Elix

Ok.. this is not an easy film to see, but I have to confess that I enjoyed every minute of the gross and rudeness of it... The performances are all great (at less I think they were all much more than believable) specially Laura Morante as Begoña... wow! The presence of Miguel Bosé was quite good, and the performance of young Miguel Angel Garcia was quite fine, even impressive... I think that this picture might be misunderstood as a poor and grotesque film but in fact I see it much more like an introspection of the human nature before adversities... Vicente Aranda probes to be a very risked director... I loved his work in Amantes but this is a total different kind of film making. Great ending, great ideas... pure originality. If you like bizarre movies about the alienation of human beings this is the one!

Great performances through all the film, and that´s always good to see. But I have to say that this is one of the most weird, almost freak, and poor screenplay that I´ve seen in the Venezuelan film industry... it leads you to a pessimistic, post-modern and apocaliptic future in Venezuela, where the corruption is unbearable and the poverty is out of control. Though it is very (maybe too much) original and initially interesting, doesn´t have any strength to keep you asking for more... in fact, if it wasn´t for the amazing performances (Amalia Pérez Díaz above all... definitely she is the best actress of Venezuela., what a work!) you´d wish the film to finish in half an hour. The prison scene with the people screaming is quite creepy and maybe the best of the film. The only good point of the screenplay is the relationship between Amalia´s character with her two sons. This film probes that you can do a quite good film just with great actors and a good direction, but it´s also the probe that a potential great picture may go down without a good screenplay.

Desnudo con Naranjas is one of the best films ever done in Venezuela. It is Lamata (the director) at his best; he just made a fine piece of art in all senses: from art direction to acting, from cinematography to music. I just can say that this is an almost perfect film. It leads you to a journey through a very difficult period of our history: the Federal War, and you can witness a very original period love story with typical elements of the Latinamerican culture, such as magic realism and the limitless passion of a barbaric point of view, proper of a hurted and conflicted nation, but in a very personal way. An indian soldier and a misterious mute woman (two of the most imprehesive and outstanding performances that I have ever seen in any picture of any country) are the leading couple who share their moments and through problems live their romance. If you want to know the Latin American films or you already know them and like them, this is the film to see. It´s the film to know a little bit of our culture, specifically, the venezuelan.