La noche de los girasoles

"When the sunflower plant, Helianthus annuus, is in the bud stage, the head and the leaves do indeed track the path of the Sun. The genus name Helianthus is from the Greek helios "sun" and anthos "flower". Interestingly, however, and contrary to popular belief, once the massive topmost flower opens into the radiance of yellow petals, it slows and then stops moving, ending up permanently facing east." ---Solar flower, New Scientist, 3 August 2002

Why am I quoting this interesting trivia? Sunflower buds, we all know, keep moving but a stage comes when it does not move any further. Why am I discussing the night? That's the name of the film. The only teeny-weeny bit about sunflowers in the film But then the sun is not relevant for the night, is it? The near oxy-moronic title give a life to the movie after the film is over—in many ways similar to the disturbing Austrian-French film "Cache" made by Michael Haneke. For a cineaste who can sit through the film right up to the end of the film, the real punch line from the director comes in the form of an audible TV program statement about bees in a beehive, that do not attack unless provoked. This is an innocuous fact but is loaded with meaning in the context of the film's ending. This is a statement heard by the unpunished rapist on the prowl.

The Spanish director Sánchez-Cabezudo's film is based on his own script. (He is the latest among formidable Spanish directors making good films based on their own scripts, following the tradition of the gifted directors, Amenabar and Almodovar). Most viewers would appreciate or find good entertainment in the film while mulling over in the different non-linear narrative segments of the story of rape, vigilante killing, extra-marital sex, corruption, village vs urban comparisons, love for a dead spouse. Each segment provides a different Rashomon-type perspective of sections of the same story from a different angle, as seen by a different character. The director uses a technique used in modern pulp literature most recently used by Dan Browne for his book The Da Vinci Code. While the technique might baffle a few, most viewers would derive entertainment as they are constantly challenged to derive the entertainment.

The film offers dollops of entertainment ice-cream that most viewers want—-mystery, exploration of new found caves, a rape scene, a brief scene of violent death, and some endearing performances from the actors. If presented as a straight chronological narrative—the story could be made into a typical Hollywood thriller. But why is it different? It is different because of its end.

That is where the director and screenplay writer scores a bull's-eye—for a patient viewer who does not leave the theater once he sees the end credits begin to roll. The comment about the bees drive home the uncomfortable, parallel moral issues that Haneke raised in "Cache." Europeans and many of us prefer to retain status quo rather than rake up disturbing moral and social issues. It is convenient for us to do so. It is not because the issues are resolved. In this film the main culprit, a rapist is never brought to justice. If an attempt was made to bring him to justice, three persons would go behind bars for manslaughter, a homicide would surface, the reputation of an erring wife would become public knowledge, a good policeman's daughter would find out that her husband and father of her unborn baby is a corrupt cop and so on.

The film is, therefore, not merely a film to be appreciated for its structure but its underpinning question on morality. The film shows us that evil is not limited to a rapist but to the best of us. A good man could do evil in a fraction of a second. And to defend lesser evils, the bigger evil gets away. Only to scar our conscience for ever. Spanish cinema is on the move this decade. Sánchez-Cabezudo's film is good but the post-script in his screenplay is truly formidable. There indeed comes a time these days when "sunflowers" mature, stop turning towards the sun and only face the east.

Because it is convenient!

Intriguing thriller packed with stellar acting , superb cinematography and colorful rural landscapes . Gripping and stirring picture , set in the rural environment of the deep Spain , in which there's a fine line between genre conventions and outright clichés . It happens in the deep Spanish lands , a village in a remote and forgotten location . In the north of Spain , "Esteban" (Carmelo Gomez) and "Pedro" (Mariano Alameda) are two speleologist who come to a mountainous area to study the discovery of a cavern and determine whether it has scientific interest or is useless . They are accompanied by "Gabi" (Judith Diakhate), the sweetheart of Esteban , who awaits them at the foot of the mountain . While the cavers are exploring a cave near from village Gabi is approached by a stranger (Manuel Moron) rooted in a misogynistic past and is attacked in the nearby woods . His reaction leads to a tragic chain of events . The deeds bring together a pair of different Guardias Civiles , First Corporal (Celso Bugallo) and Tomás (Vicente Romero) . As two deputies attempt to track down a criminal who has terrorized an easy community .

Formula thriller filled with gritty intrigue , crisply edition , tension , suspenseful and a little of violence . It is a story of interwoven lives structured into six parts , crossed by a web of suspense that is resolved in the last story in a surprising finale . The flick revolves around a tragic event becomes complex throughout the movie . This serious and truly original film with groundbreaking narrative results to be a fantastically intriguing story of ambition , corruption , deceiving and killing , being very well done , swiftly paced and including a twisted screenplay . Interesting theme about some potholers and authority enforcements , slipping outside the bounds of the law through their use of lies as well as half-truths ; including corrupt deputies who attempt to carry out objectives by whatever means ; however this issue has been previously treated in many other films , especially American ones . It has emotional or aesthetic resonance , even comforting in some ways , and partly because is just more attuned to nuanced variations on what might appear to be mere formula . The plot is twisted but plenty of thrills and surprises . This intelligently made picture relies heavily on a complicated plot , interweaving disparate characters , ordinary people , detectives to investigate a grisly killing and many other things . This moving motion picture contains stylistic boldness and energy . There are six regular characters faced with extreme situations, and perhaps one of the main objectives Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo got was precisely to show how the ordinary villagers can cause a situation so complicated and dramatic . It's a pretty good film in which the main and support cast give a good work there are great characters , everyone does their job perfectly . Secondary actors are frankly well such as Celso Bugallo , Manuel Morón , Vicente Romero , Cesareo Estebanez , Petra Martinez , and special mention for veteran Walter Vidarte as nutty Amós

Thrilling as well as evocative musical score by Krishna Levy who has composed successful as ¨8 Women ¨, "Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets" and ¨The Fall¨ . Colorful as well as dark cinematography by Angel Iguacel . Excellent debut from Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo (writer and director) with this film "La Noche de Los Girasoles" a great Noir Cinema film set in the rural Spanish location . This is his only picture , "The Night of the Sunflowers" he would go on writing/directing series and TV episodes such as ¨Bajo Sospecha¨, ¨Velvet¨, ¨Gran Hotel¨, ¨Victor Ros¨ , ¨Hispania¨, ¨Guante Blanco¨, ¨Crematorio¨, ¨Hospital Central¨, among others . ¨The night of the sunflowers¨ is an award-winning movie such as Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Won CEC Award Best Actor Carmelo Gómez , Best New Artist : Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo , Best Supporting Actor : Celso Bugallo ; Miami Film Festival 2007 Won Audience Award Ibero-American Competition Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo won Special Mention Dramatic Features - Ibero-American Cinema Competition For the musical soundtrack ; Sant Jordi Awards 2007 Won Sant Jordi Best First Work ; Spanish Actors Union 2007 : Won Award of the Spanish Actors Union Film: Performance in a Minor Role, Male Manuel Morón ; Turia Awards 2007 Won Best First Work Best Director : Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo

This movie is outstanding. The non-linear plot reveals itself little by little taking you by surprise at every turn. It all begins with a rape which already happened a day or two ago. The body is found in the middle of a field of sunflowers. All of this, we get it second hand from TV newscasts while the main characters carry on with their ordinary lives somewhere else. We -the viewers- are lead to follow a caver about to explore a virgin cave near a remote village, his girlfriend, two old disgruntled neighbors on an abandoned village who can't stand each other, a salesman, the disloyal police officer, ... We get to see every character from various viewpoints and how somehow their lives are connected without them knowing yet...

And then tragedy and human resolve -call it selfishness or greed- take over everybody's action.

The pace of revelation and the acting work like clockworks. This could happen, this is (s)pain after all.

Watch out for this guy -the director- for this is his first and for sure it won't be his last.

This is way up there with the best thrillers, like France's recent 'Tell No One'. It has the moody, brooding atmosphere of Jules Dassin's old classic '10:30 PM Summer'. Who is Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo? Is it true this is his first feature film? How can he be such a master from 'birth'? He wrote it as well. We are onto something here, a major international talent has appeared 'down there', and he is better than Pedro Almodovar in my opinion. When do we get the next one? It's enough to make you want to rush right out and eat some tapas, or something even more drastic than that perhaps. This is a wonderful study also of the clash of peasant and modern cultures. The acting is all flawlessly executed by a team of brilliant actors and actresses, but perhaps the best of all is an actor named Walter Vidarte, whose portrayal of 'Mad Amos' is as good as John Mills as the loonie in 'Ryans Daughter', and don't forget that won an Oscar. But all of these Spanish names are lost on me. I know who Miguel de Unamuno is, but not Carmelo Gomez, so there is not much to say but that they are all so good they must have a secret society in Spain called the Let's Make a Really Good Film and Not Tell Anybody Who We Are Society, whose members cleverly disguise themselves with strange Spanish names. They say Spain is part of mainstream European culture, but I don't believe it. But it is certainly now part of the top European film culture. More please. I might even start to remember some of the names if I could see them more than once.

I am always amazed at the number of Spanish directors who make movies outside the country and, also, have their movies premiered in various countries. Jaume Collet-Serra with "House of Wax"; Jaume Balagueró and "Darkness"; Alejandro Amenabar with "The Others" and "The Sea Inside"; now a guy with the sequel of "28 Days Later" and, of course, Almodóvar.

The fact is that, if you realize, they are surprisingly good at achieving terror (or at least suspense); if you consider the films mentioned above. Well, there's a man named Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo, and his film "La noche de los girasoles" ("The Night of the Sunflowers" in English) has definitely got some suspense, among other things.

To begin with, the screenplay (by the director himself) has an unbelievable earnestness in its way of depicting people that have nothing to do with one another but, because of how small the world is, end up completely connected. How can I not get bored of movies that connect different things that ultimately become one? It's beginning to appear as an overly used technique with screenplays, but Sánchez-Cabezudo's sense of reality lets us forgive this little detail.

His ingenuity comes from the fact that he presents each of the situations, with a very sarcastic written sentence in the black screen. Then, he places the characters in a completely remote area of the Spanish country where nothing interesting ever happens…Until now, and it's better if I don't reveal any of the plot; because the events that happen target these people's need for excitement.

Try to think that the movie is the typical American 'slasher' where teenagers on the road end up in a deserted town and someone (or something) tries to hunt them down. Now change the teenagers for grown up people, and that 'someone' for nothing. There's no reason why something should be waiting for you in the most boring place; but that's the way 'slashers' think.

In this unexciting environment, when one character comes from work, his wife asks how everything went and he has no better answer than: "The same as usual". Actually, this is a phrase that the script didn't even need to include, because the viewer understands the monotony the characters live with immediately.

The actors portray all these mixed feelings with accuracy; specially Celso Bugallo as an old cop near retirement, and Vicente Romero as a younger one who, at one point, has to deal with a case while being drunk. The rest of the cast couldn't seem to be more normal than you and me; the kind of people you can imagine existing, with the slight difference that the scary music that plays in the background as they drive wouldn't play in their regular cars.

"La noche de los girasoles" captures your attention as the director captures the attention of his characters with his simple but original style; because the movie is, if anything, an exercise of perspectives, and one that you won't regret watching.