Andrés Baiz is a young, up and coming film writer and director from Colombia and his early works show a definite talent for unveiling mysterious stories in a very unique way. THE HIDDEN FACE (La Cara Occulta) can be mind-boggling until the second part of the film begins. As a story, written by Arturo Infante and Hatem Khraiche and adapted for the screen by Baiz and Khraiche.
The story deals with a young and successful Spanish orchestral conductor Adrián (Quim Gutiérrez) who is offered the position as chief conductor of the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, an enviable assignment he accepts and his beautiful designer girlfriend Belén (Clara Lago) agrees to move with him. They are welcomed to Bogota, given a spacious mansion in which to live, and Adrián begins his assignment as conductor of the symphony. As luck would have it at a party of the supporters of the orchestra Adrián is noted by Belén to be flirting with one of the violinists. Belén shares her discovery with a friend who suggests that Belen leave a note for Adrián that she will not tolerate infidelity and that she is leaving him to teach him a lesson. Finding Belén gone and the taped note on his cellphone, Adrián goes to the local bar to get drunk and there meets cocktail waitress Fabiana (Martina García) who consoles him over his girlfriend's leaving him, and drives the drunken conductor home and spends the night. This leads to a passionate romance and Fabiana moves in, only to be gradually frightened by strange sounds that make her believe the house is haunted. Adrián continues his conducting and tries to placate Fabiana's fears until Fabiana begins to question whether Adrián had something to do with Belén's disappearance (one of the police who questions Adrián is an old boyfriend of Fabiana...).
Now, Spoiler's Alert: if you watch the preview you already know this, but if you didn't watch the preview you may want to not read further! The second portion of the film can be summarized in the following way: In retrospect...Belén had decided she would leave Adrián a message that she's leaving, and instead move into a secret bunker originally built by the house landlord to see his reaction. The bunker is soundproof, bullet proof, and is hidden right next to the master bedroom and bath, with a secret entrance through one of the mirrors which one can see through from the inside, but is just a plain mirror when viewed from outside. After recording her message she moves all her belongings into the bunker to give the impression that she'd indeed moved away and shuts herself in. The only problem is it could be opened only through a key to get out, the key which she'd forgetfully left on top of the bed before locking herself in. She realizes her mistake only when she decides to end the act and come out to console Adrián who finds it hard to cope with her leaving. But one day Adrián meets and brings home waitress Fabiana, only to be watched helplessly by Belén from inside the bunker. The rest of the film is of her bearing witness to goings on in the bedroom while desperately trying to let herself out to freedom.
The style with which Baiz tells his story is unique and his small cast carries it off very well. Quim Gutiérrez is a fine Spanish actor but needed considerably more training to pass as an orchestral conductor! Both of the lead actresses are not only beautiful to look at but are also very fine in their challenging roles. Otherwise the musical score is basically excerpts from Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky with considerable filler thrown in. The film is just not sure how it wants to be read and if it is supposed to be a suspense thriller then the trailer and the previews should be discarded. Yet it is difficult to imagine that all audiences will not be entertained by this film as it is very well made and has many levels of meaning. Grady Harp, April 12
The story deals with a young and successful Spanish orchestral conductor Adrián (Quim Gutiérrez) who is offered the position as chief conductor of the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, an enviable assignment he accepts and his beautiful designer girlfriend Belén (Clara Lago) agrees to move with him. They are welcomed to Bogota, given a spacious mansion in which to live, and Adrián begins his assignment as conductor of the symphony. As luck would have it at a party of the supporters of the orchestra Adrián is noted by Belén to be flirting with one of the violinists. Belén shares her discovery with a friend who suggests that Belen leave a note for Adrián that she will not tolerate infidelity and that she is leaving him to teach him a lesson. Finding Belén gone and the taped note on his cellphone, Adrián goes to the local bar to get drunk and there meets cocktail waitress Fabiana (Martina García) who consoles him over his girlfriend's leaving him, and drives the drunken conductor home and spends the night. This leads to a passionate romance and Fabiana moves in, only to be gradually frightened by strange sounds that make her believe the house is haunted. Adrián continues his conducting and tries to placate Fabiana's fears until Fabiana begins to question whether Adrián had something to do with Belén's disappearance (one of the police who questions Adrián is an old boyfriend of Fabiana...).
Now, Spoiler's Alert: if you watch the preview you already know this, but if you didn't watch the preview you may want to not read further! The second portion of the film can be summarized in the following way: In retrospect...Belén had decided she would leave Adrián a message that she's leaving, and instead move into a secret bunker originally built by the house landlord to see his reaction. The bunker is soundproof, bullet proof, and is hidden right next to the master bedroom and bath, with a secret entrance through one of the mirrors which one can see through from the inside, but is just a plain mirror when viewed from outside. After recording her message she moves all her belongings into the bunker to give the impression that she'd indeed moved away and shuts herself in. The only problem is it could be opened only through a key to get out, the key which she'd forgetfully left on top of the bed before locking herself in. She realizes her mistake only when she decides to end the act and come out to console Adrián who finds it hard to cope with her leaving. But one day Adrián meets and brings home waitress Fabiana, only to be watched helplessly by Belén from inside the bunker. The rest of the film is of her bearing witness to goings on in the bedroom while desperately trying to let herself out to freedom.
The style with which Baiz tells his story is unique and his small cast carries it off very well. Quim Gutiérrez is a fine Spanish actor but needed considerably more training to pass as an orchestral conductor! Both of the lead actresses are not only beautiful to look at but are also very fine in their challenging roles. Otherwise the musical score is basically excerpts from Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky with considerable filler thrown in. The film is just not sure how it wants to be read and if it is supposed to be a suspense thriller then the trailer and the previews should be discarded. Yet it is difficult to imagine that all audiences will not be entertained by this film as it is very well made and has many levels of meaning. Grady Harp, April 12