El milagro de P. Tinto

Good film, I loved it.

El Milagro de P.Tinto is a mixture of the slapstick and the sick humour, a sort of "slapsick", if you will. It takes pains not to base the film in reality (which is a good thing: all too often comedy is sacrificed to the god of reality - why? Life appears to be more tragedy than comedy). The visual effects are nicely realised, and the humour leaps out of every frame. If you´re an English-speaker who is learning Spanish, you could do a lot worse than see this film, as the humour is very visual, so it is easy to understand.

But most of the Spanish people I´ve been talking to absolutely hated it. They all say the same thing: that the film is stupid, a silly, pointless film with little to recommend it. The question is: is your local cinema a place for such a film?

The thing is, I came, I saw it, I laughed (a lot), and I left. It was a good way to pass a couple of hours. After all, isn´t that what cinema´s about, entertainment? And P.Tinto certainly entertained. It is a witty, observational view of the world (if a little warped). The cinematography is excellent, and it takes pains to replicate the atmosphere created by other classic films (the opening sequence, set in the psychiatric hospital is a good example, as is the parody of E.T.).

So, come on, Spain - stop worrying about the intellectual impact of the movie and see El Milagro de P.Tinto for what it really is: a bloody good laugh.

This film is wonderful. It opens with a superbly parodied Kafka parody in black and white set in an insane asylum, complete with Polish dialogue, subtitles, and bureaucratic "Fraktur-ized" Spanish signs and directives all about. It ends with a black and white newsreel from years earlier, and in between occurs some of the wildest comedy I've ever seen, including Martians, a time machine, an African child delivered in answer to an adoption prayer, a remodel contractor who goes bezerk, an express train that roars by every twenty-five years... I could go on and on, since that's just what the film does, with one wild idea after the next. Certain ideas which seemed in questionable taste or too corny at first encounter I grew to appreciate as time progressed, since the wild ideas of this film are cleverly developed, not simply dropped in search of new inspiration.

The central plot of the film is a man's longing for a suitable heir to the Pinto family enterprise, a "oblea" - communion wafer factory, and his struggle to conserve a centuries-long contract with the Vatican - that is, if he can't make more money by going into pizza or quick-order chicken. But this film has several parallel plots (as more of today's novels should) which I won't describe. I don't wish to spoil anyone's fun by over-divulging.

My DVD version came with a choice of English and French subtitles. Of course for the Polish scenes, Spanish ones are automatic. It is not necessary to know Spanish to love this film, but try to appreciate the tone and style of the Martians' speech. This film is a delight! Wonderful! It's rated, I believe, suitable for all audiences - at least all Spanish audiences. There is sexual humor, however, and some death (black humor) - indeed, there's about every sort of non-crude humor ever devised. Still, I would hesitate to show it to young children.

Laugh, laugh and more laugh. The story can't be told but the fun time you have is more than a standard script. The best moment, the revisited ET phone home. A carpetovetonic flight to another era and time...

Go javier,go. The Oscar is awaiting you

It's been a long time since I last saw a Spanish comedy this genial! It has a little of everything and everything is in its place. Like a giant puzzle where all the pieces fit and not even one is missing. No loose ends, no nonsense. The two parallel stories join when we least expect it and after all we have seen and laugh we are sure there's more. We just don't know if it will keep the level or will go higher. P. Tinto (Luis Ciges) and his wife had tried everything in the book to have a child, to no avail. They need children to take care of them and the family business. One of the problems is that ''dad'' never told ''son'' about the flowers and the bees and when ''son'' heard it through the grapevines, he got everything wrong. The couple move to a lonely place where the train passes every 25 years. Pray to God for a miracle and one day they get it. Two cute little martians arrive at their door and they take them as their own. Now they're happy but could be happier, so they write to the African Embassy in order to adopt a little orphan from over there. I need to stop here. Everything is hilarious and you have to see it to enjoy it!

No doubt, this is one of the most memorable spanish films ever made. The oddball sense of humour is entwined with what actually is a touching story which will not be easily forgotten; (and if you're the type to appreciate this kind of wacko-hilariousness, the four-seconds time reversal scene is one the greatest momentos that could come to mind!)