La notte dei girasoli

"When the sunflower plant, Helianthus annuus, is in the bud stage, the head and the leaves do indeed track the path of the Sun. The genus name Helianthus is from the Greek helios "sun" and anthos "flower". Interestingly, however, and contrary to popular belief, once the massive topmost flower opens into the radiance of yellow petals, it slows and then stops moving, ending up permanently facing east." ---Solar flower, New Scientist, 3 August 2002

Why am I quoting this interesting trivia? Sunflower buds, we all know, keep moving but a stage comes when it does not move any further. Why am I discussing the night? That's the name of the film. The only teeny-weeny bit about sunflowers in the film But then the sun is not relevant for the night, is it? The near oxy-moronic title give a life to the movie after the film is over—in many ways similar to the disturbing Austrian-French film "Cache" made by Michael Haneke. For a cineaste who can sit through the film right up to the end of the film, the real punch line from the director comes in the form of an audible TV program statement about bees in a beehive, that do not attack unless provoked. This is an innocuous fact but is loaded with meaning in the context of the film's ending. This is a statement heard by the unpunished rapist on the prowl.

The Spanish director Sánchez-Cabezudo's film is based on his own script. (He is the latest among formidable Spanish directors making good films based on their own scripts, following the tradition of the gifted directors, Amenabar and Almodovar). Most viewers would appreciate or find good entertainment in the film while mulling over in the different non-linear narrative segments of the story of rape, vigilante killing, extra-marital sex, corruption, village vs urban comparisons, love for a dead spouse. Each segment provides a different Rashomon-type perspective of sections of the same story from a different angle, as seen by a different character. The director uses a technique used in modern pulp literature most recently used by Dan Browne for his book The Da Vinci Code. While the technique might baffle a few, most viewers would derive entertainment as they are constantly challenged to derive the entertainment.

The film offers dollops of entertainment ice-cream that most viewers want—-mystery, exploration of new found caves, a rape scene, a brief scene of violent death, and some endearing performances from the actors. If presented as a straight chronological narrative—the story could be made into a typical Hollywood thriller. But why is it different? It is different because of its end.

That is where the director and screenplay writer scores a bull's-eye—for a patient viewer who does not leave the theater once he sees the end credits begin to roll. The comment about the bees drive home the uncomfortable, parallel moral issues that Haneke raised in "Cache." Europeans and many of us prefer to retain status quo rather than rake up disturbing moral and social issues. It is convenient for us to do so. It is not because the issues are resolved. In this film the main culprit, a rapist is never brought to justice. If an attempt was made to bring him to justice, three persons would go behind bars for manslaughter, a homicide would surface, the reputation of an erring wife would become public knowledge, a good policeman's daughter would find out that her husband and father of her unborn baby is a corrupt cop and so on.

The film is, therefore, not merely a film to be appreciated for its structure but its underpinning question on morality. The film shows us that evil is not limited to a rapist but to the best of us. A good man could do evil in a fraction of a second. And to defend lesser evils, the bigger evil gets away. Only to scar our conscience for ever. Spanish cinema is on the move this decade. Sánchez-Cabezudo's film is good but the post-script in his screenplay is truly formidable. There indeed comes a time these days when "sunflowers" mature, stop turning towards the sun and only face the east.

Because it is convenient!

Intriguing thriller packed with stellar acting , superb cinematography and colorful rural landscapes . Gripping and stirring picture , set in the rural environment of the deep Spain , in which there's a fine line between genre conventions and outright clichés . It happens in the deep Spanish lands , a village in a remote and forgotten location . In the north of Spain , "Esteban" (Carmelo Gomez) and "Pedro" (Mariano Alameda) are two speleologist who come to a mountainous area to study the discovery of a cavern and determine whether it has scientific interest or is useless . They are accompanied by "Gabi" (Judith Diakhate), the sweetheart of Esteban , who awaits them at the foot of the mountain . While the cavers are exploring a cave near from village Gabi is approached by a stranger (Manuel Moron) rooted in a misogynistic past and is attacked in the nearby woods . His reaction leads to a tragic chain of events . The deeds bring together a pair of different Guardias Civiles , First Corporal (Celso Bugallo) and Tomás (Vicente Romero) . As two deputies attempt to track down a criminal who has terrorized an easy community .

Formula thriller filled with gritty intrigue , crisply edition , tension , suspenseful and a little of violence . It is a story of interwoven lives structured into six parts , crossed by a web of suspense that is resolved in the last story in a surprising finale . The flick revolves around a tragic event becomes complex throughout the movie . This serious and truly original film with groundbreaking narrative results to be a fantastically intriguing story of ambition , corruption , deceiving and killing , being very well done , swiftly paced and including a twisted screenplay . Interesting theme about some potholers and authority enforcements , slipping outside the bounds of the law through their use of lies as well as half-truths ; including corrupt deputies who attempt to carry out objectives by whatever means ; however this issue has been previously treated in many other films , especially American ones . It has emotional or aesthetic resonance , even comforting in some ways , and partly because is just more attuned to nuanced variations on what might appear to be mere formula . The plot is twisted but plenty of thrills and surprises . This intelligently made picture relies heavily on a complicated plot , interweaving disparate characters , ordinary people , detectives to investigate a grisly killing and many other things . This moving motion picture contains stylistic boldness and energy . There are six regular characters faced with extreme situations, and perhaps one of the main objectives Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo got was precisely to show how the ordinary villagers can cause a situation so complicated and dramatic . It's a pretty good film in which the main and support cast give a good work there are great characters , everyone does their job perfectly . Secondary actors are frankly well such as Celso Bugallo , Manuel Morón , Vicente Romero , Cesareo Estebanez , Petra Martinez , and special mention for veteran Walter Vidarte as nutty Amós

Thrilling as well as evocative musical score by Krishna Levy who has composed successful as ¨8 Women ¨, "Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets" and ¨The Fall¨ . Colorful as well as dark cinematography by Angel Iguacel . Excellent debut from Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo (writer and director) with this film "La Noche de Los Girasoles" a great Noir Cinema film set in the rural Spanish location . This is his only picture , "The Night of the Sunflowers" he would go on writing/directing series and TV episodes such as ¨Bajo Sospecha¨, ¨Velvet¨, ¨Gran Hotel¨, ¨Victor Ros¨ , ¨Hispania¨, ¨Guante Blanco¨, ¨Crematorio¨, ¨Hospital Central¨, among others . ¨The night of the sunflowers¨ is an award-winning movie such as Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Won CEC Award Best Actor Carmelo Gómez , Best New Artist : Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo , Best Supporting Actor : Celso Bugallo ; Miami Film Festival 2007 Won Audience Award Ibero-American Competition Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo won Special Mention Dramatic Features - Ibero-American Cinema Competition For the musical soundtrack ; Sant Jordi Awards 2007 Won Sant Jordi Best First Work ; Spanish Actors Union 2007 : Won Award of the Spanish Actors Union Film: Performance in a Minor Role, Male Manuel Morón ; Turia Awards 2007 Won Best First Work Best Director : Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo

This movie is outstanding. The non-linear plot reveals itself little by little taking you by surprise at every turn. It all begins with a rape which already happened a day or two ago. The body is found in the middle of a field of sunflowers. All of this, we get it second hand from TV newscasts while the main characters carry on with their ordinary lives somewhere else. We -the viewers- are lead to follow a caver about to explore a virgin cave near a remote village, his girlfriend, two old disgruntled neighbors on an abandoned village who can't stand each other, a salesman, the disloyal police officer, ... We get to see every character from various viewpoints and how somehow their lives are connected without them knowing yet...

And then tragedy and human resolve -call it selfishness or greed- take over everybody's action.

The pace of revelation and the acting work like clockworks. This could happen, this is (s)pain after all.

Watch out for this guy -the director- for this is his first and for sure it won't be his last.

"La noche de los girasoles" begins with a meeting by chance, between a rapist and murderer, and his next victim. The rapist will try to victimize a young woman, and who she is and where it all takes place play a decisive part in the violent events that will ensue.

So this movie has several strong points. One of them is showing how someone completely unrelated to the rest of the main characters of the story, someone who meets one of those people (the young woman) by chance, can be the trigger for all we're about to see. Then, the structure is very attractive too, as the director tries to make full portraits of each important character and show us, not only what they're doing there, but where they come from, in every sense; he shows us what that person is like, their personality and motivations, and what they want, basically; then he drops that character into the spiral of events that have been started by the attack to the young woman, and so comes this suspenseful story, involving two speleologists, the girlfriend of their leader, a very honest and stern old cop and a dishonest, corrupt young one, and two old men who live in an otherwise derelict village.

Something else I liked about the movie is the fact that it shows how absurd and ungrounded violence is; all acts of violence in the movie are completely gratuitous and coming solely from human primal instincts. The violence comes from a lack of communication and a desire for power and beating the opponent.

As is the case with many Spanish movies, the ending lacks momentum and power, but works quite well, in any case, and makes much sense.

'The Night of the Sunflowers' is a superior Spanish thriller, telling the story of the tragic aftermath of an attack on a woman, and set against the backdrop of a dying, depopulated rural town. Technically, the film's merits include an evocative score, the subtle use of visual clues, and unmelodramatic acting. But perhaps the strongest aspect of the movie is the way it allows the viewer to see events from different perspectives, and thereby not only drives the evolution of the story, but also gives it a truly three-dimensional quality. The film begins with a segment which, nearing its end, savagely reverses the audience's expectations and sympathies; and thereafter, the story is told in achronological, overlapping fragments, each one offering a different perspective on events. And because of its technical merits, the film's use of this device never damages the naturalistic mood. As events reach their conclusion, you find yourself really caring about the characters, even the ostensibly unattractive ones. 'The Night of the Sunflowers' is a fine film, that never tries to pretend to be more than it is, but which offers rewards through the care with which it portrays its world.