Sans entraves

The Spanish title "Animales Sin Collar" means iterally animals without a collar or leash, which may mean stray animals and/or free animals.

The subject of this movie (which is very loosely based on, or rather related to Ibsen's A Doll's House) is an Andalusian politician about to enter the public arena with good progressive intentions but with a large skeleton in his closet. We are given a hint at the beginning and the pieces fall in place gradually, with enough left unexplained to stimulate the viewer's imagination. I was slightly disappointed with the way the ending is treated, but this is just a question of taste.

This is the first feature film by director and scriptwriter Jota Linares. His script is clever and taut and he puts it on screen with unflagging pace; not a scene is superfluous. Acting is excellent and cinematography by Junior Díaz captures the feeling of the arid summer landscapes of rural Andalusia. The Spanish spoken in this movie is the colorful and musical Andalusian version. A film to recommend.

Abel (Daniel Grao) is an politician from the autonomous community of Andalusia dedicated to the fight of the most disadvantaged and Nora (Natalia de Molina), his wife, is his unconditional support for him and who keeps an important secret that can transform everything and change his political future. His quiet life in a secluded Andalusian farmhouse will change when Victor (Ignacio Mateos) , an ousted high official, appears. Virginia (Natalia Mateo) and Felix (Borja Luna) will be the final surprise, two old friends of a time that they preferred to leave behind. Together they will have to face adversity and find out how far they are willing to go to stay together. We are prey of our past !.

Jota Linares writes and directs this alleged dramatic thriller, which is his debut film, dealing with political corruption as a backdrop, bringing to light that appearances are deceiving and that every revelation brings to light new questions. Starring Natalia de Molina giving life to a character that closely matches that of 'Nora' from Enrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House".

The film is advertised as a thriller, but I believe it is a simple drama with a political background, in which secrets and lies finally emerge, resulting in fateful consequences. It is also considered to be a peculiar adaptation of Enrik Ibsen, but I don't see too much relation to it either, although I don't know the play, I have recently seen the version (1973) starring Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins, which perfectly adapts to the work; however I don't see many common points. And there's another nice rendition: A Doll's House (1974) by Joseph Losey with Jane Fonda as Nora , Edward Fox, Trevor Howard and David Warner.

The performances are decent, but I had to watch the film with subtitles because I didn't understand what they were saying. It is going to be true what the great director Carlos Saura explained: that it was difficult for the new actors to understand what they were interpreting because they didn't knew how to recite well to us.

Starring Natalia de Molina is acceptable as the wife who in the past made an altruistic decision, but she keeps an important secret to help her husband and she sees how it begins to take its toll. While Daniel Grao effectively plays the autonomous politician dedicated to the struggle for the most disadvantaged and who holds dark secrets in his closet. Completing the cast are Natalia Mateo, Ignacio de Mateos, Maria Tardón, Borja Luna and Mariana Cordero, all of them giving fine interpretations.

The film was directed slowly and rather boringly by Jota Linares . After this his film debut , he has made other pictures , such as: ¨¿A quién te llevarías a una isla desierta?¨, ¨Las niñas de cristal¨ and TV series as ¨Urban. La vida es nuestra¨, and ¨Dias Mejores¨. ¨Animales sin collar¨ rating: 4.5/10. A passable but average first cinematic attempt that results to be some slow, tiring and dull.

Why would certain individuals act in a certain way and why would they even do certain things? Revenge or other feelings against certain people. We get a beginning that lays quite a bit out for us. But it is step by step that other things get revealed.

It's a thriller drama that has a few things going for it. The acting is good and the movie is decent overall. There's better movies out there, but this isn't bad at all