Jeu de rôles

A writer of crosswords of a newspaper of Sevilla is "recruited" to play in a lethal game in which he will have to do all his best if he wants to survive. It starts when he is suggested by someone to put the word "adversario" in his next crossword, he could not suspect what was going to happen in the city, in the middle of Holy Week, when he decides to start the game. With great actors, great screenplay and good directing; this is one of this films that keep you stuck into the sofa, in order to discover what is going to happen next. It is compulsory remark the spectacular scene of the battle with toy laser guns in the old part of Sevilla. A really good film.

Absolutely nothing happens in this sloooow, annoying, thrill-less thriller directed by Amenabar's usual collaborator Mateo Gil. The film, which in some way deals with the effect of boredom and the quest for thrills, actually delivers none, and seems like an exercise in boredom. The only mildly suspenseful moment is the movie's climax, which takes about 30 seconds of the whole agonizing 100-plus minutes, and is resolved too simply. The plot lacks sophistication or credibility, and while the idea is original, the way the story unfolds is arbitrary and every plot device or twist is a result of outside interference (deus-ex-machina). The hero is always passive, everything happens to him without forcing him to show any initiative or resourcefulness. If you're fans of the genre, watch "Tesis" instead.

In Europa ,Spain seems to be the one country to have understood the American lessons for the thriller.France failed dismally because its directors tried too hard to sound American .Spain integrates Yankee savoir faire into a personal approach.Take "nadie conoce a nadie":it's Spanish to the core,with its Sevillian pageantry,its Holy week and its processions.This is a wonderful backdrop for a psychological eerie thriller.Eduardo Noriega -who starred in the two Amenabar peaks "abre los oyos" and "tesis" -is definitely the best Spanish actor of his generation.

Owing a lot to Fincher's "the game" ,"nadie conoce a nadie" shows some originality,particularly in its first part,when religion seems to be the center of the plot:Bunuelesque accents often emerge -but is there one Spanish director not influenced by the great creator?.The second part dissatisfies a bit ,because some plot twists are irrelevant (the girl's part is not convincing ),but the final is impressive .

A splendid cinematography,enhancing Sevilla ,and a tight directing,keeping sex and violence to the minimum, give the movie substance.

Alejandro Amenábar is a busy boy. Not only does he write, direct and score his own films, he also finds the time to collaborate on other people's projects. He delivered script and music for this Spanish production, directed by the young Mateo Gil. Those familiar with Amenábar's own Tesis and Abre los ojos, will expect a stylish, haunting nightmare with more brains than you'd normally expect in this kind of fare. Which is exactly what he delivers. Nothing is what it seems in this cyber/internet-thriller. Friendship is obsolete, love is betrayed, playing games on the net means getting more than one bargained for. Especially strong is the sense of loss when boredom breaks down the last vestiges of whatever scruples might be left in the young psychopaths. Visually exciting with some accurately staged action sequences, Nadie conoce a nadie can hold its own against big budget Hollywood fare. Mateo Gil manages to keep this mixture of horror, mystery and romance finely balanced through a sober direction that always finds the right tone. Another name to remember.

NOBODY KNOWS ANYBODY (Nadie Conoce a Nadie)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Sound format: Dolby Digital

Unusual thriller from Mateo Gill, in which an unhappy crossword designer (Spanish heartthrob Eduardo Noriega, from THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE and BURNT MONEY) is inadvertently 'recruited' by a sinister organization during Holy Week in Seville, plunging him into a nightmare of serial murder and terrorism, and culminating in a heartstopping sequence at the height of the city's religious festivities, during which Noriega is forced to make the most catastrophic decision of his life.

Gill and cinematographer Javier Salmones frame their widescreen images in a manner which suggests nothing less than cosmic forces at work, rendering the population of an entire city culpable in the moral destruction of an unwitting hero (illustrated by an extraordinary sequence in which Noriega is pursued by hooded figures through narrow back-streets lined with tourists who simply stand back and gape as hunters and quarry engage in a battle with toy ray guns!). The reason for all this mayhem stretches credibility, but the film - based on a novel by Juan Bonilla - is crafted with technical precision, and distinguished by an extravagant music score by Gill's longtime associate and fellow filmmaker Alejandro Almenábar (OPEN YOUR EYES, THE OTHERS), designed to convey the central character's growing isolation as he falls ever deeper into a city-wide conspiracy. A fine example of European commercial cinema, with scenes that rival Hitchcock or Argento at their most creative.

(Spanish dialogue)