Son de mar

Captivating cinematography. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about the script. It's romance at full speed. First thing you know, Ulises and Martina are getting married. But "from loving to not loving", the road is not as long as Ulises believes. Soon enough, Infidelity enters the room and does it's dirty job. We soon realize that Death is already in the room. But wait, she's feeling powerless today. One thing's for sure: it can take a long time to catch a tuna!

Leonar Watling is sublime. She captures the screen every time she appears. But the rest of the cast is not as interesting. And there's some scenes where you really don't feel the emotion. After a while, I found myself looking at my watch every few minutes. A few times, I felt like shouting "I get the point!!! move on!" But I have to say that the last scene on the boat is quite surprising and captivating.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on March 5th, 2006.

71/100 (**)

The first part of the movie is very intriguing and the contrast between Martina's quiet satisfaction with her life and her husband's undying need from freedom is both startling and emotionally charged. The second part, however, left me unsatisfied since the established conflict never gets solved and the final twist, albeit suggestive, felt anticlimactic and empty.

At first I thought: oh come on, give me a break... The wandering, dreamy-eyed young teacher, the pouting, rap-music-blasting village Lolita sucking oranges, the white panties on the clothes-line, could you be any more clichéd? But then the story grew on me, with its many parallels to the Greek myths, so much so that I think I'll go back to the source and reread the original material. Some of the sea and water images reminded me of "Sex and Lucia" which I still prefer. Also, in the R-Rated version I rented from Blockbuster, the sex scenes must have been cut. Nothing spectacular, by far. So Bigas Luna likes breasts, but then again, we knew that already. ***1/2

Yet another film with an illicit affair at its centre - I recently watched MATCH POINT (2005), DAMAGE (1992) and LA SEDUZIONE (1973) - though this is actually a variation on a much-used plot line which dates back to MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940), in which one half of a married couple is thought dead and, on returning several years later, finds the partner now belongs to a new family.

As is to be expected from director Luna, the emphasis this time around is on eroticism - though it's not particularly graphic - and, here, leading lady Leonor Watling at least serves this purpose supremely well! Still, the decision to embellish the love-making with a purportedly poetic touch - in the form of the scholarly hero's recital of a suggestive elegy to the sea - ends up being a misfire, for the simple reason that the repetition serves only to render the whole somewhat monotonous!

The film isn't bad but the narrative (courtesy of screenwriter Rafael Azcona, once valued collaborator to cult Italian film-maker Marco Ferreri) is just too predictable to generate much involvement from the viewer. The finale - in which the two lovers decide to leave everything behind them and sail away (on the boat which bears the film's name) to a new life together - adheres to the ideal of l' amour fou, but Luna and Azcona opt for an ironic double-twist instead! In essence, SON DE MAR is not as intriguing as the only other Bigas Luna title I've watched - THE CHAMBERMAID OF THE TITANIC (1997) - but I should be checking out at least one more film of his (BAMBOLA [1996]) fairly soon...which now makes me regret all the more having missed an Italian-TV showing of VOLAVERUNT (1999) a few months back!

Bigas Luna is a Spanish director who has his own style (Jamón, jamón, Huevos de oro, Bámbola, Lumière et compagnie, La Femme de chambre du Titanic, etc) and his method of storytelling takes some adjustment on the part of the viewer. For those who treasure the magical mysteries of Latin dramas this film SON DE MAR (Sound of the Sea) will surely satisfy. Keeping with the title he has chosen (from Rafael Azcona's screenplay based on Manuel Vicent's novel) the presence of the complex sounds of water are ever present and the carriage that escorts the lovers to their ultimate destiny is a boat of the same name. It works.

Ulises (Jordi Mollà) is a teacher brought in midterm to a little town's school. His obsession (and teaching assignment) is Virgil's Aeneid, and he constantly reads it, quotes it, coaxes his students to read aloud the poetry therein, and when he finds an apartment belonging to a couple whose daughter Martina (Leonor Watling) falls under Ulises spell, Ulises quotes from the book scenes involving serpents from the sea, words that make the young and very beautiful Martina awaken sexually. In rapid sequence they become pregnant and marry - though Martina's parents prefer the young wealthy Sierra (Eduard Fernández) as a suitable husband.

Soon after their baby son is born the couple attend a party at Sierra's estate and Ulises eyes a beautiful woman while Sierra attempts to win Martina's heart. Ulises buys a fishing boat and sets out to fish for Martina but the boat is wrecked and thinking Ulises dead, a Requiem mass is held and Martina in time marries Sierra for his ability to provide for her infant son. Five years pass and the now steely Martina lives in luxury and receives a phone call from - Ulises! First enraged that Ulises left her for five years, Martina is quickly wooed to the strains of poetry from the Aeneid and hides Ulises in the top floor of one of Sierra's new buildings. Sierra discovers the reunited lovers' tryst and plans for their end. The lovers escape - to a destiny foretold by phrases from the Aeneid.

Despite his greasy long hair and scruffy beard Jordi Mollà delivers a smoldering presence as Ulises. But it is the presence of Leonor Watling's Martina that makes this at times shaky film work. She is a powerhouse presence. The photography by José Luis Alcaine and the sensuous musical score by Glen Johnson enhance Bigas Luna's concept for the film. It is another satisfying work by a unique director who knows how to mold a story with fleshy means and make it work. In Spanish with English subtitles. Grady Harp