Das verborgene Gesicht

LA CARA OCULTA starts out mediocre, with dialogue that seems cranked out by a ten year old without much imagination -- "Hi, how are you? Good and you? Good, thank you. Would you like something to drink? Yes..." And so on. TV soaps have better dialogue.

Quim Gutierrez' performance is at best lacking. He has two facial expressions that actually look very similar. And Martina Garcia reminds me of Jessica Alba in terms of her looks and her bare minimum acting skills.

I thought the movie might be a bust until, half way through the film, Clara Lagos shows up and the movie becomes a heart-pounding thriller with top notch acting and a series of fascinating and very creepy twists.

My advice: stay through the first so-so hour and you won't be able to turn it off.

And yes, Quim Gutierrez should have rehearsed the role of an orchestra conductor better and...

DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILER!

This Colombian film - quite rare in European cinemas - has a good suspense source, enabling to create a thrilling story about love and its related topics (jealousy, faithfulness, yearning, etc.), visible is rather extreme circumstances. Regretfully, the first half or so is quite plain and protracted, and contains questionable plot elements, e.g. why the police looked on the disappearance matter so seriously. Inclusion of Nazi topic into a Latin American society is not fresh either. True, there were some interesting twists, but the very end could have been more concrete or revenge-related, the current one created a kind of vacuity, no quivering.

Characters seems realistic, but apart from Clara Lago as Belén, there were no catchy performances, preferable particularly in case of events happening in limited space. But all in all, La cara oculta is a far-above-average thriller, with its duration of less than 1,5 hours.

A Spanish orchestra conductor (Quim Gutierrez) deals with the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend (Clara Lago).

I wish that IMDb had half stars, because I was torn between a 7 and an 8. I usually reserve the 8 for the top notch films, but this film was just so close to that mark I feel bad giving it a 7. Definitely one of the most suspenseful films in recent memory.

The imagery is solid, the terror real and plausible. There is nothing in this film that could not happen in real life, and if you dread isolation, starvation or claustrophobia... this may bother you. It is a very strong film with no perfect characters -- the emotions here are also real and very mixed, just like real life.

I was a little torn on the nudity and sexuality. At first, I felt it was a bit much. But as the film went on, I realized that the nudity was not there for an exploitative reason and actually plays an important role as the film goes on. (I cannot really explain further, but I will say it adds to the emotional trauma.) I am grateful to Fox World Cinema for picking this one up -- a real gem.

I love watching films in general, but thrillers are my thing. I love the intense situations and the way my hands sweat while I'm watching it. But, I'm very sorry to say that I haven't watched a good thriller film in quite a while. But La Cara Oculta was a splendid dish of what I like. What would people do for love? How crazy can they become? How thin is the line between love and craziness? This is a film when the roles of good and bad change really quickly, and when you start making your own conclusions on the topic, suddenly something happens and you instantly change the course of your thoughts, seeing someone else as "the bad guy". I really, really loved this film! I think it's a great thriller and it sure kept me interested till the very end. Don't you dare miss it!

Ah, yes, perfect thriller for a rainy afternoon. Events begin in rather predictable, ordinary, mundane fashion: in the very first scene boyfriend receives a Dear John video from girlfriend, she disappears, her whereabouts is a mystery, boyfriend meets new girl, new girl's ex boyfriend - a cop - suspects foul play. What's going on here? At first, go ahead with the snack trips to the refrigerator -- you won't miss much.

But, watch out!

Have you ever watched a blurry, out of focus scene for some time, when suddenly the camera zooms in on a hitherto unnoticed object, the focus becomes razor sharp, and from that moment on everything is changed? Something like this happens here. Once it does, the remainder of the film remains locked on this brand spanking new story and nothing more. Things snap into focus that you hadn't even realized were out of focus. Through the use of unexpected, ironic, playful plot twists and flashback, we suddenly see everything in a new light. So much for trips to the refrigerator.

The use of flashback is particularly fascinating: the viewer witnesses a rerun of the same events, but on second viewing they take on a completely new significance from a different point of view. This is clever stuff. Sure, it's a gimmick, but it works. I suspect Hitchcock would be impressed, and maybe even a little envious.

My point: don't give up on this film, stick it out. If you enjoy thrillers, especially of the mind-variety as opposed to blood and guts, you will not be disappointed. I was literally on the edge of my chair shouting at the TV! We're not talking about a great classic film here, but it is pretty good guilty-pleasure that should keep you riveted through the end.

I have one minor gripe, important to me but probably not to most people: Since classical music has always been a big part of my life, what drew me to the film initially was that the main character is an orchestra conductor. I was disappointed in the music. Familiar themes are bastardized all the time in commercials and other venues that are designed for the general public or for special effects. But this is a story about a conductor, who is working with a real orchestra (Bogotá, Columbia) that is actually playing the music, not "lip synching". Excerpts from a movement of a Beethoven symphony begin true enough, but very soon, alas, the music dissolves into corny clichés that I'm sure would send poor Ludwig spinning in his grave. Unfortunately this same pattern is repeated each time we see and hear the orchestra, with Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Brahms. Can they not let Beethoven be Beethoven, must he be improved upon? On the other hand, almost making up for this regrettable sin: in the credits, every single member of the Bogotá Orchestra is listed, instrument by instrument. I don't recall seeing this in a film before. Bravo. I'm sure the musicians are appreciative.