El niño de la luna

It deals with a child named David (Enrique Saldana) who is adopted by an ominous , treacherous sect led by a stiff-upper-lip ruler (Lucia Bose) and an understanding woman called Victoria (Maribel Martin) . But David along with a young called Edgar (David Sust) and a pregnant girl called Victoria (Lisa Gerrard) escape from the terrible fascist and Nazi-alike center towards Africa where David's fate awaits him . As David who possesses extrasensory perception undergoes an adventurous voyage throughout Africa and to resolve his fate as Child Of The Moon . But David and Victoria are mercilessly chased by the heinous organization .

This is an eerie film with fantastic events , mystery , suspense , adventures and results to be pretty interesting . Being well produced by the marriage Maribel Martin and the early deceased Julian Mateos , both of them produced three thought-provoking films : Los Santos Inocentes , Viaje a Ninguna Parte and this El Niño De La Luna . Interpretations by the enjoyable main cast are frankly well . Adequate support cast such as Lucia Bose , Mary Carrillo , a brief acting by a young Luis Homar , Jordi Bosch , uncredited Pep Tosar and Gunter Meisner who starred Agusti Villaronga's previous film : Tras El Cristal .

Colorful and brilliant cinematography by the veteran photographer Jaume Peracaula. Jaume is considered to be one of the best Spanish cameramen who has photographed a lot of successes such as : Inconscientes , La Hora De Los Valientes , Despues Del Sueño , Blanca Paloma , La Cripta , among others . Mysterious and New Age musical score by Dead Can dance (band led by Lisa Gerrard). Lisa Gerrard , subsequently became a famous soundtrack composer with hits as Gladiator , Ali , Man on fire , Heat and Priest . The motion picture was well directed by Agusti Villaronga , though it has some flaws , gaps and turns out to be overlong . Agusti is a good filmmaker , and Goya winner . As ¨Niño De La Luna¨ won Goyas for screenplay , costume design and make-up . Villaronga is expert on films plenty of dark and weird atmospheres such as : El Mar , 99.9 , Aro Tolbukhin , Tras El Cristal , and his most successful film was ¨Pan Negro¨ that also won several Goya Awards

The protagonist of Augustin Villaronga's 1989 film EL NIÑO DE LA LUNA (Moonchild) is David (Enrique Saldana), a little orphan with, we're told, mysterious powers usually manifested as telekinesis. One day, David is adopted from the orphanage by the stern Ms. Victoria (Maribel Martin), only to find that his new home is a research facility where children like him are studied in an attempt to create some kind of supermen. Hearing that the uncivilized blacks of Africa have a prophecy about a white "child of the moon", the little misfit escapes, taking with him two other research specimens, Edgar (David Sust) and Georgina (Lisa Gerrard, best known as one half of Dead Can Dance).

This film has been unavailable for many years and is mainly forgotten. I imagine that most people searching for it are fans of Dead Can Dance wanting to see Lisa Gerrard's only acting credit and hear DCD's film score. Both are disappointments. Gerrard has no especial acting talent and she only succeeds in serving the story here because her character is written as borderline-retarded. Her dialogue is dubbed into Spanish too. For the most part, Dead Can Dance's soundtrack is generic synthesizer tones, and only at a brief few seconds do we hear material similar to that of their album of the same year THE SERPENT'S EGG.

The first half of EL NIÑO DE LA LUNA is basically shots of David in anguish alternating with foreboding images of the moon. The encounter of David with the black tribe is about as fair a depiction of Sub-Saharan Africa as Tintin in the Congo. This is a bad film, and one that provokes bafflement. We find a godawful script tied to lavish production values (especially set design and costumes). Who put up the money for this? And once it was inexplicably committed to film, who picked this as Spain's official entry for the Cannes Film Festival of that year? These are questions.

Interesting watch and pretty enjoyable. Great camera work and story. The funny quirk is I found it funny the Director had The actor for David keep his mouth open almost the whole movie! Don't know if that was intentional, just how the actor is with his resting face, but it's noticeable, and often hilarious. Not once is his mouth closed except to form words.

There is mysticism, occult, great script and the acting is pretty good overall, with some flaws in maybe pacing. The locations and shots are great for a what seems like, a TV movie. Not sure if this was released in the movie theatre. Even the kid in Africa David meets has his mouth open too...weird.

The other reviews, wide ranging as they are, give you broad view of nebulous movie. I have wide range of interests; this movie embraces none. This just a summary review. And to let you know Award Films International, of Hollywood address, has online availability of movie in DVD- R. Or, if site is down, call (818) 442 9111. AFI also sells as COA Movies on Amazon.com, presently at a better price. DVD has some still photos beyond the usual trailer, for extras. I wish I could return it, a first. Main character seems to run in place the entire movie, never really arriving. When he does reach new location, it moves so very slowly. This like a dream repeating, never satisfying. Children would not enjoy. If you have specific aim in watching, go for it. if you are taking a chance, I recommend declining. This unless you have inordinate curiosity. It's not a bad view, it's a near-OK indie, artsy, semi-intellectual, esoteric. These non-tangibles are compelling when combined with ample roots. Thousands of movies out there with more to offer. Tough to compare, try Duma meets Sixth Sense, à la mid-budget & indie Espagnol! English subtitles.

I first read about this film because I am a fan of the group Dead Can Dance.

They did the soundtrack music for this film, but they never released it as a soundtrack on CD. I searched far and wide for this film, even when a review here said it was not available on VHS or any other format besides an original 35mm print. But, fortunately, that information was wrong. This film IS AVAILABLE on VHS in the United States. It was manufactured and distributed by Award Films International and was released in 1996. I just got one of the last copies available from an online video store I found. I also managed to track it down on a site called http://www.mircscripts.com for the reasonable price of $35 (I payed $60 for my copy). It is under the name "Moon Child" and not it's Spanish name. It is in Spanish with English subtitles and is in American NTSC format. The film is great, but the rare soundtrack alone is worth buying if you are a fan of Dead Can Dance. I know that there are probably other DCD fans trying to track this down, so I wanted to give them hope. You can find this VHS!! If it's not available at the aforementioned site, just go to any search engine and search for "Award Films International" and you should find a store that carries their entire catalog (including Moon Child).

Good Luck!