El niño de la luna

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.

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!

Villaronga's next movie after the magnificent IN A GLASS CAGE feels undercooked. There is a premise and there is a central character, but aspects of this "fantasy" are muddled.

The plot involves a wise child (Enrique Saldana), identified as possessing special powers, taking part in a pilgrimage that takes him to Africa -- it's a KUNDUN-esqe journey that hints at a religious, faith-based revelation that never materializes. The reason for there being "interest" in the child, from some quarters, is never fully explained, summing up the film's major problem: Too much is left up to the audience to decipher.

This being a Villaronga film, much of the imagery is commanding and the performances are strong, but the structure is weak.

A curious casting choice is Australian-born composer Lisa Gerrard (whose credits include co-writing GLADIATOR with Hans Zimmer and scoring Michael Mann's THE INSIDER) as a strange woman who has a spiritual connection to the boy "savior".

Not recommended and not widely available.

Fantastic movie, in all meanings of the term, where a child with occult powers is compelled to accomplish a mission which will bring him to the heart of Africa. This movie has many strengths, in particular the beauty of its cinematography with beautiful shots, which come back to your mind long after you've seen the film, very good acting from child actor E. Saldana, and a smart plot where rational explanations can be found to supernatural developments (a bit as H. James' Turn of the screw).

Beautifully shot film with one of the greatest soundtracks of the last ten years, composed by the mysterious Dead Can Dance. It's a pity they explicitly decided never to publish the soundtrack on CD. Also Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance plays one of the main roles in the movie.

This is a magical story of an orphan confined in a claustrophobic, orwellian institution, somewhere in post-WWII Europe (it's never specified where). There they keep children from all over the world that show some form of telepathic skill to experiment with those powers. Our main character starts to discover, somehow, that he has a mission, that he's the carrier of a strange message…

Surrealistic, strange, "lynchian" at times, the movie flows at ease and keeps you on your toes from beginning to end. Stylish cinematography by Jaime Peracaula, solid screenplay and direction by the enigmatic Villaronga, and -once again- a soundtrack that would charm any fan of Dead Can Dance.

Highly recommendable if you have a chance to see it, specially since it was never published to video and there are no plans to ever release it in such format.

One of the strangest movies ever made in Spain.