Les avantages de voyager en train

Advantages of traveling by train (2019) is a film as daring as it is bizarre and, without a doubt, unclassifiable, developing strange stories involving three separate chapters, being apparently independent, Advantages of traveling by train tells the story of the editor Helga Pato (Pilar Castro), a woman in her forties who by chance meets the psychiatrist Ángel Sanagustín (Ernesto Alterio) on a train trip, who tells her (first chapter) the story of one of his patients. Ángel tells Helga the story of Martín Urales de Úbeda, an extremely dangerous paranoid patient obsessed, among other things, with garbage. Martín Urales (Luís Tosar), who enlisted in the army, was sent to fight in the Kosovo War where he met Dr. Linares, a determined and compassionate woman who, when trying to create a children's hospital to cure the damage of the war, She is forced to make a great deal: In exchange for having the hospital she wants, Linares must take one child a month to her benefactors to film adult and snuff films.

Winner of the best film award at the Feroz 2020 awards, it is an ensemble film that mixes suspense, comedy, drama, horror, gore and probably some other genres. It is an unclassifiable coming and going made up of several strangely connected stories, although they are very uneven, some being frankly unpleasant, others disturbing, giving rise to a discouraging result. One of the most surprising recent Spanish films in which thorny themes are mixed, such as male domination, Diogenes syndrome, human abuse and others, meanwhile it unexpectedly delves into dark tunnels that show terrifyingly funny passages, which They get lost in recesses that are the materialization of that interior in which we keep all the psychological breakdowns, traumas, fears, lies and half-truths that characterize us. Filmador Moreno goes from one place to another without losing the global identity, connecting the dots that apparently become loose, leaving things in suspense and then recovering them. The film is notable for its wonderful casting full of the best Spanish actors, giving good performances, with the three main actors standing out: Luis Tosar, Pilar Castro and Ernesto Alterio. Being accompanied by a very good supporting cast with many well-known faces, such as: Quim Gutiérrez, Belén Cuesta, Macarena García, Javier Godino, Javier Botet, Stéphanie Magnin, Ramón Barea, Alberto San Juan, Manuel Morón, among others.

The film plays with reality and fiction, with madness and sanity, and black humor, to translate the novel of the same title written by Antoni Orejudo. As debut director Aritz Moreno explains: "When I read the book, I saw a movie in my head: a peculiar and unusual film like the novel, but that is precisely what attracted me." The novel was adapted by Javier Gullón, who already did an excellent job adapting the initially unadaptable novel: The Duplicated Man by José Samarago, which director Dennis Villenueve turned into the film The Enemy. The film was original but unevenly made by Director Aritz Moreno in his debut film.

A psychoanalyst meets a woman on a train.

In order to pass the time, he tells her a story. Before long, the character in the story starts to narrate his own tale.

And on and on it goes in this surreal, Russian Doll of a movie that recalls the work of Bunuel, especially Phantom of Liberty and Obscure Object of Desire.

(It also reminded me of Utopia, the excellent British TV series - especially the vivid colour scheme and the experimental score)

Some of the stories include:

An army amputee who returns home with a harrowing story

A female book editor who becomes trapped in a horribly twisted, masochistic relationship

And a 'slug man' with a prosthetic exoskeleton who journeys to Paris where he meets a beautiful woman with one leg longer than the other

This is a wildly ambitious film, made even more impressive by the fact that it is Aritz Moreno's debut feature.

The tales are bizarre and shocking but never feel exploitative or cheap. There is a definite method to the madness here.

Except for the ending, which feels a little rushed and abrupt, the film plays beautifully.

The individual stories are gripping, the performances are exceptional, the transitions are smooth and the pacing is great.

This is a highly assured work from a daring and uncompromising filmmaker.

It'll be interesting to see where Moritz goes from here.

Probably one of the best Spanish films in the decade in my humble opinion. These twisted stories are much more than that: a fantastic hyperbolic metaphor of a toxic, claustophobic relationship, a Proust-like character's vision of the world, a reflection on fiction itself... All of it wrapped up in very dark humour and some quite shocking scenes. The aforementioned scenes might put off some viewers and I can absolutely understand. Having said that, we might have said the same thing about OEdipus' parricide, incest and self-mutilation and passed on a great story. Thank God we didn't, and I hope most viewers will give this fresh take on narration a chance.

An absolutely bonkers Gilliam-esque thriller set in Spain that tells the stories of various unsavoury and down right horrific characters which may or may not be the invention of a supposed madman.

The direction is wonderful (think Wes Anderson on a small budget after having a little taste of LSD), the acting is stellar and the entire movie plays out like a surreal, hypnotic yet massively intriguing Grimms Brothers fairy tale. It is darkly humourous, massively entertaining and well worth a watch.

Unlike last year, there has not been an abundance of stellar foreign language movies released in the UK thus far, bar Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, but this offering really does remind you why Spanish cinema is gradually overtaking France as the best in Europe.

Highly recommended.

Bunuel meets Borat with the story telling structure of the Saragossa Manuscript. If one of those three hints triggers something, this might be a strange and bizarre ride for you into the realm of Spanish post surreal movie making. Interesting cinematography, but not entirely consistent.