A year after winning the Goya for best short film for ¨El Viaje Del Agua¨ Gracia Querejeta directs this uneven ¨Una Estación de Paso¨. This intimate romantic drama kicked off the brilliant career of this filmmaker who would give great films in the history of Spanish cinema. Antonio (Santiago Alonso) lives with his mother (Bibi Andersson) and father (Omero Antonutti) at a house , next to them lives a rare man nicknamed El ¨Nazi¨. As he does at the end of every summer, he climbs onto his roof to sweep out his chimney . From a vantage point, he sees that repairs have begun on one of the neighbouring houses - the one formerly inhabited by the "Nazi" , which after ten years of abandonment is known to the whole neighbourhood as the "mystery house". There's a dark intrigue about the mysterious house, though it takes a long time to develop or at least to give some clues . A bit later on , his brother arrives and both , Miguel (Joaquim de Almeida) and Antonio, attempt to find out the secrets of the weird house . With the arrival of winter , Antonio will uncover friendship with Tomas, romance , deception , and death.
Gracia Querejeta's first feature , in which she demonstrates a good hand and exquisite pacing. Nevertheless , what happens results to be somewhat confused and very scattered in the developing , including some black and white flashbacks , until almost half of the film, with some characters -eight at least, if not more- without being very clear who is who and no knowing their true purports . All this makes the film somewhat boring at times with too many loose ends, adding some scenes not very relevant, such as the poker game or the scenes of the violin classes .The story starts well but the development is excessively slow-movement and lacks action enough , to end up becoming a tedious drama about childhood traumas conditioned by adults . The best thing about the film is Bibi Andersson's acting , Igmar Bergman's regular and the veteran Omero Antonutti. While the younger actors give lousy interpretations . However , appearing great actors as the Swedish Bibi Andersson (1935-2019), Italian Omero Antonutti (1935-2019), Portuguese Joaquin de Almeida , along with nice Spanish secondaries : Tito Valverde, Ana Duato , Pedro Mártinez , María Pineda, Alfonso Lussón, all of them make up for the lousy acting of the teens . Without participation of these fine actors , boredom would be one hundred percent guaranteed.
Here stands out an emotive and sensitive soundtrack by Angel Illaramendi , complemented by classical music, such as : Sonata nº1 para violín written by Johann Sebastian Bach and Vals nº15 en La B Mayor
written by Johannes Brahms . Likewise , evocative and appropriate cinematography by Antonio Pueche. The motion picture was regularly directed by Gracia Querejeta , realized in her particular style, being filmed in her usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the brooding themes , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . It won Valladolid International Film Festival 1992 Winner Jury Special Prize Gracia Querejeta and Nominee Golden Spike Best Film . Gracia Querejeta is particularly known by making films about the underprivileged and dealing with provoking issues . Gracia Querejeta was born (1963) in Madrid , where she uses to shoot her pictures . Daughter of costume designer Maiki Marín and the noted producer , Elías Querejeta who wrote along with his daughter this film. Gracia is a notorious director and writer , known for ¨Siete Mesas Billar Francés¨ 2007 , ¨Héctor¨, ¨Cuando Vuelvas a Mi Lado¨ 1999 , ¨El Ultimo Viaje Robert Rylands¨ 1996 , ¨Una Estación de Paso¨ 1992 , being her most successful movie : ¨15 Años Y 1 Dia¨ that achieved Goya Awards and ¨Felices 140¨ . And of course , this Una estación de paso (1992) that failed at box office . Rating : 5.5/10 .
