Amy and I had mixed feelings about this intense story of a Spanish man, accompanied by his young son, searching for his daughter at a rave in Morocco. It's beautifully photographed, with a gripping plot and trippy music but, no spoilers, s**t happens that's hard to take.
Sergi López stars as the father Luis and Bruno Núñez Arjona as his son Esteban. The actors playing the main ravers Steff, Josh, Bigui, Tonin, and Jade were hired off the street and are using their own names or, in the case of Bigui, nickname.
Oliver Laxe directs from the screenplay he co-wrote with Santiago Fillol. Seminal Spanish director/producer Pedro Almodóvar and his brother Agustín Almodóvar are among the production team.
Kangding Ray's score is available on Apple Music
López was last blogged for Perfumes. All the other actors listed above are making their feature debuts. Laxe has directed three other features, two of which were co-written by Fillol, who co-wrote one other without Laxe. This is Ray's second score.
Nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, it has twenty wins, including the Jury Prize, Soundtrack Award, Palme Dog, and Art House Award at Cannes, and 96 other nominations. Yes, there are two dogs in it but we assume no animals were harmed.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are dancing with a 92% average, while its audiences, like us, are watching from the sidelines at 62. As a paid member of the Independent Feature Project (open to anyone!) I could stream it since it is nominated for The Best International Film of the Independent Spirit Awards. It's not currently streaming anywhere nor playing in my neck of the woods. We saw it on December 31.
Here's a bit of trivia cribbed directly from imdb: The Sirat Bridge, in Islamic belief, is a narrow and perilous bridge that every person must cross on the Day of Judgment to enter Paradise (Jannah). It is described as being thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword, with the faithful crossing it swiftly, while sinners may fall into Hell below.
Amy has traveled extensively in Spain (and elsewhere) and she commented on the risky behavior of the Spanish kids, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar to do drugs and dance.
I would suggest reading this article after watching the movie if you want to avoid spoilers.
López was last blogged for Perfumes. All the other actors listed above are making their feature debuts. Laxe has directed three other features, two of which were co-written by Fillol, who co-wrote one other without Laxe. This is Ray's second score.
Nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, it has twenty wins, including the Jury Prize, Soundtrack Award, Palme Dog, and Art House Award at Cannes, and 96 other nominations. Yes, there are two dogs in it but we assume no animals were harmed.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are dancing with a 92% average, while its audiences, like us, are watching from the sidelines at 62. As a paid member of the Independent Feature Project (open to anyone!) I could stream it since it is nominated for The Best International Film of the Independent Spirit Awards. It's not currently streaming anywhere nor playing in my neck of the woods. We saw it on December 31.
