El niño de la luna

I first read about this film because I am a fan of the group Dead Can Dance.

They did the soundtrack music for this film, but they never released it as a soundtrack on CD. I searched far and wide for this film, even when a review here said it was not available on VHS or any other format besides an original 35mm print. But, fortunately, that information was wrong. This film IS AVAILABLE on VHS in the United States. It was manufactured and distributed by Award Films International and was released in 1996. I just got one of the last copies available from an online video store I found. I also managed to track it down on a site called http://www.mircscripts.com for the reasonable price of $35 (I payed $60 for my copy). It is under the name "Moon Child" and not it's Spanish name. It is in Spanish with English subtitles and is in American NTSC format. The film is great, but the rare soundtrack alone is worth buying if you are a fan of Dead Can Dance. I know that there are probably other DCD fans trying to track this down, so I wanted to give them hope. You can find this VHS!! If it's not available at the aforementioned site, just go to any search engine and search for "Award Films International" and you should find a store that carries their entire catalog (including Moon Child).

Good Luck!

Interesting watch and pretty enjoyable. Great camera work and story. The funny quirk is I found it funny the Director had The actor for David keep his mouth open almost the whole movie! Don't know if that was intentional, just how the actor is with his resting face, but it's noticeable, and often hilarious. Not once is his mouth closed except to form words.

There is mysticism, occult, great script and the acting is pretty good overall, with some flaws in maybe pacing. The locations and shots are great for a what seems like, a TV movie. Not sure if this was released in the movie theatre. Even the kid in Africa David meets has his mouth open too...weird.

The protagonist of Augustin Villaronga's 1989 film EL NIÑO DE LA LUNA (Moonchild) is David (Enrique Saldana), a little orphan with, we're told, mysterious powers usually manifested as telekinesis. One day, David is adopted from the orphanage by the stern Ms. Victoria (Maribel Martin), only to find that his new home is a research facility where children like him are studied in an attempt to create some kind of supermen. Hearing that the uncivilized blacks of Africa have a prophecy about a white "child of the moon", the little misfit escapes, taking with him two other research specimens, Edgar (David Sust) and Georgina (Lisa Gerrard, best known as one half of Dead Can Dance).

This film has been unavailable for many years and is mainly forgotten. I imagine that most people searching for it are fans of Dead Can Dance wanting to see Lisa Gerrard's only acting credit and hear DCD's film score. Both are disappointments. Gerrard has no especial acting talent and she only succeeds in serving the story here because her character is written as borderline-retarded. Her dialogue is dubbed into Spanish too. For the most part, Dead Can Dance's soundtrack is generic synthesizer tones, and only at a brief few seconds do we hear material similar to that of their album of the same year THE SERPENT'S EGG.

The first half of EL NIÑO DE LA LUNA is basically shots of David in anguish alternating with foreboding images of the moon. The encounter of David with the black tribe is about as fair a depiction of Sub-Saharan Africa as Tintin in the Congo. This is a bad film, and one that provokes bafflement. We find a godawful script tied to lavish production values (especially set design and costumes). Who put up the money for this? And once it was inexplicably committed to film, who picked this as Spain's official entry for the Cannes Film Festival of that year? These are questions.

Firstly I'd advise anyone considering watching this title to see "In a glass cage" first...A darker film with difficult subject matter but it gives you a sense of where the directors interests,themes and talents lye.In short...a wonderful eye for composition, a very loose free association with respect to characters motivations and their interactions with each other(in both films its as much the inner fantasy or "true" personal vision of each protagonist that drives forward the plot) and a dark undercurrent of secret societies and cults(very much of the 30s 40s) seemingly able to turn the world and the immediate society they present into a dark twilight where danger and perversion seem ever present.Be clear though ... neither film is sensational or lurid...there is a moral compass at work here and thankfully so.In many ways there's much of the dark fairytale here but how many directors take such material and play it by the numbers until the poetic vision is lost...Villaronga does not...Finally if you like this you might consider "Born of fire" by Dehlavi and "Revenge" by Shinarbaev.

The other reviews, wide ranging as they are, give you broad view of nebulous movie. I have wide range of interests; this movie embraces none. This just a summary review. And to let you know Award Films International, of Hollywood address, has online availability of movie in DVD- R. Or, if site is down, call (818) 442 9111. AFI also sells as COA Movies on Amazon.com, presently at a better price. DVD has some still photos beyond the usual trailer, for extras. I wish I could return it, a first. Main character seems to run in place the entire movie, never really arriving. When he does reach new location, it moves so very slowly. This like a dream repeating, never satisfying. Children would not enjoy. If you have specific aim in watching, go for it. if you are taking a chance, I recommend declining. This unless you have inordinate curiosity. It's not a bad view, it's a near-OK indie, artsy, semi-intellectual, esoteric. These non-tangibles are compelling when combined with ample roots. Thousands of movies out there with more to offer. Tough to compare, try Duma meets Sixth Sense, à la mid-budget & indie Espagnol! English subtitles.