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Unconscious -- Spain/2004 -- Directed by Joaquín Oristell
Barcelona, 1913. Alma is perhaps one of the most modern women of her day. Her husband, Dr. Leon Pardo, is a psychiatrist. This summer, he visited Vienna and became a follower of the revolutionary Dr. Sigmund Freud and his advanced theories about hysteria and sexuality. It all starts the afternoon Alma comes home and finds her husband in tears, about to disappear from her life and everyone else's. Giving no more explanation than a few incoherent mumbles, Leon runs off, leaving Alma alone and about to give birth.
Salvador is Alma's brother-in-law and a psychiatrist as well. He is much more conservative man than Leon, is deeply in love with Alma. The only clue they have is a manuscript about hysteria and female sexuality based on four patients: An actress with a persecution complex; a psychotic woman who tried to murder her husband; a woman with a serious crisis concerning her sexual identity; a stranger who has discovered a terrible secret about her past. Following those signs, Alma and Salvador start a Sherlock Holmes kind of adventure, where hypnosis, love, danger, and every imaginable taboo are all intertwined.
Alright, I have no idea why the SIFF site listed it as a drama, because if it isn't a comedy, I don't know what else is. It was laugh-a-minute hilarious!! Alma (Leonor Watling) and Salvador (Luis Tosar) have AMAZING chemistry. It was almost palpable. I liked the look of it...I don't know the technical term for it, but the film had kind of a parchment-colored tint to it. And the ways they switched between scenes was quirky and fun...but, again, I don't know what the correct terms are. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it, lol. Oh, and the costume design was incredible!
From what I can tell from IMDb, it'll be released in November. I can't wait for the DVD of this one...I think it'll have excellent replay value. This is my third favorite SIFF non-doc film, thus far, behind Brothers and 3-iron. Highly recommended. A
Dead Man's Shoes -- UK/2004 -- Directed by Shane Meadows
Stars Paddy Considine (In America), who co-wrote the screenplay along with Meadows.
Richard (Paddy Considine) and his younger brother return to their sleepy hometown after years of being away. Richard's behavior shifts from erratic to escalating violence as the true motive for their reappearance is revealed. This chilling drama blurs the lines between the impulse toward forgiveness and the lure of retribution for sins of the past.
I think this may be the first film I've ever walked out of. Not because it was horrible, but because I couldn't understand 80% of the fuckin' dialogue! The accents on these guys were as thick as cold split pea soup. It was like Intermission x 100! Such a shame, because from the little I could decipher, it had the potential to be very, very good. I don't think I was the only one having trouble comprehending, 'cause a few people walked out before I did. I gave it 40 minutes, then gave up, knowing I'm going to end up renting the DVD to watch it with subtitles, anyway.
I had some problems understanding the accents of the older male Pakistani characters in Yasmin, too. After tonight, I'm inclined to start avoiding UK films in theatres unless they're set in London and/or star Colin Firth, Hugh Grant or an American doing a British accent. I'm only half-joking, lol. Unless someone can tell me this isn't a problem with Layer Cake...
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My diminutive DVD collection: http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl
I be Scrobblin': http://www.audioscrobbler.com/user/TasteeTreat/
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