Jaime Rosales directs this drama ¨Girasoles silvestres¨ or ¨Wind Flowers¨ (2022) starring Anna Castillo, Oriol Pla, Quim Àvila Conde, Lluís Marqués, Manolo Solo y Carolina Yuste. Coproduction between Spain and France by Fredesval Films, A Contracorriente Films, Oberón Cinematográfica, Luxbox, RTVE, TV3 y Movistar Plus+ , in which a realistic portrayal of love relationships in today's society is produced . It consists of three acts starred by Julia : Anna Castillo and her three relationships : Oscar , Marcos , Àlex , revolving around three moments in the life of Julia .
Filmmaker Jaime Rosales after directing ¨Petra¨ makes this ¨Girasoles Silvestres¨ with an added layer of reality by dissecting the archetypes of masculinity present in our society, the deconstruction of men , what it means to be a young mother , the fear of commitment and the search for happiness , but resulting in a tiring and dull flick . Dealing with a mother who battles to defend her children while at the same time embarking on love affairs with youngsters in COVID times . Filmmaker bases upon a large part on masculine clichés about the way of being the men in the new generations . There are several pleasant elements in relation to ¨Wild Sunflowers¨; however , one feels a depressing sensation, because the tone , although it is uneven , is partially original and transports us in a certain sense to a realistic fable. All the actors are incredible in their execution , with realistic interpretations that leave stellar moments based on improvisation , with acceptable but boring dialogues . A controversial and thought-provoking film, in which some will see reality and others, a bag of typical premises about masculinity that will make them wonder if this film has been created exclusively to get help from the ICAA . Stars Anna Castillo who gives a good performance as the young mother. She provides fine acting, being Goya nominated for Best Actress. She plays Julia, a 22-year-old girl with no studies and mother of two children , a young woman full of imperfections who will live an authentic journey and personal self-knowledge based on learning. The musical score includes songs of the famous band Triana : ¨Abre la puerta¨ written by Jesús de la Rosa Luque performed by Triana ; "Tu frialdad¨ written by Jesús de la Rosa Luque performed by Triana ; ¨Sé de un lugar¨ written by Jesús de la Rosa Luque performed by Triana ; adding ¨Una furtiva lacrima¨ taken from the opera "L'elisir d'amore" (1832) composed by Gaetano Donizetti.. As well as atmospheric cinematography by cameraman Hélène Louvart , being shot on various locations in Banyoles , Mataro, Catalonia, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain , and Melilla, España.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Jaime Rosales following his particular style . Born in Barcelona in 1970, Jaime Rosales is not the routine kind of filmmaker but an offbeat director who honors not only Spanish cinema as well as the world cinema. The future darling of film festivals paradoxically started by studying economics. But more passionate about the seventh art, he changed course and joined two different film schools, EICTV in Cuba first and then AFTRSBE in Sydney, Australia. He soon found himself directing, three shorts for starters, which would be followed by eight features, all selected and awarded in film festivals, one of which, 'La Soledad' , even proving a surprise public success. If, as I said, Rosales never makes the same film twice, he does have one recurring theme. Plus a sub-theme, the harmful effects of violence on the seemingly well ordered everyday life of people, generally described beforehand, minutely and... slowly. Which is best exemplified by his first effort, 'Las horas del dia' (2003), with its belated revelation that the main protagonist, whose ordinary daily life has been described in detail, is... a serial killer. Violence will later upset the characters of all of his films, that inherent in solitude and cancer in 'La soledad' (2007), the ruthlessness of an ETA commando in 'Tiro en la cabeza' (2008), the loss of a child' in 'Sueño y silencio' (2014). It is the brutality of society against young people that induces the couple of 'Hermosa Juventud' or ¨Beautiful Youth¨(2014) to take wrong decisions , and in ¨Girasoles silvestres¨(2022) Rosales takes a Verite approach to an unfortunate young mother attempting to find happiness by male relations , though things go wrong . Rating : 5/10 . Only for Anna Castillo fans and followers of Jaime Rosales' career , the rest of the public better avoid it.
