El hombre Esponja

It's a good film, but there is no reference in credits to "The Laughing Man" (included in "9 stories") by J. D. Salinger but it's obvious that the short is based on it. Did the screenwriters forget to mention it? Is the omission unintentional? They are changed the superhero name, but they let unchanged the name of the group of children (Comanches) and the name of the "Jefe" (Chief in Spanish), so I can't help to think the omission isn't unintentional. I can't understand how it is possible that no one in IMDb has noticed that fact and nobody has mentioned it. The history works very well as Salinger's does and because Salinger's does.

"El Hombre Esponja" (Spongeman) tells the story of Jonathan, a ten year-old

growing up up in a fantasy-like Barcelona suburb where kids spend their

afternoons playing mock baseball and listening to the amazing adventures of

Spongeman, a superhero created by El Jefe, their summer camp monitor.

Jonathan and all the kids have a special bond with El Jefe that is broken with the arrival of Socorro, the monitor's troubled girlfriend, and suddenly the world is not such an innocent place, as Jonathan discovers that heroes are not always

that dependable and villains have a heart too.

A simple yet touching coming of age story, "El hombre Esponja" is shot

beautifully with brisk effectiveness by J.A. Bayona, who never allows the film to get too sappy and manages to get amazing performances from the kids and the

two grown-ups, Zoe Berriatúa and the lovely Graciela Molina, who makes

Socorro/Onion-Girl easy to fall for. Technically the film is outstanding, specially Bernat Bosch's lighting and use of scope and Fernando Velázquez's triumphant

score.

It's not easy to come across a short film as fully accomplished as this one. J.A. Bayona is one of the most promising young directors in Spain these days (fellow short film directors Jorge Torregrossa and Guillem Morales are two to watch

closely as well). Watch this little gem if you can while we wait (let's hope

not for too long) for Bayona's feature debut.