En la ciudad sin límites

This film was best film in the Berlinale 2002. I have seen 4 films a day during the festival and there was no film like this. Great actors, great script, intelligent and thrilling. Everything you need for a great film was in this movie. Congratulations to Spain for their great film industry. For me the best in Europe.

I saw this movie by chance on a cable channel so i had no previous info about it. That's nice because there are no expectations, and the story kinda flows that way, it seems to be, at the beginning, a movie about a dying man, father of the central family and some trouble about money starts to pop, but the delusions of the sick father then begin to take importance, an enigma is brought to the ongoing lives of the family. Then movie starts turning around as some truths come up and finally a very unexpected ending. Thought it is a very slow an moody picture it has a nice rhythm, novelesque type. Acting is good specially by the leading roles (The father (Max) and his son (Victor). Music's really good and adequate for each scene. Some of this actors appear in some Almodovar films so it's a good casting i guess.

This is a movie with strong acting and a suspenseful intrigue that successfully peels open layer by layer to leave a sentiment of understanding and satisfaction to the attentive audience.

"En la ciudad sin limites" is the story of a Spanish family (Madrid) who is gathered in Paris to support the 'pater familia' in his fight against a terminal illness. Family secrets and tense relations will surface and the dying old man, secretive as can be, will nonetheless give clues to what is really going on in the city without limits.

This Spanish and Argentinian co-production is a testament to the collaboration of nations to produce top-notch film-making with an excellent cast, great directing, deep and compelling storytelling, and the power of a incredible cinematic experience.

There are so many interesting stories intertwined that some will be left without clear answers, and this is particularly effective because of the care taken to flesh out believable flawed characters that make us attached and concerned about their lives. Lives that are no less complicated and problematic than our own.

You will experience unexpected turns hand and hand with the characters and be able to not only relish the story and the denouement of the complex plot, but to appreciate this portray of the drives and constraints of men.

The trailer might be misleading but that is not to say that 'En La Ciudad Sin Límites' is a letdown. It reminded me of a Barbara Vine novel where a family is introduced and then subtle hints display that not all is what it seems and there are secrets to be discovered. It can be described as a thriller because the viewer is kept in constant suspense about Max's mystery. Even the subplots, like Carmen and Victor's romance, adds to the characterization. Antonio Hernández is a competent director and the way he sets the premise and tells the story is compelling. There are some nice scenic shots of Paris but that seems to add more to the mystery and complexities of the story. Victor Reyes's sometimes soft and sometimes erratic score works well. It reminded me of Philip Glass's work. The cinematography works adequately. The performances are solid with Fernando Fernán Gómez and Leonardo Sbaraglia owning the film. Of the supporting cast the beautiful Ana Fernández shines while Geraldine Chaplin is convincing as the cold hearted Marie. 'En La Ciudad Sin Límites' is a product of excellent storytelling, fine acting, very good direction and money well put by Spanish and Argentinian production teams.

"You must find the way out", declares the tagline. It's, with one simple look, referring to the movie's title; "The City of No Limits", and how to get away from it. That's how you would imagine, but it's much more complex. It's a way out of problems and situations involving a family…A way to show what happens when a family is separated for a long time and meets again.

I decided to watch this movie, mainly, because I saw Leticia Brédice's name somewhere. She's probably my favorite Argentinean actress and I love to see her in movies (because she also works in television). I considered that reason enough, but I was glad I found Leonardo Sbaraglia too. He's an excellent character actor that was born in Argentina but, like many others, tried luck in Spain and did many movies in both countries.

"En la ciudad sin límites" is a co-production between Spain and Argentina…This co-productions fail almost all the times, because the writers have to invent plot elements to set locations in any of those countries. But not this movie…This movie is set mostly in France…It includes characters living in Argentina, in Spain, but once the family is reunited, it's France.

Director Antonio Hernández takes great advantage of this, and his camera travels through Paris' streets, from building to building, from house to house, from hotel to hotel; even when the main situations occur in a hospital floor…Less, a hospital room. In this room, Max (Fernando Fernán Gómez) is dying and this joins the whole family together. Spanish and French words are spoken all over by different and peculiar characters; in an objective demonstration of how life goes round and round. It happens with my family today. I have family in France, in Peru, in Venezuela, in Argentina…Sometimes it happens that events join us.

I won't expand on the things that all the characters experience (each of them has at least one magical moment); because in the end, even when there's a main event, there's a treatment and for every person of the family…That's what the movie makes us watch and hear. Víctor (Leonardo Sbaraglia) is Max's son and has to secretly help him find a person, Rancel (Alfredo Alcón), that probably doesn't even exists, because Max is probably going crazy, or back to the past. Víctor is married to Eileen (Leticia Brédice), and meets in the reunion with Pilar (Adriana Ozores), his brother's Alberto (Álex Casanovas) wife, and his own old lover. Luis (Roberto Álvarez) was married to Carmen (Ana Fernández) and had to children, but now they're separated and in Paris for different reasons; when Luis' girlfriend, Beatriz (Mónica Estarreado) gives a surprise visit...Marie (Geraldine Chaplin), Max's wife and the boys' mother, is quiet and lonely; also keeping something hidden.

Writing is outstandingly correct, with the director and his collaborator coming up with an interesting and emotional story mixing emotions with mystery…And that's probably the film's dilemma. It has a side where it wants to work as a suspense movie, thriller; and it could have gone wrong, but it didn't because the elements are correctly combined and I managed myself to put all together in my mind as a powerful movie with all its things. In the movie's intent for the thriller genre, and the mix I'm talking about, it was difficult for the team to get the right structure. Luckily, it all came out fine indeed; with a score by Víctor Reyes that has its totally strange moments, but at the same time powerful and moving moments with inspiring melodies.

The acting by the entire ensemble is decent. Sbaraglia highlights as Víctor, in a very natural performance with a lot of commitment. Adriana Ozores also highlights as Pilar, and carries some powerful scenes in her shoulders. The pros Gómez and Alcón are lovable in their characters, Chaplin gives strength to a simple Marie, Álvarez generates laughs with his Luis, Fernández goes crazy as Carmen, Casanovas makes everything look easy through Alberto's eyes, Estarreado looks as she needs to but does little as Beatriz and Brédice; well…She's still the Leticia I love to see.

The film deals with some fresh strong issues in its dramatic moments; but don't be fooled. This is not a movie about prejudices and opinions about people. It's about what each human being thinks is best for it, deciding in order to get that; and those decisions can cause lots of troubles.