SYNOPSIS
This film by Alejandro Amenábar is a very thought-provoking Spanish thriller with unexpected twists and turns. The central figure, Cesar (Eduardo Noriega), is a handsome playboy in Madrid, but with an appalling reputation of using young women. The story centres around his attempt to steal his friend`s girlfriend, Sofia ( Penelope Cruz ). This leads to his current girlfriend, Nuria (Najwa Nimri ) crashing the car they are driving, killing herself and disfiguring Cesar, who thinks he will never now be able to pursue Sofia.
The plot then becomes difficult to follow with twists and turns in logic and meaning. Amenábar seems to enjoy playing with the audience, challenging you to keep up with his puzzler. He uses the storyline to comment on the pre-occupation with superficial beauty and some modern culture. Reality itself is questioned as some kind of sci-fi film, with sequences like Cesar walking through an apparently deserted Madrid, not sure whether he is dead or alive.
There are touches of the `Beauty and the Beast` type storyline, but this film is clever, and you are not quite sure what is going to happen until the end. You may not even then quite understand what it was all about! or you may feel the ending was a bit unsatisfying. Either way, this film is well worth seeing for the fascinating journey it takes you along.
There are excellent performances from all the main characters. |
