Noviembre

This is a movie about the lost if innocence in cinema, in theatre... in art. Alfredo, the main character, is just a boy who loves theatre, he doesn't want to become a big movie star, nor a stage star. He doesn't want even to make money by acting. So he decides to create an independent street theatre company with some of his partners from the Art School. The movie isn't based on a true story, but it certainly looks like it was (We can see all the characters 30 years after the company was created, talking about it. Just like if it was a documentary). It does not matter that much if the performances of Alfredo and his crew aren't too brilliant because that's not what this film is about. You don't have to live in Spain to comprehend the point of this movie (as the previous commentator suggests). Just take a look around and see how everything in art's been prostituted. That's what this film is about. About not giving in, about fighting the establishment. Although the final sequence clearly shows us that the establishment cannot be beaten. Sad but true.

Noviembre is one of the more brilliant Spanish films that I've recently seen. I highly recommend you to watch it. Nevermind if you're Spanish, north-American, or German...

I walked into this film 10 minutes late, saw it without subtitles, and only realized afterward that the commentators were the actors thirty years later. Even so I enjoyed the film immensely and it left me thinking about how much is too much. Because of the language problem (I live in Mexico but have enough hearing loss that movie sound doesn't come through well to me), most of the effect of the movie came through the outstanding cinematography and pacing. Spain is a country that has a recent history of atentados (political murders) so I wonder what Spaniards think of Noviembre. As an outsider, besides the plot and texture of the movie, I welcomed the shots of Madrid but what I liked most was the portrayal of the young energy of the street theater company. After seeing the film I felt older, wiser, and wish I could see it again.

The movie shows how far a group of youngsters can push the boundaries of social norms in street performances.

We learn also that we may change of prospectives with time , our ethics and principles are not always firm in the same point. Even though we wish it not to be so.

It's definitely worth watching this movie not just because of the ending, which is quite unexpected. But also for the uniqueness of the story.

The movie brings you back to the years nineties in the streets of Spain, where people is not too conservative. But yet, the actors go far behind the line of societal acceptance for what can be performed in public.

A few times, the group of players reach dangerous points.

Saw this film in Barcelona without subtitles and with only my somewhat pitiable Spanish skills. It's definitely an artsy masturbation job, but I enjoyed the earnest of the actors and the filmmakers. Part of the new wave of films that use "documentary" and "reality TV" type devices to motivate plto.

I thought I didn't get the fact that the older people were the grown-up younger actors telling their story at first because of my language skills, but I asked several native speakers and they were as bemused.

The street scenes of street theater in Madrid are really the best moments and worth experiencing if not anything else.

Just caught this on HBO-Latino. My Spanish is very limited so I couldn't understand that much either. But I don't think it's helpful to say it's "definitely an artsy masturbation job". I would urge readers to pay more attention to the fact that 150 people gave it a vote of 8 out of 10. Even the 1st reviewer gave it an 8. SEE THIS FILM! I thought it was very provocative -- an indie that deserves the name in the best of the tradition. Even if it is pretentious or self-important, or whatever 'artsy masturbation' means, this film goes well outside the dull, predictable, mainstream -- at least in its ambition if not farther. But not in a Warhol kind of way. It had something to say. Perhaps the message was, as Ben Harper sings, "You have to fight, Fight, FIGHT.......for your mind", i.e., fight conformism, fight indoctrination, fight regimentation, fight bourgeois control of the mind space. And enjoy the freedom you obtain thereby.

Just my $0.02