Gaudi Afternoon

Terrific mystery story filmed in Barcelona, Spain, stars Judy Davis as an American loner who translates books. One day she meets a mysterious woman named Frankie (Marcia Gay Harden) who wants to hire her to find her husband. She can't speak Spanish (actually it's Catalan in Barcelona) and needs her help. She offers quick cash, so Davis takes the seemingly innocent job.

Instead, Davis finds herself caught up in a web of deception that includes the husband, a kid, a woman named April, and a magician. No one is what they seems to be.

Set against the spectacular and other-worldly architecture of Antoni Gaudi, the story delves into a shadowy world and teaches Davis a big lesson in,life.

As Cassandra the translator, Judy Davis brings her brittle edginess to the fore and creates a believable character who can't stop being intrigued by the bizarre people she meets. Marcia Gay Harden is a hoot as Frankie, and she's matched by Juliette Lewis as the hippie April, Lili Taylor as Ben, and Christopher Bowen as Hamilton the magician who lip syncs to Dean Martin's "Sway" in his nightclub act. Also Courtney Jines as the kid and Maria Barranco as the landlady.

Memorable film is a feast for the eyes and offers several excellent performances. Not to be missed.

I was curious to see this film because of Judy Davis and Marcia Gay Harden being in it. I was surprised, then, to see Lili Taylor and Juliette Lewis as well. The acting was admirable on all accounts and Judy Davis played a tough and curious literary woman translator that Davis was able to make likable despite the character being repressed and brittle.

The story worked up until near the end when things got a little ludicrous concerning people meeting up and then the child disappearing and it seemed weirdly frantic at some points. For the most part it was an enjoyable film with surprises now and then. I was quite surprised to learn after I looked up some information later about this film that it was directed by Susan Seidelman as I've liked her work in the past. It's good to know she still has a flair for creating films about women who are put in situations where they begin to questions their lives so far and the decisions they've made.

Don't look for this title at your local homogeneous family video chain. This sadly overlooked indy film by director Susan Seidelman is best found in an "alternative lifestyle" venue in the nearest large city.

Yes, there are (gasp!) lesbian and trans-gendered characters, but this film does not dwell on their minority status, nor does it minimize them into the caricatures we've come to associate with cinematic depictions of such persons. They're merely caught up in the mystery into which a lonely, embittered, female literary translator finds herself involved.

Revealing much more about the plot would be to water down the viewer's perspective of the unraveling mystery, but I can promise a very satisfying experience for fans of the genre. The only detriment might be toward the end, when things suddenly accelerate, as if the filmmakers realized they were running out of stock, the editors realized they were running overlong, or perhaps both.

And Susan Seidelman certainly does know how to get the best performance out of her locations. As "Desperately Seeking Susan" captures mid-80s lower Manhattan, and "Making Mr. Right" shows Miami at its best, so does "Gaudi Afternoon" display the intricacies of the Spanish city of Barcelona, and the Gaudi-designed apartment building from which it draws its title. Without Madonna sucking the life out of every scene she's in, and without the somewhat contrived plot that bothered science-conscious viewers of "Making Mr. Right," Seidelman finally succeeds in assembling a cast, plot and setting worthy of her talents.

I was surprised to see how much some people here disliked this movie. It's a nice little comedy with good performances, an engaging storyline and a nice pace. I notice a lot of the criticisms are from people who have a very definite idea of how such a movie should be made. Many are comparing it favorably or unfavorably with Almodovar's films, none of which I've seen, and some with the book, which I haven't read. Taken on its own, it's excellent, and Judy Davis is, as always, terrific (I feel in the same way critics want this movie to be a different movie, they want Davis to be a different character - one complained her hair was always a mess, which was sort of the point - but Davis is perfect for the character that the movie is portraying, even if she's not perfect for that movie some people feel should have been made instead).

It's also nice to enjoy something by Seidelman. She started so great and then got so awful that I gave up on her years ago and haven't even seen anything she's done in years except for one or two TV series episodes, but while this is no Smithereens (I don't think she's capable of ever doing that again) it's nearly as good as Desperately Seeking Susan. Perhaps success destroys Seidelman, and she can only make good movies when she's obscure.

So you want a movie where a heterosexual woman gets inside a detective story set in a queer underworld, so to speak. She is not heavily shocked, but rather bemused, mostly, as the situations and the people she meet are not really very dangerous. If this sounds good, then I suppose this movie is for you, as it has some unusual characters, but it seems friendly to everyone, including the viewer. I found it funny and charming.