Ficción

Fiction is a deliberately slow-paced film about relationships. What is really honourable about the film is that it is not just about one-on-one type relationships but rather the larger picture encompassing family and friends. There is no doubt the Alex (?) (the protagonist, filmmaker) is passionately attracted to Monica (the violinist) as one learns much later on, however, that is not the point. There is a scene when the couple is hiking and she says to Alex, if your fictional characters were here (on this mountain top) right now what would they be doing? They would be lost in their own thoughts or world, he responds. And that is what this couple is about: they are attracted and feel extremely close, but their thoughts are preoccupied by their respective families. Alex and Monica are, and that is the central dialogue in the film, deeply invoked in their own relationships. Thus Gay makes it quite clear that life is multi-tiered and that there are consequences to unbridled passion. However, this reality does not preclude the possibility of desire and attraction. In other words the whole pace of the film is deliberate and reflects the inner feelings of the characters that are being worked out between themselves, through the other characters in the film and of course within the bucolic setting. Not a great film, but well worth the taking the time to watch and understand.

I'm still thinking about what did appeal Monica from Alex. He was one of the most boring characters I've ever seen in a movie (or in real life). He looks as if he was absolutely immune to any kind of joy in life, even though he's in the elected company of old loving friends, enjoying an incredible beautiful landscape, drinking wine and well prepared gin and tonics...nothing appeals to him enough to make him smile...what a jerk !!! The Catholic Critics Association has rated this movie very high....well I'm an atheist...sorry. The only nice thing about this movie is that depicts how different types of families we can find today out of the classical "nuclear" one.

The first half of the film could take one fourth of the time, and the plot would be equally well served. The "core", that is, the romance between the two main characters could remain the same. There are a lot of what the viewer must presume are autobiographical elements from the director. But the film character is uninterested and uninteresting, and it is hard to tell whether he is more of the former than of the latter. I hope that the real life director beats his creation at both. Some dialogs are incredible, for a "real life" person or for a film character. And the magnificent scenery of the region is mostly wasted. The second half of the film makes a little more sense than the first half, as there is some argument and the vague semblance of a "plot". But it unfolds and ends "uneveventfully", with no major dilemmas or crisis for the characters involved. Life may be boring, admittedly, but to waste the money of the Spanish taxpayers, and my time .... that is a little bit too much. Surprised at the directors inability in this film to tell us a story instead of what I assume is talking about himself and his problems ...

I don't rate very many films ten out of ten, but this one makes the cut. I felt clobbered coming out of the theatre at the Toronto Film Festival. For anyone who has ever experienced a love that cannot be, you will understand the language of this film. It's all in the glances, the smiles, the unspoken words between the lines of conversation. The actors bring their characters to life to the point that you feel as though you know these people.

Suffice it to say, Ficcion did it for me. And from the warm round of applause it received at the screening I attended, I suspect many others felt the same way. Hopefully it will find some success in a broader North American release.

This is a risky film. Risky in two aspects: First of all in the way it communicates with the audience, it uses so many gestures, it asks so much from the audience, you have to be aware about what "it is not happening" in a film where nothing happens. OK, I try to explain it. It is a film where nothing seems to happen in the foreground (the plot, the dialogs) and everything is happening in the background (like in the real life), this background is the way the characters looks each other, the actions when nothing happens, the silence, the movements... In this way, the actors and actresses have to be very good to do this job and they do, they pass the test! This film is risky too (in my opinion) because it has been shot in Catalan language but, once again, why not, they are in Catalonia!, why should the characters talk in Spanish!? The content? The film talks about love, life, happiness, and relationships... Simply I think the director has made the film as he wanted it, far from commercial thoughts and worries about audience, close to life itself, reality, feelings and emotions. My applause for Cesc Gay and all my respect for him. Definitely, brilliant film, a director to follow up...