Una Grande Conquista

After years and years of boring and vulgar Mexican films, this one goes head above water. I know there are two other "The Grand Seduction" films, the original from 2002 and the first remake of 2013, yet this is the first one I am seeing and I completely loved it. Characters are fun and relatable, all of them play their parts in a pretty good way. The music was on point too, something very different out of the "corridos", "corridos tumbados", "banda sinaloense", "rap" etc. That we are used to see in every single film of the current era in Mexican cinematography. Music comes with a refreshing reminder to old school Mexican Rock bands such as Fobia and Caifanes, with a very good selection of classic songs. The comedy was on point as well, without the necessity of using bad words every single five minutes. Oh, and loved the Cumbia version of "Antes de que nos olviden" of Caifanes, sang by Héctor Jiménez, best known for his role as "El Esqueleto" in Nacho Libre. A well-recommended film to watch.

STOP what you're doing, and go watch the original French Canadian (2003 & 2013) instead. This remake right here has absolutely nothing to offer, y eso que yo soy Latina.

Ok it's not that bad, right, only because the ORIGINAL is very good. This version is a dumbed down version. Superficial acting, the set looked like AI rendering I'm not kidding, the dialogue was simplified to the extreme. Everything felt off, and that's because it doesn't have spirit, it is just a movie made to fill the Netflix daily quota of "new" content- meaningless, insubstantial content at that.

The 2013 movie with Brendan Gleeson felt more real because they filmed in a real island, with real homes. The story was more credible, it didn't look like a fever dream fairytale.

Sometimes, less is more, and in this case that's the reason why La Gran Seducción nails it, it doesn't try to be anything else but a warmth movie with subtle humor.

There's no doubt Celso R. García is an incredible director, he showed it with the acclaimed movie La Delgada Línea Amarilla, however, after his blunder with the mexican remake of My Best Friend's Wedding I didn't have high expectations, how wrong I was.

Even when the storyline might be predictable, Celso makes it very enjoyable with a heartfelt moral about the predicaments a forgotten town must go through.

Guillermo Villegas and Pierre Louis give standout performances while Yalitza Aparicio amazes as the down to earth mediator, being her chatacter the most likeable.

Even when the plot is similar to its Canadian predecessor, this new one's charm offers its own experience.

This is a scene to scene remake of an enjoyable and humorous european co-production film... The original already overly simple premise for the story gets even more oversimplified in this Netflix production. Do yourself a favour and look out for the original instead of this...

Other than this, likeable characters and toned down comedy, with the added charm of its rural setting! Here is exactly where the original shines, since the environment of the film does not feel as artificial as this Netflix production, where everything seems to be indeed manufactured for the sake of the film.

Going a bit further, the European film makes use of actual villagers that reside in the secluded fish harbour, touching a nit on the ethnographic as well in a very interesting manner.