L'écureuil rouge

Yours truly has seen lots and lots of movie, but very few impressed me with sheer intelligence as this one - a gem where you feel every single shot has its real meaning and, more important, the filmmaker think his audience is clever enough to understand what's going on without having it rammed in his/her face. When you only know the title and doesn't know a thing about the plot (as I did when I saw this one at the Gérardmer film festival), you feel stunned, aghast, thrilled, surprised, and then you settle for the ride. Comedy, wit, intelligence (again), romance, mystery, emotion, this one has everything that makes us love movie. Unless you only want special effects and billion-dollars no-brainers, I can't see how this movie can fail to ignite passion. If there actually is justice in this world, Julio Medem will someday be recognised as maybe the most underrated filmmaker of our times - and he hasn't said his last word yet. A masterpiece to be enjoyed again… and again… and again

Intense as well as offbeat/intriguing drama with top-notch acting , superb photography and sensitive soundtrack . This brooding picture contains a magnificent performance by a beautiful woman , Emma Suarez , and a good support cast full of prestigious players giving right performances . It deals with Sofia (Emma Suarez) who suffers a motorcycle accident and loses her memory . Jota (Nanco Novo) is a musician, (Susana Gimenez) affected when misses his girlfriend , as he witnesses a motorcycle accident . When he meets Sofia who suffers amnesia , he then takes advantage of the deeds and reinvents her name as Lisa and her life according to his desires . Sofia/Lisa impacts on a great scale about Jota's life . As he makes up a name for her and tells the doctors (Ana Gracia , Txema Blasco , Cheta Lera) that they live together as a couple for several years . Later on , they go to a holiday camping and become involved with a couple called Antón (Karra Elejalde), a cabman , Carmen (María Barranco) and their children . After that , there appears a strange character named Felix (Carmelo Gómez) related to her .

Spanish production with fine acting , colorful cinematography , excellently interpreted and rousing score by Alberto Iglesias . Julio Medem directed the film for Sogetel and producer Enrique López Lavigne and it was released in 1993 . Set in San Sebastian or Donostia and at a lagoon in Pelayos De Presa , this interesting and thought-provoking film dealing with a story of solitary people , as a strange , unsettling young , well played by Nancho Novo , desperate after separating from his girlfriend , as well as a twenty-five-years-old girl riding a motorcycle and falling off a bridge , subsequently suffering amnesia , being splendidly performed by Emma Suarez . The picture was considered by the prestigious ¨Daily Telegraph¨ : as taut and intricate as anything by Alfred Hitchcock . This is a thrilling , exciting , deliberate though magnetic drama . It contains marvelous photography , breathtaking musical score and enjoyable production design . It is a riveting film though sometimes a little boring , slow-pace and overlong . Anyway, the film is interesting , thematically intriguing and strange ; Medem has his own style of telling a story . Very good support cast such as Maria Barranco , Chete Lera , Cristina Marcos ,Txema Blasco , Ana Gracia , Monica Molina and Karra Elejalde , Julio Medem's ordinary . Thrilling as well as sensitive musical score mirroring well the scenery, its people and the story line, it was superbly composed by several times Oscar nominated Alberto Iglesias , Julio Medem's usual . In addition , a spotless pictorial cinematography by Gonzalo Fernandez and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space ; being rightly filmed on location in Pelayos De la Presa, El Pardo , San Martín Valdeiglesias, Madrid, Usanos, Guadalajara and San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, País Vasco .

The motion picture was well produced by Fernado Garcillan and originally directed by Julio Medem ; this his second movie, "Ardilla Roja" or ¨The red squirrel¨ released in 1993, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival and it confirmed Medem's talents and won prizes in Fort Lauderdale, Bogota and Bucarest . Medem had been making short movies with a super-8 camera owned by his father until he received a call from a new production company called Sogetel and executive producers Fernando de Garcillán , José Luis Olaizola , Enrique López Lavigne . They were interested in his script titled "Vacas" . It won the Goya Award from the Spanish academy for best new director, and won prizes in the festivals of Tokyo, Torino and Alexandria. In 1998 Medem released " The lovers of the Polar Circle ," considered his best movie by most of his fans . It also became a box-office hit with more than one million spectators in Spain and was also released worldwide. In 2001 his fourth movie, "Lucia and sex ," became a huge hit and began the career of actress Paz Vega who won the Goya for best new actress . Although in 2003 failed with the release , "The Basque ball" , a documentary that portrays the phenomenon of nationalism and terrorism in the Basque Country of northern Spain , it was very polemical and partial . In 2007 directed the flop ¨Caotica Ana¨ and in 2010 , ¨Room in Rome¨, a successful though with not sense film , plenty of nudism and only starred by two gorgeous naked girls . Julio Medem is for sure one of the the most important and original Spanish filmmaker. Well worth watching if you get the chance .

Having seen Julio Medem's "Vacas", I was familiar with the directors style, humour and pace. Although in an entirely different setting, this film does share some of these traits.

I did enjoy watching this film, and was intrigued from beginning to end - I found the two main characters particularly interesting. However, I don't think it all holds together. The mystery and suspense behind Lisa's past is built up falsely - it certainly was not a major shock in the end as it had been pointed to frequently in the course of the film. A few questions regarding her past still remain unanswered at the end.

Of course, these are criticisms of the plot - and not of the film as a whole. Yet this film was a plot driven one, the revelation not as earth-shattering as Julio Medem had probably intended. As for romance...? I find Jay's pretenses and "Lisa's" actions little ground for true romance.

I hope I am not being too critical - perhaps I was expecting more to be resolved. I would certainly not like to put anyone off seeing this film. It was wonderfully filmed and I am sure I will have a look at it again, but in the end, I believe it is an inferior work to Julio Medem's earlier film, "Vacas".

Julio Medem's 'La Ardilla Roja' follows the same path of surrealism as his previous film 'Vacas'. Intricately layered and open to interpretation, Medem's films are a class of their own. Of course he is influenced by many great filmmakers like Hitchcock, Buñuel and the Coen Brothers, to name a few, and artists like Salvador Dalì and he is not ashamed to show it in his unique films. The story starts off simple enough and then it progresses into something more complicated entangling itself in a psychological drama, a mystery thriller, dark comedy, erotica and surrealism. While the likes of Almodovar have gained recognition in the world cinema circuit, I wonder why Julio Medem still remains less known.

Made with a modest budget, 'La Ardilla Roja' is skillfully executed. The cinematography, lighting and visuals create a very recognizable world and yet the way it's presented contributes to the element of surrealism. The score is used efficiently and the acting is superb, especially that of Emma Suárez, Nancho Novo and María Barranco.

His proceeding releases only prove that Julio Medem is getting better and better with each film. 'La Ardilla Roja' is not one to be missed

Great movie. It grabs you from the start, exciting...a bit obvious at some moments, lots of symbolism, power plays and psychological projections. I saw the movie on video, but I believe this one is definitely one for the big screen. It is enchanting. The end of the movie is a little bit farfetched and overdone (unlike the better Tierra, Los Amantes and Sex and Lucia (my personal favorite)) but this is only a minor comment.

Great to know that Medem will be delivering more inspiring movies :-)))

9 out of 10.