El techo de cristal

I actually would classify this as a Spanish giallo, even it doesn't slavishly imitate the stereotypical Italian model like some of the Paul Naschy efforts (i.e. "Seven Murders for Scotland Yard"). This film by Eloy de Inglesias and a couple films by the equally talented Spaniard Jose Maria Forque are superior to any of Naschy's attempts at a Spanish giallo and make for interesting variations on the standard giallo formula. Of course, this movie is also somewhat inspired by Hitchcocks's "Rear Window", the Hollywood paranoia classic "Gaslight", and the director's own "Week of the Killer" (released under the absurd and inappropriate English title "Cannibal Man").

Carmen Sevilla is an attractive wife living in an apartment building. After her husband leaves town on a business trip, she hears noises in the apartment above her and comes to believe the woman living there (Patty Shepherd) has murdered her own invalid husband. Adding to her suspicions, the woman keeps asking to put stuff in her fridge, even though her own fridge is clearly working, and someone is secretly feeding something to the landlord's dogs. Of course, there are other strange characters that might be involved, starting with the handsome bachelor landlord, who seems to another of the director's closeted gay protagonists since he rebuffs most of the beautiful women who throw themselves at him, but he also seems to have a stalker-ish thing for Sevilla's character. There's also a nubile young milkmaid (Emma Cohen)who keeps coming around with her jugs (and occasionally a few bottles of milk too).

It becomes increasingly unclear whether there really has been a murder, whether the protagonist is going crazy, or whether someone is trying to drive her crazy--and it might be more the one of these. The ending is different, although maybe a little too different for its own good. This movie doesn't seem to have quite the visual style of one of your better gialli (but it's kind of hard to tell given the substandard presentation of the bootleg I saw). It is generally a pretty effective film though, however, you want to categorize it.

Well, given all I'd heard about this Spanish thriller, I have to say that I went into it expecting more. The only film I'd seen from director Eloy de la Iglesia prior to seeing this one was the Video Nasty Cannibal Man, which doubles up as one of the best films on the Video Nasty list, as well as a damn fine exploitation flick in its own right. This made my expectations rise, and since the plot works from a premise that certainly appeals to me (being a big fan of Giallo), I'm really, really disappointed with what I got. The film focuses on Martha; a lonely housewife who has been left alone in her apartment as her husband is away on one of his frequent business trips. Her upstairs neighbour is a woman named Julie, and she finds herself in a similar situation as her husband too is away a lot, and he happens to be away this time as well. Our lonely housewife soon begins to hear footsteps upstairs and after overhearing a few things, some true...some not quite true, she jumps to the conclusion that the upstairs neighbour has, in fact, killed her husband. Women, eh?

The film is disappointing because of the way that the director handles it. The plot pacing is very sluggish, and the film feels like it doesn't have quite enough plot to keep things interesting for the duration. The central location; an apartment block is good and well used, and Iglesia makes it work with the plot as it's creepy and gritty. The central plot thread is too thin to be stretched too much, and the director does implement several other plot threads into the mix to bulk things out. These aren't all that interesting, however, and since it never feels like the lead character is in any danger until the end, the film also lacks tension and suspense. The two central actresses; Carmen Sevilla and Patty Shepard do their best with what they have, and are a definite credit to the film, despite the awful dubbing on the copy I saw. There's a lack of anything resembling sleaze, which I think a plot line like this needs...although in fairness, I am more used to watching Italian thrillers. Overall, I'm sure there are elements here that people will enjoy - but I can't recommend The Glass Ceiling as I simply didn't find it interesting.

I thought I was going to enjoy this much more, having very much enjoyed the same director's later, Cannibal Man, many years ago. I became slightly concerned during the credits when the camera repeatedly panned an outer building and it may have been my print, the dubbing or my lack of attention but I found this very slow and largely lacking in atmosphere. I'm assuming a low budget accounted for some of the darkness and repetitions for the characters are well formed and introduced well. We begin to get a good picture of a small community living in each others pockets and a smouldering sexuality between this one and that but as the main character begins to theorise her feeling that there has been a murder in the flat above, the fact that she is talking to her cat is not great. The ending is astonishing and if I had been more in touch with what was going on I would have enjoyed it all the more.

This is the second Eloy de la Iglesia film I have seen (the first being CANNIBAL MAN) and I found it to be an excellent thriller. Lonely housewife Carmen Sevilla begins to let her imagination get the best of her when she hears a man's footsteps in the apartment above her late at night. Her upstairs neighbor (Patty Shepard) insists it was her husband who had returned from business, but Sevilla doesn't believe her and begins to investigate. This is a great film, with lots of nice twists along the way and an incredible dream sequence. The final revelation is one that will have you thinking for hours afterwards. I enjoyed this much more than the straight forward CANNIBAL MAN.

It's difficult to label "El techo de cristal" (The glass ceiling). Those who are looking for a giallo will be disappointed. A good example of a Spanish giallo can be given by "Los ojos azules de la muñeca rota" (The blue eyes of the broken doll). "The glass ceiling" is much more a psychological thriller.

The film takes place in the country. Pigs, cows, dogs and horses are part of the background of the film. Martha's husband goes out on a business trip. Martha (Carmen Sevilla) is left alone in the house and her imagination starts to work. She's got a neighbor, Julie (Patty Shepard), who lives in the apartment above her. Julie is also alone because her husband is out, presumably for business reasons. And there's Richard (Dean Selmier). He's a sculptor and passes most of his time in his studio working on his creations, but that doesn't stop him from being a down-to-earth man. And finally to complete the picture, there's Rosa (Emma Cohen). She delivers milk bottles for the people living there. These people will become entangled in a complex spider's web.

On the surface everything seems normal, but there's more to it than it meets the eye. Martha sometimes hears Julie's steps above her. She begins to suspect that Julie killed her own (Julie's) husband. Julie's explanation for the absence of her husband had not convinced Martha. Is this suspicion grounded in some reality or is this is just the overheated imagination of a woman left alone? Anyway right from the beginning, it's clear for us, the viewers, that someone is watching everything and taking pictures. Sometimes the image briefly freezes into a still and we hear the click of a camera. Martha has caught wind of something. But she hasn't got the whole picture and that's very dangerous.

"The glass ceiling" is a sensitive portrayal of rural life. It has a feeling of reality, but it's not a surface reality, it goes deeper than that - lyricism, subtle irony and suspense.

The camera work is free and creative, the acting overall is good and very natural, and particularly Carmen Sevilla (Martha), Patty Shepard (Julie), Dean Selmier (Richard) and Emma Cohen (Rosa) excel. The soundtrack is also very good and helps to stress the emotions of the characters and the beauty of the landscape.

Eloy de la Iglesia shows himself to be a director with a strong personality. Though "El techo de cristal" is a sensual film (it features three beautiful women - Patty Shepard, Carmen Sevilla and Emma Cohen), it hasn't the sleaze or gore factors existent in other films of the genre. For me, this is not a drawback (even if I like sleaze and gore). Highly recommended.