Insomnio

¨Sleepless in Madrid¨ or ¨Insomnio¨ is a touching and interesting drama with comedy adding emotion , love stories and amusing elements ; including enjoyable performances , with roles very well developed . Insomnio joins three lives : a single mother (Cristina Marcos) who needs to maintain her job as a TV producer and seeks new apartment ; her neighbor girl (Candela Peña), a stage actress without a penny to her name who has suffered a loving break and a young (Ernesto Alterio) who doubts upon his sentimental future and about get married to his jealous girlfriend (Maria Pujalte) . All of them have insomnia and will have to make some decisions that could cost them everything .

This is an entertaining Dramedy : Drama and comedy ; it describes vividly Spanish existences about a few characters . It is a moving picture plenty of passion , romances , love breaking , human relationships and many other things . The movie explores issues of middle and lower classes with bad-paid , part-time works , examining the way in which a society , especially young people , react to the ordinary problems throughout their lives . It is an examination of sensitivity contemporary , social and habit concerns . From start to finish the intense drama , enjoyable comedy , thrills , emotion and surprises are continuous . Interesting and stirring screenplay by Juan Flahn , the prestigious Fernando León de Aranoa and the same director Chus Gutiérrez . This brooding as well as attractive flick can be defined as a thought-provoking drama , an exciting fresco with emotion , love stories and a social fable . It contains enjoyable and interesting moments as the picture is more a drama than a comedy film . It's an acceptable movie but it also has ups and downs , resulting to be slow-moving , too . Anyway , its is compensated with the great performances , as the cast gets credible and nuanced acting that enrich the flick . This film grabs our attention , beginning with a really agreeable performance from Cristina Marcos and Candela Peña . In fact , Cristina Marcos won award Best Actress for Insomnio in Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival , 1998 . Support cast is pretty good such as Ginés García Millán , Fele Martínez , Saturnino García , Alberto San Juan , Chete Lera , Mariola Fuentes , Antonio De La Torre who usually plays in Chus Gutierrez's films and Amara Carmona who starred ¨Alma Gitana¨ . The movie packs a charming and brilliant musical score by Mateo Alonso . And adequate as well as atmospheric cinematography by Arnaldo Catinari , being shot on locations from Madrid .

The yarn is always dramatic as well as hilarious when is executed with style and the filmmaker certainly seems to have that . The motion picture well produced by Cesar Benitez was professionally directed by Chus Gutiérrez . She is one of the best Spanish directors who has realized some good films such as ¨Alma Gitana¨, ¨Sexo Oral¨ , ¨Sublet¨, ¨Ciudad Delirio¨ , ¨Calentito¨ and a diptych titled ¨Poniente¨ along with ¨Retorno a Hansal¨ , both of them dealing with illegal immigration and a similar cast as Jose Coronado , Cuca Escribano , Antonio Dechent and Antonio De La Torre .

Seeing half way through this movie... it was very easy to pick up from and know that there were: 3 couples, Insomnio demonstrates the highs and lows of these couples in a hilarious yet realistic manner....

Maybe some people dont like this movie because its not your typical "Sleepless in Seattle" romantic comedy! I on the other hand like it because of this! It is in fact realistic and warm, however does not reach the point of soppy, tacky and lovey-dovey...

SEE IT BOYS AND GIRLS

For a comedy I find this film rather dull and unexciting. It's about the trials and tribulations of three young couples falling in and out of love. The film embraces all the petty annoyances and frustrations that beset us in our day to day lives. There are very few high spots in the film. The presence of long-haired Juan (Ernesto Alterio) should perhaps be mentioned. It's then that the scenes start to come alive and dare I say sparkle? The church scene at the end of the film is perhaps the best when Juan tells his bride as they move down the aisle that he doesn't love her. But she insists that they must get married. "We can get a divorce tomorrow". Maybe I don't concentrate enough, but I find the various characters and their relationships rather confusing. Perhaps a second viewing can sort this out for me. No! I prefer to watch something else. The truth is...too many films like this one could result in a serious inability to laugh and that would be a shame because comedies are made for laughter. But not this one!

Sleep deprivation is what this film is primarily about but the beauty in it is the levels it goes to. Why are the individuals experiencing insomnia? Gender relations are explored and reflect resistance from the Franco regime in this Spanish film directed by a female director, leading to feminist attitudes. The film is a journey in many ways. It's intriguing, it really is.

This is a sometimes sad, most of the time sparkling comedy that describes vividly Spanish life at that moment, and situations that could cause insomnia to most persons. I think anyone in the world could enjoy that film, although perhaps you must see the original version to catch all its humour. I give it 9/10.