[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/MioaPYGKegQ" width="400" height="400"/]
Forget Pedro Almodovar, the true visionary of Spanish cinema is Julio Medem. His low-budget Red Squirrel even received praise from Stanley Kubrick. He has been appreciated by Cannes in his successive movies, and Sex and Lucia, for me, has to be one of the most lyrical films I have seen, and one of the few to feature sex and sexuality as something more than an aside to titillate waning attentions. And his latest, Caótica Ana, looks just as delightful.
I don’t speak Spanish, so I haven’t a clue what is said in the trailer, but I wouldn’t worry too much, as I doubt one could make sense of the film from this 2-minute promo (Conservative parents beware: the trailer does feature some female nudity).
An anonymous poster left this description on IMDB:
“Caotica Ana is the story-journey of Ana during four years of her life, from 18 to 22. A countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7… until 0, like in hypnosis, through which Ana proves that she does not live alone, that her existence seems like a continuation of other lives of young women who died in a tragic way, all at the age of 22, and who live in the abyss of her unconscious memory. This is her chaos. Ana is the princess and the monster of this feminist fable against the tyranny of the white man.”
Er… right. In typical Medem fashion, the film sounds like another circular narrative that features only the barest bones of a story. Instead, Medem focuses on the senses, the feelings, and even the erotic. I would say his films are like poetry, but you’d never go near one of Medem’s films. Just check out Sex and Lucia, assure the guy at Blockbuster that it’s not porn, and fall in love with this director’s powerful vision.
Caotica Ana will feature in the Toronto Film Festival next week and The New York Film Festival in November.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Peter Nellhaus said
September 6 2007 @ 12:12 am
“Red Squirrel” is part of my R2 collection. I’ve seen “Sex and Lucia” and “Vacas” as well. Medem has a way of going into unexpected directions with his films.
Moriarty said
September 6 2007 @ 9:56 am
Yes, Julio Medem it’s one of our best directors, actually in spain. A pitty that he stopped directing for a few years, after being “prosecute and attacked” by the right wings politicians of this country, for his last film (then) “La pelota vasca”, where he tried to give his point of view about the situation at the bask country and the terrorism.
Anyway, “Caotica Ana” is a must see movie.
And I’d like to recommend aswell: “The Lovers from the North Pole”. A beatiful,beautiful movie.
Hasta pronto.
eoin said
September 7 2007 @ 1:47 am
Moriarty, I managed to see La Pelota Vasca (or Basque Ball) at a film festival which Medem attended. He’s an odd guy, very abstract in his thinking. It was an interesting doc (although a shame he didn’t interview any active members of ETA), and I wasn’t aware of such backlash.
Lovers from the Arctic Circle is on my list of films to see.
Moriarty said
September 7 2007 @ 5:51 am
I’m sure you`ll enjoy it.
Miru said
September 19 2007 @ 5:48 am
julio medem truly one of the greatest director of our time…i see him as mix of stanley kubrick and daivid lynch…caotica anna a must see movie….so poetic from start to finish…you just have see it.