Siesta

Mary Lambert's "Siesta" offers plenty of wonderful visuals and a nice amount of sensual atmosphere.A woman in a red dress lies in an airport field,supposedly dead.She wakes.There's blood on her dress,but it doesn't seem to be hers.She can't remember the last few days.As time goes on,the pieces come back to her,and she meets up with some pretty weird people.The plot of "Siesta" is quite confusing and the climax is unpredictable.The acting is alright with Ellen Barkin's excellent performance to boost.Barkin has also some amazing nude scenes,so I wasn't disappointed.Give this one a look.A perfect film to analyze,if you have enough time to waste!

This movie is not for everyone. That being said, I loved it. It is surreal, complex, and asks more questions than it answers. It evokes rather than exposes, and creates a vivid imaginary world using only good acting, editing, and camera technique. Although it may have been marketed as an erotic thriller, it is actually a profoundly personal, emotional, and psychological exploration of one woman's struggle for spiritual freedom.

Ellen Barkin is captivating as the enigmatic Claire, a woman desperately trying to uncover her past. This is, for her, a true tour de force.

The supporting cast reads like a celeb who's who, with Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Isabella Rosallini, Gabriel Byrne, Grace Jones, Julian Sands, and a surprisingly intense cameo by English comedian Alexi Sayle.

If that weren't enough, the soundtrack features original music by Miles Davis, some of the last work he recorded.

As I said, this film is not for everyone, but my mind returns to it again and again. It lingers in my memory and, for that, I am grateful.

'Siesta' is one of the most underrated film of the 80's. I can understand why some people hate it, but I would urge everyone to see it, because if you do and like it, you will end up loving it. It has stayed in my head for over 10 years from just 3 viewings and truly is an experience and if anybody works out the true meaning of the film, please fill me in.

Alongside the film you also get a truly exceptional soundtrack from Miles Davis no less. I bought the cassette the same time I saw the film and continue to play it.

The minute anyone hears of this coming out on DVD, please tell me and I would like two questions to be answered

1. Why does Ellen Barkin not work more? she is a fantastic actress

2. How did Mary Lambert end up directing so many bad films after this?

think it would be quite hard to include spoilers as few people seem to agree on what happened anyway. Roger Ebert's review seems very different than a version I have just seen, it must have been recut to make more sense at some point.

I saw a this at a London test screening and the only clear memory is the beauty of Ellen Barkin and Marcus Miller and Miles Davis's music.

This may be a spoiler but it is for the good of humanity, I never want to see the pus ugly oaf Alexei Sayle ever again, in any context, never mind sexual.

For the gentlemen who asked about Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet, this is bassist/ composer (and mo fo) Marcus Miller

This is an odd movie. In places there doesn't seem to be much of a plot, and many of the characters are....well, odd. Essentially, the story is about Ellen Barkin's character, Claire, attempting to get to an airport in Spain in time to return to the US for a daredevil stunt she's supposed to perform. Why the hurry? Well, she came to Spain to look up an old boyfriend.... I don't want to give too much away. Claire's attempts to get to the airport run into obstacles...peculiar obstacles. In places the movie has the same frustrating feel to it as a dream in which one continually tries to do something, but somehow nothing quite works out. There's a supporting cast with some big names in it, but just keep your eyes on Ellen Barkin, as those other characters come and go. There's an interesting use of mythology in the movie, but I'm not entirely certain that it was deliberate. In places the pacing seems a bit slow, but overall I think it's very watchable