Flores de otro mundo

There are films for holding sticky hands in the back row, looking into each other's eyes; there are films for getting all excited with tons of special effects to bedazzle eyes and minds of onlookers; there are films for filling up the useless hours of television when only insomniacs are available; there are films hyped up to smash shattering box-office record sales with all those glorious glamorous Hollywood stars; there are films to put on at Christmas and Easter every year, supposedly to remind us what the heck we are celebrating; there are films for just dozing off; there are films for Saturday afternoon so that the kids won't go out.

And then there are cinematographic works of art that remain in your memory forever, that reach down into your soul, that quietly leave a tremendous feeling of immeasurable satisfaction. There are not many and as a rule they do not get to Hollywood and do not get any Oscars, though they may make their mark in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, San Sebastián……….

`El Sur'(1982)(qv) directed by Víctor Érice is one such exquisite gem; and in this film we have playing the part of Estrella, aged 15, Icíar Bollaín. Because of this I await anything she might now be doing, twenty years later. At last I have my reward: it has been worth waiting. Srta. Icíar has matured and is indeed herself a `flower from another world'. In this film we have proof of this. Ms. Bollaín, in common with a few other European directors, has chosen to make films of socialogical import, and this is well achieved in `Flores de Otro Mundo'.

The script was co-written by herself and Julio Llamazares. This writer is well-known in Spain through hundreds of newspaper articles, letters, several books and so on. He is an ardent defender of rural Spanish life, which, over the last 30-40 years, has been declining, and indeed he lives in or spends large parts of his time in such places as the mountainous `Ancares' in the province of León, north-western Spain, or in the pre-Pyrenean areas of Huesca in the north of Aragón. Ms. Bollaín could hardly have found a better person for helping her with this film in the greatly depopulated central province of Guadalajara, north-east of Madrid.

In the 30s, 40s and 50s Spain emigrated to Argentina, Chile, Mexico, France, etc. However, today the boats are turned – literally – and the country is now a receiver of immigrants. Indeed, rural areas of Spain have even been advertising for people to go to their villages with children so as to keep their schools open, or just simply advertising for women to be future wives for the unmarried men who remain working the land. Against this sociological background, Icíar Bollaín sets her film `Flores de Otro Mundo' – in this case Cuban and Dominican women – who arrive at a village lost in the sierras of Guadalajara. The film narrates the experiences of a group of these women, as all concerned, villagers and new-arrivals alike, suffer problems in differences in culture, opposing mentalities and concepts of life, especially over the issue of rural and urban life.

Well-conceived and well-acted, the film is an excellent vehicle for conveying real human issues. The leading actors – such as the well-known Chete Lera and the Cuban actress Marylin Torres – are ably supported by the whole cast, as well as the real local people in the village of Cantalojas – baptized Santa Eulalia for the film – in the extreme north-west of the province, and where the film was given its first public showing! Some intensely dramatic moments are carefully combined with warmer human issues, such that the film achieves an endearing credibility. Take note of the scenes with `Janay' for example. Recommended film, though people learning Spanish might find some of the accents a little difficult at times. Well, the worst you have to do is bear with the subtitles; it's well worth your while.