I had seen the film a year ago, but I don't think I ever reviewed it. Last weekend I watched it again, getting new appreciations about the film, which I come to tell you in this post.
Pedro Alonso, the actor that everyone knows for the character of Berlin, in the successful Spanish series La Casa de Papel (Money Heits) was chosen to star in the film, a wise choice, taking advantage of the fact that in that year he was one of the Spanish actors of the moment. The TV series made him known around the world and his presence in the film was the perfect hook to attract viewers.
Don't get carried away by some bad reviews made by youtubers or Rottentomatoes style pages. I'm always wary of the opinions left by users of those sites, because most of them comprise an age where they only like Marvel movies. Don't trust my opinion either, because I'm not a professional film critic, I'm just a person who likes weird movies.
I think the ambiguity of the character and especially the ending of the movie, is what led to a high percentage of negative reviews. Also the narrative is somewhat fragmented, but that was what I liked most about the film.
The film is based on the first novel published by the Spanish writer and journalist, Juanjo Braulio, who has worked in several media outlets in his country, including the ABC newspaper. The novel, with the same title, was published in 2015 and was well received by readers. The author published his second novel : Sucios y malvados in 2017: The book has very good reviews and I already have it in digital format, because I want to read it before they make a film adaptation in the future. Those who have read it, say that it surpasses the first novel in everything. I'll let you know what I thought of it when I finish reading it.
What is the plot of the movie?
Q, is the name of the main character, a writer of crime novels, who has a good life, his success as a writer makes him interact with people in the spheres of power in Valencia, Spain. He has a brother with whom he shares part of his time, but he also has another hidden facet, apparently he acts as a vigilante and commits some of the crimes he writes about in his novels. One day he kidnaps a Valencian politician, linked to the gypsies, which causes the woman who leads the criminal organization, to entrust one of his best hitmen, his location. A series of violent events will be unleashed, with dire consequences for everyone. But is it all a product of the writer's fantasy? What is real and what is fiction? Is it part of one of his novels or is it the sad reality?
The story features two narrative arcs, which will fit into the climax of the film. The first narrative arc is the life of Q, the writer, who from an excellent opening sequence, we are led to believe is a murderous psychopath. At the end of that sequence, we realize the ambiguity of the story, we are given the rules of the game, fiction and reality will mix.
If you accept the rules, I assure you that you will enjoy the film, otherwise, you will be in the group of people who were not very happy with its viewing.
The second narrative arc follows the life of a character named Falconetti, a criminal who works for La Puri, the woman who leads crime in an area of Valencia. We will delve into this marginal underworld, where the life of these criminals unfolds. The sudden disappearance of the politician with whom they had business and agreements, will turn on the alarm lights. Falconetti will be in charge of investigating what happened, he will be thrown into a path where violence will be unleashed with dire consequences for some characters.
The main character is Q, but Faconetti is the one I find most attractive, as I am fascinated by everything related to the criminal world in cinema, the contrasts in the film are quite marked.
Q's scenes unfold with a more leisurely tone, a slower pace, in keeping with the character's personality, meticulous, careful. In contrast, Falconetti's life is more hectic, noisy, in addition to being a tough character. He is a survivor of the concrete jungle, loyal to his boss and willing to do anything to carry out the orders he has been given.
Both characters, from different social strata, have in common that each of them navigates in the midst of a sea of social decadence. Falconetti interacts with common, street-level criminals. But Q moves in the environments of powerful criminals, politicians and wealthy people who pull the strings of power in Valencia.
There is within the message of the film, a criticism of the established power, of the political corruption prevailing in society, something that is also present in the novel. I do not doubt that in the book is probably better explained and developed this part of the story, there are many elements and from my point of view they have made an acceptable adaptation.
The tension of the story is increasing every time the characters get closer to the final part. There is a fight scene that is excellently shot, conveying a great charge of violence and with a surprising twist, with tragic consequences for a secondary character.
Every act has consequences, and what character Q does leads to problems that will directly affect him. His act of justice initiates a violent manhunt that will end with an ambiguous final climax, like the beginning of the film.
Who is the team behind the film?
The director of the film is Marc Vigil, a Spanish filmmaker, screenwriter and TV director, known for directing episodes of successful series, such as El ministerio del tiempo, Vis a vis, Águila Roja, Vivir sin permiso and Malaka, which was another crime thriller, set in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Malaga. I saw that series, which only had one season, and I have no news as to whether it will be renewed. The filmmaker has also worked in Mexico on the series Diablo Guardián and among his most recent projects is the series Nasdrovia, which I have not yet reviewed.
The difficult adaptation of the novel was in the hands of screenwriters Sara Antuña and Carlos de Pando. I liked the work of both the screenwriters and the director, although the filmmaker has more experience in TV series, I hope he will soon make other films, I think the crime thriller genre suits the filmmaker very well.
Marc Vigil looked for people known and around him for this film, so the director of photography was in charge of Isaac Vila, who has already worked with the filmmaker in the series El Ministerio del tiempo. Among his other works are several comedy films, such as Perdiendo el norte. But it is in the TV series and in this film, where he manages to stand out with the photography work. The scenes in the house by the lake are beautiful.
The music is always an important factor for a thriller to catch us, for this project, the composer Zeltia Montes, who a year ago I saw another excellent thriller where she was also in charge of the music, the film Adiós, starring Mario Casas and that I recommend you to see, was in charge of that section.
As I told you at the beginning of the post, Pedro Alonso is the actor who plays Q. The crime writer who seems to have a double life, being an urban vigilante. His character is more restrained, totally opposite to what people might expect, perhaps many wanted to see another performance in the style of his character in La Casa de Papel. I liked his characterization, although perhaps his narrative arc is not as interesting as many expected.
It is actor Nacho Fresneda who plays the delinquent Falconetti. The one that caught my attention and I liked him the most. He is a very shady character, violent, who gets angry for anything, he is always in a bad mood, he looks like a bomb about to explode. He's the kind of person you wouldn't want to meet on the road. Fresneda gives an excellent performance, the actor is already known for being one of the protagonists of the series El Ministerio del Tiempo. If you want to see him in another movie, I recommend Rodrigo Sorogoyen's El reino.
Carmina Barrios plays La Puri. This lady is great, in Spain everybody knows her, she is the mother of the actress María León and the actor and filmmaker Paco León, two famous people in the world of cinema and television. She also rose to fame when she starred in the movie Carmina o Revienta, directed by her son, which had a second part. I also recommend you to watch this movie. Her character La Puri, is the head of the gypsy mafia in Valencia and will give the order to find the missing politician.
The rest of the cast is formed by José Ángel Egido as Carretero. Àlex Monner plays Fran. Maite Sandoval plays Isabel and Raúl Prieto, an actor I saw a couple of months ago in the miniseries Antidisturbios, plays Nacho. Also, in a small appearance, is the actor Luis Zahera, winner of the Goya for Supporting Actor for the film El Reino. His character is short and only appears in the opening sequence, but what a good actor he is.
Overall, I liked the film, the murky atmosphere of the crime and the scenes of violence I love. The ambiguity of the characters and the story, where reality and fiction seem to merge, not making it clear, is what I love about this film.
It may not be to your total liking, but I would like you to give it a chance, watch it and draw your own conclusions. I'm just here to give you my opinion and to recommend it, if you like thrillers with crime and violence, this one has a gripping atmosphere.
It is available on Netflix, which acquired the rights for its distribution and was released on its platform last year. When you see it, leave your opinion in the comments, I don't care if they are different from mine, if you think the movie is trash, tell me the reasons and if you liked it, tell me your impressions.
See you in the next review.
My Ranking: 3.4/5
Trailer
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