The movie starts with a great premise: a sociopath writer, a swamp both actual and metaphorical and a power struggle in the mob.
The performances are great too.
Sadly the plot starts wobbling around aimlessly in the second part, hinting at social issues of various kind without really making a point about any of it.
Overall an interesting watch but not a revolutionary one
43 Reviews
Silence of the Meh...
filmsbyq6 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The Silence of the Marsh is quite underwhelming. Starring Pedro Alonso - best known for his captivating performance in Netflix's runaway success series Casa de Papel (Money Heist- not a literal translation)- as Q, The Silence of the Marsh, a title aping the more famous Thomas Harris book, Jonathan Demme film of 1991, The Silence of the Lambs, is not a patch on that classic.
Mostly it is atmosphere over story with a lot of oblique references to possible goings-on but no clear story or premise. The central story of him being a writer is lost once the police and drugs angle is introduced. As well as the nod to Lambs, there is also a bit of American Psycho with one not entirely sure whether Q is actually killing people or if it is his fertile imagination.
The actors are very strong throughout the film and the characters are well defined. Directed by Marc Vigil, the film looks good and is nicely directed, the flow, visually, very good. The screenplay by Carlos de Pando and Sara Antuña, from a book by Juanjo Braulio, is good in parts but leaves out too much information.
Truth be told, Alonso's Q does not really drive the film at all and that is the problem. He kidnaps Carretero but seems to have done so without reason. He finds the ledger that informs him of the money laundering but, once again, takes it without reason. We know he is a celebrated writer but as his only proper interaction is with his brother, we do not find out anything else about him.
I suspect that the film is supposed to be a little ambiguous but there is simply too little exposition - something I rarely complain about - for the story to work. At ninety-minutes long, The Silence of the Marsh is not a long film but it takes an inordinate amount of time to get going and even fifteen minutes from its conclusion is still a film that is less than the sum of its parts.
The Silence of the Marsh is not unwatchable but it is definitely disappointing, something reflected in its lowly five point three score on IMDB. I cannot, in good faith, recommend taking an hour out of your day - lockdown or not - to watch this film. Pass.
Mostly it is atmosphere over story with a lot of oblique references to possible goings-on but no clear story or premise. The central story of him being a writer is lost once the police and drugs angle is introduced. As well as the nod to Lambs, there is also a bit of American Psycho with one not entirely sure whether Q is actually killing people or if it is his fertile imagination.
The actors are very strong throughout the film and the characters are well defined. Directed by Marc Vigil, the film looks good and is nicely directed, the flow, visually, very good. The screenplay by Carlos de Pando and Sara Antuña, from a book by Juanjo Braulio, is good in parts but leaves out too much information.
Truth be told, Alonso's Q does not really drive the film at all and that is the problem. He kidnaps Carretero but seems to have done so without reason. He finds the ledger that informs him of the money laundering but, once again, takes it without reason. We know he is a celebrated writer but as his only proper interaction is with his brother, we do not find out anything else about him.
I suspect that the film is supposed to be a little ambiguous but there is simply too little exposition - something I rarely complain about - for the story to work. At ninety-minutes long, The Silence of the Marsh is not a long film but it takes an inordinate amount of time to get going and even fifteen minutes from its conclusion is still a film that is less than the sum of its parts.
The Silence of the Marsh is not unwatchable but it is definitely disappointing, something reflected in its lowly five point three score on IMDB. I cannot, in good faith, recommend taking an hour out of your day - lockdown or not - to watch this film. Pass.
What happened to the footage?!
pradeepanandhan29 April 2020
The movie is an open ended film. But that doesn't mean you have to cut it abruptly. All the potential lost to add some pseudo artistic value, it tries to bring in. Misused talent and lost ideas mixed up with some good production values.
But why?!
But why?!
Worst!
mohamed-fathy-elfeky22 April 2020
Por favor... OMG... boring, boring... boring.
jorgepgonzalez26 April 2020
I really enjoyed Pedro Alonso in Money heist (la casa de papel) and Nacho in el Ministerio del tiempo or Luis Zahera in "vivir sin permiso"... but there... all these actors... together don't make anything worth... wondering why they are there!
This movie is a waste of time and what looks promising during trailer stays only promises without content... sorry.
A lot of disconnect in story
kingdompretty28 April 2020
First of all I love Pedro Alonso as an actor from La Casa De Papel and even Gran Hotel. He is such an amazing actor. The story was indeed promising at first. A crime writer who murders. And then the story unfolds, there are now cartels, corruption, gangs. I felt like in the middle there are too many things happening which gives a strong feeling of disconnect. I really wish they had stick to the initial story line. I appreciated the cinematography very much but sorry the storyline is not as strong.
Enjoyable if disconcerting...
s32761696 May 2020
I'm not surprised by some of the negative reviews. This film starts off with a clever premise, that mixes in a Spanish social justice psychopath, reminiscent of "Dexter", with a literary bent and the world of high stakes corruption.
What follows tracks well, up to a point, where the lines between fact and fiction blur. What you are left with is open ended and up to you to interpret, with no solid conclusion.
Its a "tree falls in the woods" deal that is somewhat disconcerting. I can fully see why people who like a linear plot, with a tidy outcome might find it annoying.
I certainly felt a little disorientated but ultimately I was left feeling more positive about this film, than not. Sure its plot is light on detail but it makes its points with an enigmatic cleverness. The cast is well chosen, the characters interesting and the acting excellent.
It also makes some very pertinent points about the distance power places between people from distinct social strata, notions of corruption and the inequity of establishment justice.
7/10 from me.
What follows tracks well, up to a point, where the lines between fact and fiction blur. What you are left with is open ended and up to you to interpret, with no solid conclusion.
Its a "tree falls in the woods" deal that is somewhat disconcerting. I can fully see why people who like a linear plot, with a tidy outcome might find it annoying.
I certainly felt a little disorientated but ultimately I was left feeling more positive about this film, than not. Sure its plot is light on detail but it makes its points with an enigmatic cleverness. The cast is well chosen, the characters interesting and the acting excellent.
It also makes some very pertinent points about the distance power places between people from distinct social strata, notions of corruption and the inequity of establishment justice.
7/10 from me.
DO NOT WASTE TIME WATCHING :(
esra_yazici199422 April 2020
useless
sena-salvatore9723 April 2020
Useless plot. No twists, no cliffhangers, nothing at all. 2 Stars just because of Pedro. Would have been a lot butter if they hadn't made up the whole writer thing and just let the base storyline of the "sociopath killer".
Writing and experiencing
kosmasp19 May 2020
Now I understand if people feel cheated in some or many ways regarding this. Having said that, the movie is quite interesting. The ending does ... well it will either tickle you or it will completely outrage you. Why would they do that? Well why not could also be the question.
It is also hinted at many times in the story itself. But again, that does not take away your right to not like this or even be outraged by it. If you can overlook this though, there is one very violent and creepy thriller here, with some interesting facets and ideas. Worth your while and ... different. Which I'd argue is a good thing in this case. Very well made (directed and acted)
It is also hinted at many times in the story itself. But again, that does not take away your right to not like this or even be outraged by it. If you can overlook this though, there is one very violent and creepy thriller here, with some interesting facets and ideas. Worth your while and ... different. Which I'd argue is a good thing in this case. Very well made (directed and acted)
Garbage! Horrible Script & Acting
zac-6827423 April 2020
Nothing unnecessary
pesadon26 April 2020
The movie keeps me in a sweet uncertainty which makes me able to watch it till the end. We know almost nothing about the characters, I mean I can't remember the protagonist's name. Acting is not that bad, Pedro Alonso starring especially good. Overall this film doesn't want to save the world, you can see better movies, but it has a strange mood which is not in every thriller.
Meta-Fiction
Pairic30 April 2020
The Silence Of The Marsh: A sort of meta-fiction where reality and invented scenes merge, where it it hard to tell the real from the imagined. A journalist, Q (Pedro Alonso) becomes a successful crime novelist but is still dissatisfied. He sees the corruption around him in his local city, Valencia and decides the march (swamp) must be drained, by any means necessary. Or is he just writing a novel? From the outset this is an extremely violent film as we see a man battered to death, it just turns out to be Alonso at a book reading. We proceed to encounter people being burned to death, shot, struck with axes and stabbed. A confusing film which will leave guessing as well as unsettled. Worth watching though. Directed by Marc Vigil. 6/10. On Netflix.
Disappointed
rennyalonzo2 May 2020
Medium cinematography and fiction, but fluent
tahayasingencer25 April 2020
Cast and starring of Pedro Alonso, versus bad fiction and time waste.
Colour grading wasn't so high quality but 'watchable' but if you want to watch a good movie, you should go for another one.
Role playing of Alonso was really nice, as a psycho and murder psychologic things. Also gives some ideas and mottos to audience. But no satisfacting watch for a masterpiece enthusiasm.
Also directing and visual things were not awful, just parts and scenes were so long and sometimes artificial.
4
Edvis-199729 April 2020
Old story, no added value
Kukkahattuseta26 September 2023
I've watched Spanish films and series that are well produced, directed and acted. Unfortunately, this was not one of them. The plot of the film is worn and nothing new was brought to the structure and plot used. Sometimes very small things can be enough, such as interesting characters, an eccentric soundscape or set design. There was really nothing to grab hold of in this film, as the film was rather hollow in terms of content. This was not helped by the very mediocre performances of the actors. None of the characters were interesting and the dialogue even felt comical at times. The whole film was rather quickly and unbelievably rushed through. The last and only twist in the film was an unfortunate attempt to add some edge to the film. There was also unnecassary graphic violence that added nothing to the plot.
Complex plot potentially kills this movie; but I like it somehow
gabriel_sanchez25 September 2022
The Silence of the Marsh is a linear movie that, later, throws a curve ball down our throats, and then ends, leaving many things open. Nonetheless, I think it is worth the watch if you like slow, drama-heavy, thrillers.
The hardest fact is that I can't, and I don't want to, spoil the movie. So I will leave you guys with the fact that it is open for interpretation. I saw some reviews saying this or that but, to me, you can interpret what you saw in two ways. And both could be right.
I wouldn't recommend this to the casual viewer. The Silence of the Marsh could bore them. This movie is only for hardcore, hard-thinking, people who love cinema.
The hardest fact is that I can't, and I don't want to, spoil the movie. So I will leave you guys with the fact that it is open for interpretation. I saw some reviews saying this or that but, to me, you can interpret what you saw in two ways. And both could be right.
I wouldn't recommend this to the casual viewer. The Silence of the Marsh could bore them. This movie is only for hardcore, hard-thinking, people who love cinema.
Money for the casala papel
nzachar-4040223 April 2020
A nice thriller with plenty of killers and seedy roles , enlivened by high-powered performances
ma-cortes2 September 2021
Set in City of Valencia, Valencia , east to Spain , capital of the Comunidad Autonoma . "Q¨ (Pedro Alonso) is a famous writer of big success and well respected by his enthusiasts , but in real life he's a series killer . This nasty murderer excecutes a criminal spree , one after another , he is coldly killing their victims . He's a solitary man who has a bad relation with his younger brother Nacho (Raul Prieto) . He carries out ominous murders and writing about it as a fiction , and eventually getting magnificent critics of the latest work about the murder of a cabman . Finally , he chooses a known victim called Ferrán Carretero (José Angel Egido) , an ex-counselor of the Comunidad Autonoma , ex-congressman and today a teacher of Applied Economics in the University of Valencia . Then Q kidnapping him and moving him into an old family house in the middle of City of Valencia's marsh and outside the city . Carretero's disappearance pays attention of La Puri (Carmina Barrios) , who usually does dark business with Carretero , as well as Carretero's boss Isabel (Maite Sandoval) , a known politician in the Consellería of Valencia. La Puri sends her second-in-command (Nacho Fresneda) , Falconetti (this name pays tribute to William Smith's Falconetti from Rich man , poor man) to locate Carretero, the latter is a relentless murderer who pursues Q without mercy . As the hit man named Falconetti receives the assignment to kill him but things get complicated and happenings go wrong .
This is an interesting film based on the novella of the same name by Juanjo Braulio, it packs thrills , raw energy , adult subject matter with lots of violence and awesome interpretations . Dealing with a quiet criminal , he is a writer reconverted in an author of crime novel books who becomes involved in a dark cobweb of corruption to get more money and power and spontaneously meets sleazy characters in the middle of a heinous card game . Only at the end , in the last moment of the movie , we are aware of his peculiar redemption. A decent noir/thriller film concerning a hit man and with sinister roles mingled in scandal of corruption , including drug selling , money launderer and reconstructing new buildings for neighborhood . An extremely tough movie burdened by cruel murders and seedy characters with a creepy starring who is more killer than the stories he writes . As our peculiar protagonist has a compulsion to murder what eventually he translates to his novels , but he ultimately becomes involved in a perilous mouse and the cat game where nobody is safe . Nice acting from Pedro Alonso in the main role , he's a two-fisted hit-man who proceeds grisly assassinations and along the way annihilating witnesses , but finally to be trapped unintentionally between two violent and corrupt forces . Plenty of intrigue, atmospheric music by composer Zeltia Montes , colorful cinematography and grisly killings until the surprising finale . It is a very violent movie , depressing charismatic , adequately set , but always strong , with a perfect abstraction of a climate of moral misery to game with the cold environment and appropriate scenarios well photographed by cameraman Isaac Vila . Pedro Alonso gives a good acting as a ruthlessly hit-man who begins a race against time to stop those who want to chase him , he is a cold-blooded psychopath and lonely man because he knows that his activity is really dangerous , who learns about his work and that's why there aren't witnesses . Pedro Alonso is a fine but not very known actor. He is one of the young Spanish actors that became popular for his role in Money Heist or La Casa de Papel . He's well accompanied by a good cast , such as : Carmina Barrios as a powerful gypsy drug-lord , Nacho Fresneda as his second hand and best man , José Ángel Egido as a former politician of long carrier , Àlex Monner , Raúl Prieto and brief appearance by Luis Zahera as a taxi driver.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Marc Vigil , though being slow-moving and containing some flaws and gaps . Marc is a good director who often uses to work for television , making several episodes from popular series , such as : El Ministerio del Tiempo , Malaka , Vis a Vis ,Vivir sin permiso , Nasdrovia , Aguila Roja , Gominolas , Niño Santo, Aída , 7 vidas , among others . Rating : 6/10 , passable and acceptable.
This is an interesting film based on the novella of the same name by Juanjo Braulio, it packs thrills , raw energy , adult subject matter with lots of violence and awesome interpretations . Dealing with a quiet criminal , he is a writer reconverted in an author of crime novel books who becomes involved in a dark cobweb of corruption to get more money and power and spontaneously meets sleazy characters in the middle of a heinous card game . Only at the end , in the last moment of the movie , we are aware of his peculiar redemption. A decent noir/thriller film concerning a hit man and with sinister roles mingled in scandal of corruption , including drug selling , money launderer and reconstructing new buildings for neighborhood . An extremely tough movie burdened by cruel murders and seedy characters with a creepy starring who is more killer than the stories he writes . As our peculiar protagonist has a compulsion to murder what eventually he translates to his novels , but he ultimately becomes involved in a perilous mouse and the cat game where nobody is safe . Nice acting from Pedro Alonso in the main role , he's a two-fisted hit-man who proceeds grisly assassinations and along the way annihilating witnesses , but finally to be trapped unintentionally between two violent and corrupt forces . Plenty of intrigue, atmospheric music by composer Zeltia Montes , colorful cinematography and grisly killings until the surprising finale . It is a very violent movie , depressing charismatic , adequately set , but always strong , with a perfect abstraction of a climate of moral misery to game with the cold environment and appropriate scenarios well photographed by cameraman Isaac Vila . Pedro Alonso gives a good acting as a ruthlessly hit-man who begins a race against time to stop those who want to chase him , he is a cold-blooded psychopath and lonely man because he knows that his activity is really dangerous , who learns about his work and that's why there aren't witnesses . Pedro Alonso is a fine but not very known actor. He is one of the young Spanish actors that became popular for his role in Money Heist or La Casa de Papel . He's well accompanied by a good cast , such as : Carmina Barrios as a powerful gypsy drug-lord , Nacho Fresneda as his second hand and best man , José Ángel Egido as a former politician of long carrier , Àlex Monner , Raúl Prieto and brief appearance by Luis Zahera as a taxi driver.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Marc Vigil , though being slow-moving and containing some flaws and gaps . Marc is a good director who often uses to work for television , making several episodes from popular series , such as : El Ministerio del Tiempo , Malaka , Vis a Vis ,Vivir sin permiso , Nasdrovia , Aguila Roja , Gominolas , Niño Santo, Aída , 7 vidas , among others . Rating : 6/10 , passable and acceptable.
Good start, disappointing development
profesorsaravi27 April 2020
The first minutes of this movie make you expect a good thriller. But that's about it. A poor script, mediocre acting, average cinematography, pretentious plot with at least one obvious hole... The best that I say about this movie is that it isn't so long; just 92 minutes, although they fell like 2 hours.
I definitely love this story
searchanddestroy-111 July 2020
I love it mainly because there is not a real lead, whom you'll see at every scene. It's like a series, where you deal with plenty of interesting characters and whom you may feel empathy for, no matter who they are or what they do. Watch out the scene where Falconetti's character tells his past, his story, with his folks, or in the can. Terrific. Or the old female mob kingpin speaking of her lost family and daughters: outstanding. I guess Falconetti name is a kind of tribute to US TV show from the seventies, - RICH MAN POOR MAN - where the heavy' s name was also Falconetti, one of the most amazing bad guy of all times for a TV show and played by the unforgettable William Smith.Yes, I crave for this kind of topic where you have no good guys vs evil ones. A movie typical from netflix, not for everyone, not for wide audiences, features that you'll never see in theaters. THANKS NETFLIX.
Worth a watch but could have been better.
deloudelouvain4 December 2023
El Silencio Del Pantano (or The Silence Of The Marsh for the English title) is a Spanish movie with Pedro Alonso playing the main character. Since the immensely popular series La Casa De Papel (or Money Heist for the English title) where he played Berlin he's an actor that I enjoy watching. In this movie he did again a good job and so did the rest of the cast. The story itself is entertaining so no complaints about that but the ending was a bit disappointing. It might surprise some viewers but my wife saw it coming and personally I didn't think that was the best option to end the movie. But it's worth a watch nonetheless.
Waist of 30min of my life
brunoamserra24 April 2020
Better silence
spallesi25 April 2020
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