O Autor

Typical Spanish movie that reveals the darkness of humanity. The twist in the end is a little rush but the whole idea of the story is still very intriguing to me. 7 stars for the story and 2 stars for Javier Gutiérrez's great acting.

The funny story of a man who wanted desperately to become a writer and writing "The Book" of his life, true and authentic literature. The lack of inspiration and self confidence combined with the fact that his wife (another writer who achieved success) cheats him with someone else, make him rent a flat and seek inspiration and a story for his book. At his teacher/ mentor's advice he starts seeking a story in real life, more exactly in the block he rented the apartment. Trying to write a good story he befriends with a few neighbors, sometimes overreacting or hiding the truth hoping he will have an effect for his book, a good story to write about. The film is interesting, funny but not very brilliant in some ways. I would say it's a good movie, but not a very complicated one. The actors are doing a great job, so it is a worth watching film, the watcher will not be bored.

"El Autor" (English title: "The Motive") is a Spanish film dealing with a subject that has been explored by cinema directors a number of times, artistic, and more specifically an author's, inspiration. Javier Gutiérrez ( "El Desconocido", "La Isla Minima") delivers a low-key, subtle performance as Alvaro, a middle-aged, recently separated from his wife aspiring author who is devoted to a seminar on creative writing, given by Juan, played by Antonio de la Torre ("Que Dios Nos Perdone", "El Reino"). Much to his frustration, Alvaro's cheating wife is already an acclaimed author and her books are published and well-sold in Spain. This fact makes our protagonist all the more eager to make a difference, find his own literary voice and write a novel that will prove to everybody, and above all his wife, that he is not a bigheaded loser. In order to do so, Alvaro rents an apartment in a block of flats and begins spying on his neighbors, learning things about them either by gossiping with the landlady or simply by eavesdropping through the walls. He intends to build the dialogues and the plot based on those real people and during that endeavor he will soon find out that he is able to do something more, to manipulate them so he can become a kind of puppet master.

There is a slow build-up to the story with a nice, though not unforeseen. twist in the ending that serves as the film's climax and it is effective as well as appropriate since it is aligned with the movie's overall style and atmosphere. "El Autor" is not a heavy, pompous crime/thriller like other recent Spanish productions, it is a rather light-hearted flick that will make you laugh in many parts and moreover a study on the lengths that a striving author can go in order to find inspiration. The director is Manuel Martín Cuenca ("Cannibal", "Half of Oscar"), a peculiar auteur who dares to experiment with a variety of subjects and narrative techniques, though this one is a rather straightforward attempt to a clever, lightweight crime/thriller.

Overall, I would recommend "El Autor" to anyone having a slow, long night ahead and wants to be entertained without being imposed with over-complicated stories and plotlines. Spanish cinema is still one of the best in Europe today and its productions are always a treat to all cinema-lovers.

NOTE: The movie is based on the titular novel by Javier Cercas ("Soldados de Salamina")

Great spanish movie, all the actors are amazing!!!

Good movie and nudity is generally ok for me but in this movie contains unnecessary nudity which is disturbing. But I always admire that Javier Gutierrez is an excellent actor.