This is a gorgeous , exciting and touching Mario Camus film . Splendid movie that mingles thought-provoking drama , adventure , thriller , rural conventionality , social habits and suspense . This is a marvelous piece of human drama , full of mysterious intrigue , thrills and suspenseful happenings . It deals with an intense and complex friendship between two kids , an escaped little boy called Bartolomé and a Bosnian refugee , Mirsad , and two old people named Lola (Julia Gutiérrez Caba) , a veteran woman whom a mean landlord (Ramón Langa) wants to evict and Lolo (José Maria Domenech steals the show as an expert sea wolf) , an old fisherman who wishes help her ; as well as a young couple who falls in love , a humble rural shopkeeper called Clementina (Ana Duato) , and an upright lawyer (Antonio Valero) .
It is a peculiar tale starred by children and adults with plenty of adventures , thrills , love stories with a surprising result behind , where we find acute descriptions about ordinary people , some atmospheric settings as well as attractive and troublesome roles . It packs slick narrative , well paced and being one of the best works of Camus' last period . Adventure style movie in the wake of ¨Moonfleet¨ and ¨Mark Twain's adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck¨ , including thriller , suspense and twisted ending . It deals with contemporary issues such as evictions , Bosnian refugees from Servian war , drug trafficking and many other things . Based on a story by Miguel Rubio , Camus's usual co-writer , here Mario deals with some parallel stories -in Robert Altman style- that flow until an unexpected result , being dedicated to Julio Martin Leiva . The central axis results to be a main story originated from the past time and it unbalances the present epoch . Spotless pictorial as well as colorful photography by magnificent cameraman Jaume Peracaula , he carries out a photography with juicy atmosphere , being filmed on location in Madrid and San Vicente De La Barquera , Comillas , Cantabria . Furthermore , a willingness almost perfect of the elements of each frame , every scene , every place . Atmospheric and moving musical score by Sebastián Marimé .
The flick was well directed by Mario Camus following his Sui-Generis style . Camus was born in Santander , Cantabria , location in which he often shoots his films . He worked with Carlos Saura in several screenplays during the early 60s as ¨Los Golfos¨ (1960), ¨ Llanto Por Un Bandido¨ (1964), and also directed some shorts . Camus shows a penchant for literary and perhaps he's the best Spanish film adapter , a fact that will be a constant in his films . His first feature films were ¨Los Farsantes¨ (1963) and ¨Young Sánchez¨ (1964), this is one of the greatest movies about boxing which won the Best Film Award at the Buenos Aires Festival . Mario has an important career with film and television adaptations quite remarkable , as he efficiently directed yarns based on notorious writers such as Perez Galdos , García Lorca , Cela Camilo José Cela and Miguel Delibes . During various decades he touched styles varying from romantic comedies and musicals with ¨Rafael¨ to splendid adaptations from famous novels , as is the case of the prestigious TV series "Fortunata y Jacinta" (1979) . As he directed for TVE , a lot of series and TV films as ¨Leyenda Alcalde Zalamea¨, ¨Los Camioneros¨ , ¨Los Desastres De La Guerra¨ , the mythical series ¨Curro Jimenez¨ , ¨Mujer Y El Pelele¨ about Pierre Louys novel and ¨La Forja De Un Rebelde¨ . In 1983 he was given the 'Medalla Oro De las Bellas Artes' (Arts Gold Medal) , and one year later he prepared his most successful work both with public and critic : ¨Los Santos Inocentes¨ (1984), an adaptation from the novel by Miguel Delibes . Mario is an expert on interesting and provoking dramas as proved in ¨ The house of Bernarda Alba¨ , ¨La Colmena¨ which won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival , ¨The days of the past ¨ and many others . Camus made an attractive trilogy concerning love stories : ¨Pajaros De Baden Baden¨(74) , ¨Joven Casada¨ (76) and ¨Dias Del Pasado (77) , a romance among Maquis . In the nineties Mario directs tiny films in low budget but with big name actors as ¨Después Del Sueño¨(92) , ¨Sobras Una Batalla¨(93) , ¨Amor Propio¨(94) and this ¨Color De Las Nubes¨(97) . All of them conceptual as well as contemporary films , based on his own screenplays , non-novels , and concerning similar themes : a dark past that wakes up , including rare characters arrive in rustic locations and cause strong passions , shaking ancient stories , originating distresses and pains . Camus also wrote scripts for other directors as ¨Los Golfos¨ (60) by Carlos Saura and Wherther (86) , ¨Beltreneros¨(91) and ¨Pájaro De Felicidad¨(93) by Pilar Miró . Rating : Better than average ; it's an extremely decent film though sometimes slow-moving .
