The Birthday

I had the opportunity to see this wonderful film at last Sitges Film Festival. It is not an easy film, in fact, it is dammed to be misunderstood by the big crowds and the old fashion film reviewers. This movie is something really weird in the Spanish cinema, you can tell by seeing 2 seconds of it, that its director knows about cinema, he knows how and where put the camera and fills the screen with lots of details .

One of the things that I loved the most from it was all the homages to the biggest 80s classic films (Gremlins, Back to the future,etc.)

The birthday, besides its multiple good things, its far from perfect, it is way too long (almost two hours)and one of the main characters in the second half is really disturbing and was near of taking me out of the movie.

Eugenio Mira is a filmmaker to keep an eye on, he just made the geek film of the 2005 (Donnie Darko is one of the films that comes to my mind when thinking about The birthday).

If you are able to check out this film in a festival, don't miss it, you won't be disappointed!

You may have noticed that the reviews for this movie or either really high or really low. This is weird in almost good weird way. First start off by saying that this is a very cool looking movie, it's shot well, but it's visually intriguing and artistic. You can tell it's low budget, but they make up for it in uniqueness and atmosphere.

This movie would be a lot more enjoyable if English isn't your first language I think, but if English is your language, I recommend watching it overdubbed in another language with English subtitles. I know that sounds crazy but let me explain.

The acting in this movie isn't great, mainly because Corey Feldman takes his character too far. He plays this really shy and nervous nerdy guy, but to the point where he's acting in a way no human would ever act. That alone is enough to make this movie frustrating. Even the scenes where he's talking to his girlfriend, and his friend, it's like he's talking to people he's never met in his life. It really makes you dislike him and everything that's happening, but there are so many little things that you will like and you keep watching.

The other thing I noticed was the way the characters talk to each other and what they're saying just doesn't work. And it's not necessarily the writing that's bad, because the premise is interesting enough, and quirky enough. This is a Spanish movie, filmed in Barcelona, Spanish director, and a lot of the actors and extras are from Spain as well. I think if I had watched this in any other language I would've loved it, but in English it's annoying.

It's not so much what they're saying but how they're saying it, and Corey Feldman's delivery. If you could find this overdubbed in any other language with English subtitles I say go for it. I would love to see someone remake this, literally anyone, but preferably someone remake it in another language.

I saw the movie at the SITGES FILM FESTIVAL 2004 in Spain (if you notice some noisy mistakes I really sorry… but I'm an Italian guy!!!) and I'm afraid this movie is not gonna be very successful at the box office… mainly because of his WILD NATURE!!!

I mean, I don't know how the guys who made such a THING like this are gonna sell it… but I'm afraid is not an easy task. THE BIRTHDAY is the kind of movie that you LOVE or you HATE!!! And that's great, from my point of view.

Leet's see. You can like it or not, but this movie is EVERYTHING but disappointing. You can't expect what's gonna happen, and I'm not talking about the plot… it's more about the APPROACHING. Actually, If you read the synopsis, you think you're gonna see a straight to video flick (specially when you discover that COREY FELDMAN is in it!!!) but, man… THE BIRTHDAY is a UNIQUE cinematic experience. I'm serious!!! I'm not a film geek!! It's incredible how fast you forget you're supposed to be seeing a "genre movie". The characters (Corey Feldman is GREAT in this one!!!), the length of the shots (the movie follows the real time policy), the sound design (oh my GOD!! You really have to HEAR the last 20 minutes of the movie!!)… everything is… different. Specially in the first half, where NOTHING IS WHAT YOU EXPECT. We exclusively see just what Corey's character sees but, besides that, we agree or not with his decisions. And that's the most exciting thing about this movie.

THE BIRTHDAY starts with a "PeterSelleresque" Corey that stumbles with everything and everybody he finds across his path… and at the end of the movie, he's a HERO. But you don't notice this evolution. It's like when you're living with your parents at home for years: you don't realize they are getting older until you take a look to some pictures of the family album … because you've been growing with them. That's the magic of this movie, from my point of view. The real time policy never goes against the movie. Man, we all spend a lot of time watching BIG BROTHER on TV… and I can assure you that THE BIRTHDAY delivers a more… intense and thought provoking experience, at least.

I must say that sometimes is hard to follow, and I understand that some people get lost, specially with the speed the different dramatic tones change. Sometimes you think you are seeing a black comedy… some other times you'd swear Corey Feldman is the guest star in a TWIN PEAKS episode… and some other times it smells like a JOHN CARPENTER movie!!! It's weird… and exhausting. The atmosphere of the movie owes his flavor to David Lynch (The girl in the movie has a lot to do with Laura Palmer), the Coen Brothers (It's easy to think in BARTON FINK'S hotel) and, Paul Thomas Anderson (specially PUNCH DRUNK LOVE, with a very similar main character).

I think I have a better example: The best and the worst you can say about this movie is that it could be a Brian De Palma movie, with outstanding scenes driven by a "bigger than life" cinematic passion… but weirdly disturbing as a whole. RAISING CAIN, SNAKE EYES & FEMME FATALE are good examples. That kind of De Palma movie, where the director explores his obsessions with TOO MUCH passion… forgetting he has to deliver a "movie". A good one. But I'd never say THE BIRTHDAY is not a good movie… it's a TERRIFIC experience. My opinion.

Well, I don't know what to say. There's something about this movie, no doubt about it. I don't know what's gonna happen, but I hope to see this one in a big screen soon. Happy Birthday!!!

In this movie definitely didn't happen what I was expecting (since I didn't read the summary).

The leading actor is darn good, even though u have to get used to his very unique type of cringy personality he's portraying. Some of his lines are pretty funny.

The events in this movie get out of hand at one point and in the end it had me leaving with the thought: "Okay... Did the world really need this movie ?! On the other hand, it really does have something about it."

So, maybe watch it, but don't be disappointed if it just leaves you shaking your head afterwards. The plot really is something else.

Preparing for a special birthday party, a man's attempts at controlling the situation are undone by a series of incidents that threaten his proposal plans which are even further hindered by the realization that a cult is actively using the hotel for their own means forcing him to stop their plans as well.

This was intriguing enough if somewhat problematic genre effort. Among the better aspects found here is the strong central setup that provides this one with the kind of quirky and offbeat energy it thrives on. With the majority of the first half presents the celebrated birthday party that goes from one awkward setup to another as he tries to go about making everything right for his girlfriend in front of her family as they celebrate the occasion with a lavish extravaganza filled with high-end drinks, food, and live entertainment, this sets the stage for what's going on quite nicely. As everything happening here is a direct result of his meek personality misconstruing everything and getting into bigger confrontations against the high-society demands on her parents throwing the party, this gets carried out the longer he's together with others there as the night starts getting strange including unexpected power-outages, mysterious guests gatecrashing, and the gradual intrusion of the cult which leads into a mind-blowingly over-the-top finale. The main thing with all of this is the pacing is so egregiously off that it becomes maddening waiting for something to happen. This is far more in the vein of a quirky black comedy than outright horror for the majority of its running time as we see him wander around the party trying to make things right by his girlfriend so that he can potentially propose to her at the celebrations, yet instead of being scary or funny, it becomes somewhat grating. With his somewhat irritating voice for these scenes and the prominence of his part of the film, this can make for a very tiring and frustrating experience as much as the extravagant length. There's little reason for this to be two hours with the different tidbits and subplots at play here all bringing the running time of this one to a longer degree than it needs to. Along with the low-budget nature of everything, these all manage to bring this one down overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.