DarkBlueAlmostBlack
Strand Releasing
Much like its title, Daniel Sanchez Arevalo's Spanish feature DarkBlueAlmostBlack (referring to the color of a business suit) is too ungainly and awkward for its own good.
Overstuffed with incidents and subplots, this ambitious drama about the conflict between personal ambitions and family responsibilities has its affecting moments but ultimately is unconvincing.
The central character, Jorge (Quim Gutierrez), has more than a few issues with which to contend. He has to abandon his business studies and work part time as a janitor when he is forced to care for his father (Hector Colome) who has suffered a debilitating stroke. He still cares for his ex-girlfriend (Eva Pallares), though he increasingly feels that she has risen to a higher station in life. His sterile, imprisoned brother (Antonio de la Torre) asks him to impregnate a female fellow prisoner (Marta Etura) with whom he has become close, resulting in inevitable romantic complications. And his sexually confused best friend Israel (Raul Arevalo) has just discovered that this father is a client of a male prostitute.
While these floridly melodramatic plot developments might have provided fertile fuel for the giddy excesses of a Pedro Almodovar film, this director's more restrained stylistic approach merely makes them feel contrived and artificial. While the actors mainly are effective and there are moments that resonate with emotional truthfulness, the sheer piling on is wearisome, and the unsatisfying climax is particularly frustrating.
Much like its title, Daniel Sanchez Arevalo's Spanish feature DarkBlueAlmostBlack (referring to the color of a business suit) is too ungainly and awkward for its own good.
Overstuffed with incidents and subplots, this ambitious drama about the conflict between personal ambitions and family responsibilities has its affecting moments but ultimately is unconvincing.
The central character, Jorge (Quim Gutierrez), has more than a few issues with which to contend. He has to abandon his business studies and work part time as a janitor when he is forced to care for his father (Hector Colome) who has suffered a debilitating stroke. He still cares for his ex-girlfriend (Eva Pallares), though he increasingly feels that she has risen to a higher station in life. His sterile, imprisoned brother (Antonio de la Torre) asks him to impregnate a female fellow prisoner (Marta Etura) with whom he has become close, resulting in inevitable romantic complications. And his sexually confused best friend Israel (Raul Arevalo) has just discovered that this father is a client of a male prostitute.
While these floridly melodramatic plot developments might have provided fertile fuel for the giddy excesses of a Pedro Almodovar film, this director's more restrained stylistic approach merely makes them feel contrived and artificial. While the actors mainly are effective and there are moments that resonate with emotional truthfulness, the sheer piling on is wearisome, and the unsatisfying climax is particularly frustrating.
- 11/19/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Alatriste,' 'Volver' top noms for Goya award
MADRID -- Agustin Diaz Yanes' historical adventure Alatriste and Pedro Almodovar's Volver are leading the pack for Spain's top film prize, the Goya awards, with 15 and 14 nominations respectively, organizers announced Monday.
The two films will go head-to-head in the best film and director categories along with Guillermo Del Toro's fantasy tale Pan's Labyrinth, which earned 13 nominations, and Manuel Huerga's Salvador. The homage to Catalan anarchist Salvador Puig Antich earned 11 noms.
Volver, Spain's entry for the foreign-language Oscar, and Pan's Labyrinth, Mexico's offering, are considered serious contenders for the Oscar short list.
Almodovar and Del Toro also will compete for best original script, along with Daniel Sanchez Arvalo for DarkBlueAlmostBlack and Jorge Sanchez Cabezudo for The Night of the Sunflowers.
Antonio Banderas received a nomination for his adapted screenplay of Summer Rain and will compete with The Education of Fairies writer-director Jose Luis Cuerda, Salvador writer Lluis Arcarazo and Alatriste's Diaz Yanes.
Penelope Cruz, who reaped accolades in Cannes for her performance in Volver, will compete against Pan's Maribel Verdu, DarkBlueAlmostBlack's Marta Etura and La Dama Boba's Silvia Abascal for the best actress nod.
The two films will go head-to-head in the best film and director categories along with Guillermo Del Toro's fantasy tale Pan's Labyrinth, which earned 13 nominations, and Manuel Huerga's Salvador. The homage to Catalan anarchist Salvador Puig Antich earned 11 noms.
Volver, Spain's entry for the foreign-language Oscar, and Pan's Labyrinth, Mexico's offering, are considered serious contenders for the Oscar short list.
Almodovar and Del Toro also will compete for best original script, along with Daniel Sanchez Arvalo for DarkBlueAlmostBlack and Jorge Sanchez Cabezudo for The Night of the Sunflowers.
Antonio Banderas received a nomination for his adapted screenplay of Summer Rain and will compete with The Education of Fairies writer-director Jose Luis Cuerda, Salvador writer Lluis Arcarazo and Alatriste's Diaz Yanes.
Penelope Cruz, who reaped accolades in Cannes for her performance in Volver, will compete against Pan's Maribel Verdu, DarkBlueAlmostBlack's Marta Etura and La Dama Boba's Silvia Abascal for the best actress nod.
- 12/18/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dark Blue Almost Black
VENICE, Italy -- Brotherly love is tested to the limits in Daniel Sanchez Arevalo's sweetly told "Dark Blue Almost Black", in which an ex-convict who cannot get his girlfriend pregnant asks his younger brother to do it for him. Writer/director Aravalo and a fine cast tell the story with great charm so the picture should do well beyond the festival circuit.
The relationship between the brothers is not the only one at risk. Not only is the younger man already in love with a neighborhood girl, but also his stints during conjugal sessions at the prison take him away from looking after his father, who is suffering the long-term effects of a stroke.
Jorge (Quim Guitierrez) is a put-upon soul who has diligently nursed his father and worked as a janitor while spending seven years studying part time to get a business degree.
Older brother Antonio (Antonio de la Torre) is a different story altogether. An opportunist who has never gotten along with their father, he lands in prison where he meets Paula (Marta Etura) at a theater workshop.
Paula has a problem because she flirted with another inmate's boyfriend and wants to get pregnant in order to be moved out of harm's way into the jail's maternity ward. Antonio thinks he's just the man for the job, but two unforeseen things happen. One is that he falls in love with Paula, and the other is that he discovers he's sterile.
Once released, he plays on Jorge's good nature to get him to step in during conjugal visits, and more unforeseen things happen. Meanwhile, Jorge's best friend Israel (Raul Arevalo) has troubles with his father whom he thinks is gay because he spied him going to a masseur.
Jorge's relationship with Natalie (Eva Pallares) becomes difficult after she tries to get him a job where she works but he's only offered a position as a janitor. Then Antonio finds out that their father has an undisclosed bank account full of money.
The various threads play out entertainingly helped by winning performances from all the principals. Gutierrez and Etura bring warmth to what might have been cynical baby-making scenes while de la Torre and Arevalo lend assured comic touches.
DARK BLUE ALMOST BLACK
Tesela P.C.
Credits:
Writer/director: Daniel Sanchez Arevalo
Executive producer: Jose Antonio Felez
Director of photography: Juan Carlos Gomez
Art director: Federico Garcia Cambero
Music: Pascal Gaigne
Editor: Nacho Ruiz Capillas
Cast:
Jorge: Quim Gutierrez
Paula: Marta Etura
Antonio: Antonio de la Torre
Andres: Hector Colome
Israel: Raul Arevalo
Natalia: Eva Pallares
Fernando: Manuel Moron
Ana: Ana Wagener
Roberto: Roberto Enriquez
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 105 minutes...
The relationship between the brothers is not the only one at risk. Not only is the younger man already in love with a neighborhood girl, but also his stints during conjugal sessions at the prison take him away from looking after his father, who is suffering the long-term effects of a stroke.
Jorge (Quim Guitierrez) is a put-upon soul who has diligently nursed his father and worked as a janitor while spending seven years studying part time to get a business degree.
Older brother Antonio (Antonio de la Torre) is a different story altogether. An opportunist who has never gotten along with their father, he lands in prison where he meets Paula (Marta Etura) at a theater workshop.
Paula has a problem because she flirted with another inmate's boyfriend and wants to get pregnant in order to be moved out of harm's way into the jail's maternity ward. Antonio thinks he's just the man for the job, but two unforeseen things happen. One is that he falls in love with Paula, and the other is that he discovers he's sterile.
Once released, he plays on Jorge's good nature to get him to step in during conjugal visits, and more unforeseen things happen. Meanwhile, Jorge's best friend Israel (Raul Arevalo) has troubles with his father whom he thinks is gay because he spied him going to a masseur.
Jorge's relationship with Natalie (Eva Pallares) becomes difficult after she tries to get him a job where she works but he's only offered a position as a janitor. Then Antonio finds out that their father has an undisclosed bank account full of money.
The various threads play out entertainingly helped by winning performances from all the principals. Gutierrez and Etura bring warmth to what might have been cynical baby-making scenes while de la Torre and Arevalo lend assured comic touches.
DARK BLUE ALMOST BLACK
Tesela P.C.
Credits:
Writer/director: Daniel Sanchez Arevalo
Executive producer: Jose Antonio Felez
Director of photography: Juan Carlos Gomez
Art director: Federico Garcia Cambero
Music: Pascal Gaigne
Editor: Nacho Ruiz Capillas
Cast:
Jorge: Quim Gutierrez
Paula: Marta Etura
Antonio: Antonio de la Torre
Andres: Hector Colome
Israel: Raul Arevalo
Natalia: Eva Pallares
Fernando: Manuel Moron
Ana: Ana Wagener
Roberto: Roberto Enriquez
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 105 minutes...
- 9/4/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Rough Winds' kicks up top prize at Malaga fest
MADRID -- Gerardo Herrero's Rough Winds took top honors as the ninth annual Malaga Spanish Film Festival wrapped Saturday, though by all accounts there were no real losers as the festival maintained its position as a platform for Spanish cinema. Though Winds was handed the 60,000 ($72,000) prize for best film, Daniel Sanchez Arevalo's DarkBlueAlmostBlack won the special jury prize, critics award and best screenplay, while David Trueba's Welcome Home snagged the directing nod. Manuel Iborra's period piece The Idiot Maiden won most of the acting awards, including actress (Silvia Abascal), supporting actress (Macarena Gomez) and supporting actor (Roberto San Martin). Best actor went to Juan Diego for El Triunfo and Remake.
- 3/28/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
14 to vie for Malaga fest's top honors
MADRID -- Spain's premiere showcase of homegrown fare, the Malaga Spanish Film Festival, will feature 14 films in its official competition, offering a balanced dose of new and veteran talent, organizers announced Thursday. Manuel Iborra's period piece The Idiot Maiden, Eliseo Subiela's mid-life reflection Heartlift and Daniel Sanchez Arevalo's coming-of-age tale DarkBlueAlmostBlack are three of the films that will vie for the 60,000 ($72,000) main prize. Other films in competition include: Carlos Iglesias' 14 Coins Till the Border, Raimon Masllorens' Without You, Cesar Martinez Herrada's Sand in the Pockets, Sigfrid Monleon's The Bicycle, Roger Gual's Remake, Gerardo Herrero's Rough Winds, Mireia Ros' The Beat of the Streets, Gerardo Olivares' The Great Match, Chema Rodriguez's The Railroad All-Stars and Rafa Russo's Love in Self Defense.
- 3/2/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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