Reviews

Well acted, yes. Very well, I must say, even though I don't speak Chezck. Nice cinematography. But the script is lame, really lame. A predictable soap opera, in which you know exactly everything that is going to happen. OK, maybe the ending isn't as predictable, but is it any good? It is one of those films that you have the feeling that have seen already, and forget about the day after.

I just got a note from IMDb saying that my comment was not long enough. That's really sad, because I have no idea of what else to say about this movie, which actually says a a lot about it, don't you think? The thing is.. .It has no soul and no originality. Compare this movie with Barrio, or Riff Raff, shot more than ten years ago (or the extraordinary recently shot The Child). It's sad to see that this is a much worse film.

I am a big fan of Ken Loach. Huge fan. That's why I disliked this movie so much. It has nothing of his touch.

The story is absolutely predictable (God! I even knew that he was not going to be able to get in the house after their first fight) and there is nothing new. It's a story we already saw many times, with an obvious script, fair performances and just OK story telling. It never moves you, it never shocks you, it never really does anything to you.

There is a Turkish/German movie that was shown during the Berlin Festival I think it is called "Against the wall" or something similar. Now, there is a movie! In Ae Fond Kiss there is no roar material like in "Sweet sixteen", the great performances of "Secrets and lies", not even the humor of "Riff Raff". There is a lot of plain nothing.

And the first scene! Please! Let's not make more political speeches to open a movie. Let's make political statements! Lots of them! But not in the form of pamphlets. Remember Land and Freedom? It's hard to believe that we are talking about the same director here...

And I mean Believe, with capital B.

SPOLERS

By watching the first scene, I already hated the movie. His boyfriend arrives home. He "wakes him up". Why is the camera there? Why is there enough light to shoot the situation? Why are there microphones? Needless to say, if there weren't any of the three, we could simply not watch the scene. Two minutes had passed and I had enough. The movie is just not honest (why is he filming himself when he calls to the hospital?). It is just a cry out loud for indulgence. And they are making money out of that. Out of that, and out of the hundred of images of his mother and his grandparents. Just not honest.

I had the chance to ask Gus Van Sant (producer of this film) in a film festival why he casted non Spanish speaking, US actors to play the role of non English speaking - just arrived to the States Mexicans in his first film, Mala Noche. He said he didn't care at the time. Same thing here, they don't care to mix what it is produced to what it is real (as if we were in some kind of Truman Show). I am sorry for your life, Mr. Director, but I don't care for seeing portrayed in such a non honest way in a movie.

I coulnd't stop thinking about "Capturing the Friedmans". That's a great movie! And 100% Asia Argento's "The Heart is deceiving..." is much more brutal, and much more serious as a film than this made-to-cry- film experiment