runs into an old friend, Harry, whom he does not recognize, but Harry certainly recognizes him. Harry remembers the poem and short story Michel published in the school newspaper over twenty years ago. Harry invites himself to their farmhouse for a drink. Harry and his girlfriend, Plum, soon become guests. Slowly, they learn about Michel and Sophie's life. Harry, financially well-off, decides to buy them an air conditioned SUV.

"With A Friend Like Harry", the new French film released by Miramax Zoe in the United States, is a very interesting, fun film.

Virtually every newspaper ad for the film quotes a reviewer who compares the film to Hitchcock's works. Comparing a film to a classic is always a tricky concept. Comparing a film to the work of someone as revered as Hitchcock usually illicits snickers and derision. "With A Friend Like Harry" is the first film I have seen in some time that is worthy of such comparisons. It isn't as good as Hitchcock's best, or even his good, but it does reach for the same level of suspense that Hitchcock was able to achieve over and over again.

"Harry" also relies on the same suspension of belief that Hitchcock relied on frequently. Can a man mistake a woman that he had an intimate relationship with simply because she has changed her hair color? Can a man solve a murder while bound to a wheelchair in his apartment? Can a man survive a cross country hunt? In "Harry" we have to believe that a man will recognize a classmate after twenty years and feel strongly enough about him to help him change his life. The actor playing Harry, Sergio Lopez, reveals the layers of his character in a very restrained manner. Slowly, we realize that the character is deranged and psychotic, but we don't learn this from a foaming mouth or long diatribes.

The actor playing Michel is also very good. He brings a quiet desperation to the role. He is a family man who has never realized his dreams, but he knows that he now has responsibilities and carries on.

The rustic French farmhouse is an ideal location. A bit surrealistic, it allows the characters to act differently toward one another. Slowly, as Michel changes, he seeks solitude in the newly remodeled bathroom, a pink horror that his parents have commissioned in the little farmhouse.

"With A Friend Like Harry" is a very good, very suspenseful, enjoyable and, at times, funny film.

Too obvious, or not obvious enough?.......2005-03-06

If only you didn't have all these distractions, then you would write that work of genius, which your high-school doodlings clearly anticipated, and your life would be marvellously fulfilled. Or, failing that, you could buy that ridiculously large, environmentally disastrous, SUV, the one with the air scoop on the bonnet, and, boy, your life would be just great.
*
OK. So what happens if these simplistic wishes are magically realised? Not much. But dramatising this idiotic frame of mind to which, it seems, pretty much all of as are prone to, can produce a blackly comic movie.
*
The director, Dominik Moll, presses on the whole mentality of seeing life as a series of problems with solutions. It's a mentality he allies with the mistake of reducing the complexity of the world to a falsely simple and falsely circumscibed realm, a realm in which one can potentially be master. Thus we have the figure of Michel's father, a dentist, who finds fixing his son's teeth much easier than fixing their mutual relationship, and who keeps a vivid memory of Harry's dentition, but of little else. Of course, this is a tangential example, for the focus of the film lies with Michel and his alter ego Harry.
*
Michel has his problems. The children, his finances, the strain on his marital relationship, his domineering parents. If only his rich father could simply support him (and then die, leaving him to look after the estate), and if only he were childless, and his wife, rather than being an equal, were a subservient concubine: wouldn't life be free of problems? He would have Harry's life, including the big black Mercedes. Not only would he consume his fair share of eggs, he would suddenly have his creative forces unleashed from their bourgeois chains, and works of great literary power would roll forth. Heaven help those who did not take his poetry seriously, such as his wastrel brother: death shall be summarily dispensed with a crowbar to the head. Yet pouring forth this wealth of literary gold, while hunched upon the throne in his fuchsia coloured bathroom, might cost Michel his wife and children, and this might be (slightly) too high a price to pay. So better spare their lives and take the Mitsubishi 4WD and ditch the Mercedes and the sex-kitten (in a deep well). This is, roughly speaking, the lesson Michel learns as he journeys through the film.
*
It's kind of worthy, but also, I thought, a bit too obvious and didactic. Youth aspires to creativity, and middle age to security. If you actually did kill all the people you momentarily think you'd like out of your way, then, even if no punitive repercussions follow, you'd still have problems. Yes, right, fine. Good points and, along with the critique of problem-based living, enough to sustain a decent film, but there's something a bit trite about it all, and something a bit wearing about the film's style. Still, perfectly watchable, although the genre of the suspense thriller is, ultimately, a less than perfect disguise for the true intent of the film.
*
One review rightly mentioned this being a variant of the Faust legend, and another speculated that Harry was not real, but I'm surprised that most just assumed that this film is basically macabre realism. Even more surprising is the claim that the characters are well drawn. Hardly any 'realistic' questions are asked about the 'characters' of Harry and Prune, which is just as well, as no answers, of a 'realistic' nature, are to be had - Harry has no motivation of his own (of course not, he is a voice, an aspect, of Michel) and Prune is the sleepy sexual shell of a woman (a fantasy, Michel's if not others'). All these external representations or embodiments of a character's internal psychology are typical moves in French films, yet they are not recognised as such by the majority of viewers (see The Piano Teacher, Baise-Moi, and countless more for variants on this scheme). Should the film-maker be even more obvious? It's sad to even ask this question.
*
Parallels with Hitchcock have been made. For mine, Hitchcock was far more obtuse with his psychological correspondences - his stories worked better on the crudely realistic level. Yet clearly there was heaven knows what lurking underneath. With Moll, the underneath is far too close to the surface (but, again, my criticism could well be reversed, given the apparent response of much of the film's audience).
*
Another way of expressing Moll's point would be to say that Michel can't see all the things that make his life truly his life, a failing that we all share, and ironically one that is, in a sense, manifest in the typical response to Moll's film. The film then can be taken as a warning against wish-fulfillment, or, more interestingly, as a warning against seeing life as a series of wishes to be fulfilled, but also as an exploration of the limitations of the imagination. As an example of the latter, perhaps one reason people dream of the death of their parents for some ulterior gain (as we can take events in the movie dramatising) is because they can not imagine what their world would be like after such a grievous loss - it is literally unimaginable in detail, with the emotions and reactions only dimly anticipated; nor are people great at imagining the actual taste of their life in the wake of great success (thus Michel/Harry gets what he wants, but in the dream world of the movie it remains starkly unreal, unsatisfying, and hardly worth aspriring towards). Another tale that explores all of this, in a completely different manner, is Shakespeare's Macbeth. Indeed, all Shakespeare's tragedies can be read as such explorations. Which is definitely not to say that Moll approaches Shakespeare, but at least he is trying.

Friendship, Obsession, Murder: A First-Rate Movie.......2005-02-27

This French film starts with a car ride. Michel (Laurent Lucas) and his wife and three young daughters are driving from Paris to a rundown country cottage they bought and hope to fix up over time. It's hot, the three little girls are fussing and crying and kicking the backs of the seats. Michel is trying to stay calm. His wife is upset as she tries to settle the girls.

The movie ends with another car ride. Michel is driving the family back to Paris. He looks with great love at his wife as she dozes next to him. He looks back at his children with tenderness and contentment as they lie next to each other sound asleep. He looks at the manuscript of a long story he has written.

In between shouldn't happen to anyone.

At a rest stop on the family's drive to the cottage, Michel encounters by chance Harry, (Sergi Lopez) a man who went to school with him, a man he can't remember but Harry remembers him. When Michel was in school he wrote stories, and Harry remembers every word. Harry stands a little too close, shakes hands a little too long, is a little too pleasant. He's traveling with his girlfriend, Plum, but somehow manages to be invited to the cottage for drinks. Michel, when Harry asks, says he works as a teacher in Paris. What does Harry do? He used to live off his father, he says, but "then my father died and now I manage his money."

Harry believes that every problem needs a solution. When Michel's old car breaks down, Harry buys him a new 4x4, far out of proportion as a gift from a friend. Michel and his wife protest, but Harry says "Why complicate life? I wanted to give you a present." Harry wants Michel to be happy and to write, and he wants Michel's friendship. And problems need solutions. Michel's parents at times make Michel unhappy. After they die in a car accident, Michel's brother finds one of Michel's old stories and makes fun of it. Later Harry explains that Michel's brother won't be returning to the cottage, that he decided to hitchhike back to the city where he lives.

Harry decides that his girlfriend, Plum, is a problem for his relationship with Michel that needs a solution. And then Harry decides that Michel's wife and small children are a problem.

This is a first-rate movie, part thriller, partly a study in murderous obsession. Laurent Lucas does a fine job as Michel. Michel is an honest guy who loves his family, who gave up trying to write, who is frazzled, who is just a little weak. He can't deal firmly with his parents, he tends to let his wife discipline their kids when they act up, and he finds it difficult to just say No to Harry as Harry gradually works his way into Michel's life. Lucas is a good looking actor but he's not pretty. He's believable as the character. Sergi Lopez as Harry brings a great deal of calm, unsettling friendliness to his role. When he stops smiling, you know the character is going to do something unpleasant. Lopez played Sneaky in Dirty Pretty Things.

I recommend this movie. The DVD picture is excellent.

Average customer rating:

Great film performed by a great cast.
The eternal ritornello!
Worth a viewing...

Solo Mia
Starring: Sergi López , Paz Vega , Elvira Mínguez , Alberto Jiménez , and María José Alfonso
Director: Javier Balaguer
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
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En la Puta Vida (Tricky Life)
Nadie Conoce a Nadie (Nobody Knows Anybody)
Sex and Lucia (Unrated Edition)
Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas
Without a Trace (Sin Dejar Huella)

ASIN: B0001JXPIY
Release Date: 2004-05-18

Description

For Angela (Paz Vega) and Joaquin (Sergi Lopez), it was love at first sight, and then destiny followed. For a few months, their marriage was perfect and when she became pregnant, they both felt blessed. However, after the birth of the baby, things changed. Joaquin began to show signs of a hidden personality…one fueled by jealousy and anger. It was not long before he physically started taking his frustrations out on Angela. At first, she tried to stick things out - until one day it went too far. Frustrated by a system that offered no help, she finally decided to take the matter into her own hands.

Customer Reviews:

Great film performed by a great cast........2006-04-01

This first scene of this film caught my attention immediately, it was sort of telling me "Sit tight and pay attention Jenny." "Sólo mía' is another film about gender violence in the family. It adopts a totally different attitude to the subject matter when compared with Icíar Bollaín's film which is at once more subtle in its telling.
`Sólo mía' shoves the nitty-gritty between your teeth so that you can choke on it: some of the scenes are too explicit, one might argue, and are numerously frequent; in `Te doy Mis Ojos' the hard subject matter is more carefully handled.

However, Paz Vega, who starred in `Lucía y el Sexo' (qv) the same year, put in a recommendable performance as the badly beaten and tortured young mother; Sergi López as her husband plays his part well, though at times seemed to over forcefully portray his performance, thus almost beggaring belief. It should be said that his role was very tricky, to say the least. I feel that Luis Tosar carried off his performance in `Te doy Mis Ojos' more convincingly, with better balancing between the extremes of tensions and feelings.

The rest of the cast form a good back-up to the leading couple.

This film also points an accusing finger at the legal system, in which hypocritical legalities and aloofness does little - or nothing - to help solve this horrifying situation so evident today in so many headlines in Spain today. Something has got to be done: more than 70 women were killed in `gender violence' in Spain in 2003. At the end it's a great film, I truly admire European cinema that doesn't sugar coat their films. Highly recommended.

The eternal ritornello!.......2005-11-16

The typical aberrant behavior of the best known Latin expression "machismo" -that fortunately is decreasing- is shown with all the brutal realism.

The sudden transformation of a man who was in love, occurs precisely after knowing his happy wife is pregnant. The gradual tension will be increasing when the violence speech and the physical agressions become normal.

The levels of desperation and slow but effective arousing about the awful reality of this distorted situation will resolve violently. It seems that there is no way out.

Extraordinary script, and fabulous performances, specially in what Paz Vega, the raising and promising Spanish actress concerns.

A theme that securely, will be the cause of similar adaptations in the near future. It is time to open the closed respect this miserable way of behavior.

Bold film!

Worth a viewing..........2004-08-09

I was at the video store and picked this one up on a whim, recently having become an avid foreign film watcher.The movie focuses on a couple (Sergi Lopez and Paz Vega) and their stormy relationship. The two meet at the office where he works and she has just gotten a job. Things start off well. He gets along with her family and friends. She becomes fast friends with his coworker's wife (Elvira Minguez). She becomes pregnant with their first child. He sees that she has been smoking one day and hits her. This is the first signs of the violence that only escalates after the child is born. She confides in her friends and family, who initially play it off, but soon become worried when she starts to show bruises. The two get a divorce but he continues to follow her and, when she tries to get some justice, the court system fails her. She tries to make well with him but comes to the realization that she dislikes him greatly after all he's done, leading to a climactic ending. Sometimes the melodrama is a bit cheesy, but you can feel her fear as she gets no help from the justice system and must take matters into her own hands. Lopez effectively portrays a man who seems to know he's done wrong, yet can't find a way to change himself. Good performances all around. Worth a viewing.

Average customer rating:

Victoria Abril is fantastic this role, she definitely carries the film.
A story of addiction
good if a bit confusing and conventional...
Between Your Legs
Decent thriller with a bit of drama.

Between Your Legs
Starring: Victoria Abril , Javier Bardem , Carmelo Gómez , Juan Diego , and Sergi López
Director: Manuel Gómez Pereira
Manufacturer: TLA Releasing
ProductGroup: DVD
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Mouth to Mouth
Mondays in the Sun
Lie With Me
9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version
Running Out of Time

ASIN: B0000B1A2M
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Description

Sex and murder come together in a steamy romance with Hitchcockian twists. A screenwriter, obsessed with phone sex, joins a therapy group for sex addicts, where he meets the wife of a policeman. Their uncontrolled passion leads to a twisted love triangle and eventually murder! Between Your Legs is a tale of passion, jealousy and revenge.

Customer Reviews:

Victoria Abril is fantastic this role, she definitely carries the film........2006-04-03

You never know what you're going to expect when you watch this quirky Spanish flick. There are some obvious moments that are (Pedro) Almodavar and some are (Julio) Medem, which should come as no surprise as the actors in this show have worked with the above directors. Sex, suspense, comedy, drama - it's all here rolled into one. In its English title it sounds like a porno, in its camera-work it feels like a Hispanic melodrama, and in its soundtrack and direction its pure vintage Hitchcock, but this film is none of those things. It is a highly engaging and suspenseful thriller, which although borrowing much from the genre that it inhabits, stands on its own two feet as an oddly original piece of work.

Although the film is all about sex it is neither erotic nor pornographic, but intelligently scripted and all of the sex scenes are visually mild. Instead, it is about the repercussions of sexual relationships, which is explored through the eyes of two "sex addicts" who meet in an anonymous therapy session. Their relationships with significant friends and family around them begin to break down in the face of their lust and love, and an overzealous spouse and an unfortunate murder leads them perfectly into fairly traditional thriller territory. The suspense is kept up throughout and I found myself glued to the set. There are plenty of little surprises to keep you entertained, and plenty of twists to keep you guessing.

The cinematography is stunning---one of the most beautifully shot and constructed urban thrillers I've seen from any country. In terms of atmosphere, it's unforgettable the character in the rain, in the shadows of alleyways, the iridescent shimmering interiors (shot in some beautifully seedy Spanish settings).

Javiar Bardem is great as usual and Victoria Abril was fantastic in her role, she definitely carries the film here. I highly recommend this.

A story of addiction.......2006-02-08

I was looking for Spanish speaking movies, with great actors like Javier Bardem or Victoria Abril. And I found both of them in this movie. Considering the director and actors, I expected some dark, headache type of movie. You know, one of those "European" movies that you are supposed to watch while not thoroughly digesting them, only for the sake of watching something different from, let's say,..., King Kong. Well, you still get a kind of King Kong, the saving big guy, really COOL!!! But at least you also learn some Spanish words, and you get a real guy not a robot. Actually, the toughest, most headaching thing about this movie was to look for it in a DVD store and have to pronounce its title, in English or in Spanish, for the cashier. I will never forget the expression on the face of the young man, saying "between your... Oh, wow. It must be a fun movie!". So, it you want to buy it, buy it on the Internet...
It actually is a rather dark atmosphere, but Bardem and Abril make it a lot lighter. The plot has a comic strip style, it looks unrealistic but you still get involved in the story. Kind of like King Kong, if I may!!! I liked the indulgence of the director for the viewers, offering us the happy ending, because after all that happened to these poor guys, they deserved a better life. If you are looking for sex scenes, go find something else. It is for sure R-rated, for some scenes where the title is taken literaly, but it is not a big deal, and compared to some recent American movies, it could soon become a classic and rated PG-13 maybe! I found the plot a little too long and complicated. I liked the fast castillan speaking; try to watch it in Spanish. For the rest of the detail about the story, I let you go to the other viewers! I personally enjoyed it but wouldn't go crazy about it.

good if a bit confusing and conventional..........2005-10-12

Mainly it's a pleasure to watch the three central characters, Javier Bardem, Victoria Abril, and Victor Lopez. Especially Victoria Abril, she is absolutely gorgeous and talented, I can't get enough of this luscious lady!

The film though is indeed a bit gimmicky in its exploitative use of the whole sex-addiction issue (grazing over it without even attempting to shed any light on it) and the happy romantic ending feels a little pat. In between, there is simply too much happening, too many competing subplots and minor characters, and the lines of intersection are not always very clear or coherent. It does have some fine Almodovarian moments here and there, but all too few and far in between. Visually though it is a pleasure to watch, the film went by pretty quickly, I have to admit I was taken by its cinematographical beauty and style more than its (lack of) substance. Kind of wished there was more happenin' sex happening, despite the title there isn't that much of it by European film standards and not even all that much nudity either. You could say this film is kind of a tease in that respect.

All in all, it was nevertheless far better than your average typical Hollywood multiplex crapola though.

Between Your Legs.......2005-08-14

Between Your Legs! What kind of visions does this title conjure up in your mind? If you imagined the wind blowing through your hair while riding a Harley, not bad but you're wrong. Horseback riding or racing? Wrong again. If these are the images you summon, you are probably either a priest, a nun or undersexed. I'll give you a clue. What is said to make the world go around? Sex? Bingo! Between Your Legs is a story about SEX. Sex addicts to be exact.

Between Your Legs centers around three people Miranda, Victoria Abril, Javier, Javier Bardem and Felix, Carmelo Gomez, two of whom meet at a therapy session for sex addicts, a Sex Anonymous if you will. Talk about throwing red meat at a tiger, a co-ed therapy session for SEX ADDICTS? Not surprisingly, Miranda and Javier, who have the same compulsions, start hanging around. When Miranda wasn't walking her dog through the park, picking up strangers for trysts, she was the wife of Felix, a cop and mother of an adolescent daughter and Javier, when not engaging in habitual phone sex, was a successful writer and producer.

As I said Miranda and Javier start hanging around and pretty soon they're hanging all around each other. In fairness Miranda tried to resist but Javier was persistent and soon, after a couple hours, they were having a go in an abandoned car in a parking garage. In the aftermath this upset Miranda, probably because she was off to a bad start curing her addiction, and she ran off. However the affair continued and eventually Felix (Miranda`s husband) found out.

At this point, I need to tell you that Javier discovers that audio tapes of his erogenous phone conversations have been circulating around Spain (it`s a Spanish movie) much to his consternation, also the police discover the body of a young man in the back of the abandoned vehicle, in which Miranda and Javier first had sex in leaving behind DNA which ostensibly tied Javier to the car if not the body, so Felix, who didn't like Javier much anyway, thought he was a murderer.

Conclusion

The rest of the movie is spent tying these two events (tapes/body) together. There were a couple of fairly good plot twists but they failed to elevate the movie much above mediocrity.

Since this was a foreign film, (with sub titles) I was not familiar with any of the cast. I thought their acting was adequate though not exceptional but that is a judgment leveled without the benefit of understanding what they were saying. (my Spainsh is a little rusty). I thought the story moved well and the directing or maybe the editing (it's hard to tell) was done well. Although there were several passionately erotic sex scenes, there was no full nudity and even partial nudity was held to a minimum. This doesn't mean that anyone under the age of majority should be watching this movie as just the story line itself connotes lascivious behavior. The sex scenes themselves were done realistically almost fully clothed but were skillfully depicted and because of the spontaneity, were just as sensuous, if not more, than the usual nude sex simulations. I must admit to a certain amount of disappointment from my voyeuristic eyes, however. Final Rating: 3.4 stars

Decent thriller with a bit of drama........2005-07-19

While others have criticized this film for the implications of the ending - that the murder essentially goes unpunished - I think that the bigger message here is that often things spiral and have unanticipated consequences. As a thriller, this movie presents interesting issues; the plot is a bit stock, but the fun is in how the characters arrive at their respective impasses. This isn't a film that has you holding your breath, or even leaves you jolted in surprise. However, its dramatic qualities - how the characters are unable to excape their own destructive behaviour, and how the ensuing results intertwine - that make this an enjoyable film. Moreover, the acting is superb.

Bottom line, this is a bit of a psycho-thriller mixed in with a bit of drama. Inside of either genre, it is interesting. This one shines in how it brings the two elements together.

Pan's Labyrinth (Two-Disc w/16-Page Behind-the-Scenes Booklet)

Average customer rating:

Pan's Labyrinth (Two-Disc w/16-Page Behind-the-Scenes Booklet)

Manufacturer: New Line Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Video prologue by Guillermo Del Toro
Commentary by director Guillermo Del Toro
The Charlie Rose Show featuring director Guillermo Del Toro
4 Featurettes
Director's Notebook

ASIN: B000QVFMUQ

Product Description

Limited Edition contains an Exclusive 16-Page Behind-the Scenes Booklet.

Average customer rating:

Well crafted drama-thriller
THANK GOD for a DVD publisher with taste

Lisboa
Starring: Juanjo Bermúdez de Castro , María Bermúdez de Castro , Antonio Birabent , José Miguel Caballero , and Elena Campos
Manufacturer: Vanguard Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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