Being very lucky to see a number of outstanding titles at VIVA! The 28th Manchester Spanish & Latin American Film Festival, I was pleased to recently discover that the HOME cinema in Manchester were screening a 35MM print of a movie by a film maker from Spain who I've heard about for years, leading to me going down main street.
View on the film:
Revealed in an introduction before the screening started that filming was halted in the middle of production, due to the film maker being jailed after joining students in protesting against General Franco, writer/directing auteur Juan Antonio Bardem & Lovers of Paris (1957-also reviewed) cinematographer Michel Kelber take an unflinching gaze at the society Isabel is surrounded by, with a stylish Neo-realist atmosphere, via wonderfully framed, long tracking and panning shots circling Isabel believing that she and Juan are falling in love, which Bardem shatters with a poetic final shot, where tears melt into the rain.
Moving to Europe after being blacklisted in the US, Betsy Blair (whose voice is dubbed) gives a very good performance as Isabel, whose joy at getting together with Juan is expressed by Blair with a wide smile, which shatters on the broken romance. Taking a bet with his pals, Jose Suarez gives a wonderful performance as Juan, thanks to Suarez displaying a mischievousness when Juan is hanging out with his friends, which Suarez twists into sincerity, as he gains Juan's trust on main street.
View on the film:
Revealed in an introduction before the screening started that filming was halted in the middle of production, due to the film maker being jailed after joining students in protesting against General Franco, writer/directing auteur Juan Antonio Bardem & Lovers of Paris (1957-also reviewed) cinematographer Michel Kelber take an unflinching gaze at the society Isabel is surrounded by, with a stylish Neo-realist atmosphere, via wonderfully framed, long tracking and panning shots circling Isabel believing that she and Juan are falling in love, which Bardem shatters with a poetic final shot, where tears melt into the rain.
Moving to Europe after being blacklisted in the US, Betsy Blair (whose voice is dubbed) gives a very good performance as Isabel, whose joy at getting together with Juan is expressed by Blair with a wide smile, which shatters on the broken romance. Taking a bet with his pals, Jose Suarez gives a wonderful performance as Juan, thanks to Suarez displaying a mischievousness when Juan is hanging out with his friends, which Suarez twists into sincerity, as he gains Juan's trust on main street.