Official Competition
30 January 2023
Directors: Mariano Cohn, Gaston Duprat
See
Her: Official Competition starring big stars, Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martinez and directed by two unknown to me directors, Mariano Cohn and Gaston Duprat. A movie about making a movie, a story that never gets old, but what made this story stand out to me is its commercial nature. The opening scene with retiring Spanish oligarch who decides to make something grandiose in the end of his life. Like a bridge with his name on it or a movie. If read between the lines, suggested nothing good is going to come of it. The real life rivalry between two main actors, the brothers, preset by the director played by Penelope Cruz inevitably gets out of control and leads to a disaster. But filming is about to get started and there is no way out of it. I was really surprised that in the end the movie premieres with huge success. Though not quite as it was meant to be.
Him: An aging Spanish businessman wants to change his legacy by financing a movie. He buys the adaptation rights to a celebrated novel about sibling rivalry and hires an acclaimed director, Lola Cuevas (Penelope Cruz). She recommends polar opposite actors, thespian Ivan Torres (Oscar Martinez) and star Felix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) in the lead roles.
Think
Her: I think Penelope Cruz is genius here, and so is Antonio Banderas. They’re both demonstrating a full transformation into their characters. At some point I even forgot that Penelope isn’t a director in real life. She’s so good in this role. That it makes me want to see a real film that she directed. The script is great and very believable. The stroy twist is happening at the right moment and the ending is exactly as it should be. Though not obvious at all. I really can’t point out any vices except the deliberate ones which all of the three main characters have. These vices unfold very gradually and coherently. Only now when I think of it I can see he quality job the directors and screenwriters have done. But when watching it it just makes you stay engaged as you can’t predict what’s going to happen next.
Him: The film is the rehearsal process of Lola breaking dow Ivan and Felix’s egos. From reading lines repeatedly to get it right, destroying awards and the lies of Felix saying he’s got cancer to Ivan conceding that Felix is the better actor that the public adores. All increase the tension of the two brothers more so than the rock hanging over their heads.
Feel
Her: I really don’t understand why this film received such small exposure and recognition. I think it’s a rare gem that deserves much more. Personally I enjoyed it if not more than at least as much as Triangle of Sadness. The biggest festival hit of the last year, also satirising the vices of rich and famous. Wish there were more films like this one.
Him: The story of the two brothers is the compelling core of the narrative that the rehearsals circle and only get to the heart of in the Dogville-esque final practice run. It’s not a real book but at the center it illuminates why we watch. One brother is the black sheep, the other the golden child. Their parents die because of the former. But both suffer. The accident on the rooftop was absurdly comedic, and fitting to how the book ends.A fitting continuance to the last act of how the movie actually gets made. Lola’s final monologue answers the questions she refused to answer at the post premiere press conference. When does the movie end? When the credits roll? When you rewatch it? When you stop thinking about it? It can last a lifetime.
