Son de mar

A gorgeously photographed film, to be sure, but what about the plot line? Some interesting ideas are never fully developed, and some of the details are a bit incomprehensible, for example the baby crocodile in the yacht and the idea that our hero can survive comfortable in an abandoned apartment complex. Quibbling aside, it is an enjoyable film to watch, even though the final scene at the closing credits is a bit much.

Yet another film with an illicit affair at its centre - I recently watched MATCH POINT (2005), DAMAGE (1992) and LA SEDUZIONE (1973) - though this is actually a variation on a much-used plot line which dates back to MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940), in which one half of a married couple is thought dead and, on returning several years later, finds the partner now belongs to a new family.

As is to be expected from director Luna, the emphasis this time around is on eroticism - though it's not particularly graphic - and, here, leading lady Leonor Watling at least serves this purpose supremely well! Still, the decision to embellish the love-making with a purportedly poetic touch - in the form of the scholarly hero's recital of a suggestive elegy to the sea - ends up being a misfire, for the simple reason that the repetition serves only to render the whole somewhat monotonous!

The film isn't bad but the narrative (courtesy of screenwriter Rafael Azcona, once valued collaborator to cult Italian film-maker Marco Ferreri) is just too predictable to generate much involvement from the viewer. The finale - in which the two lovers decide to leave everything behind them and sail away (on the boat which bears the film's name) to a new life together - adheres to the ideal of l' amour fou, but Luna and Azcona opt for an ironic double-twist instead! In essence, SON DE MAR is not as intriguing as the only other Bigas Luna title I've watched - THE CHAMBERMAID OF THE TITANIC (1997) - but I should be checking out at least one more film of his (BAMBOLA [1996]) fairly soon...which now makes me regret all the more having missed an Italian-TV showing of VOLAVERUNT (1999) a few months back!

The first part of the movie is very intriguing and the contrast between Martina's quiet satisfaction with her life and her husband's undying need from freedom is both startling and emotionally charged. The second part, however, left me unsatisfied since the established conflict never gets solved and the final twist, albeit suggestive, felt anticlimactic and empty.

My nose is bent slightly out of shape as I write this. I had sent a previous comment on this film some weeks ago that has not yet appeared, so I assume it was rejected, even though it met all the usual guidelines.

I found this film interesting for the first thirty minutes, particularly the performance of Jordi Mollà, a veteran actor who has appeared in such major productions as "Blow" and "The Alamo." Leonor Watling is also quite good. Unfortunately, everything sinks eventually under the weight of a truly awful, melodramatic script. There is also an abundance of gratuitous nudity that does nothing to advance the narrative or lend even an impressionistic nuance to what is otherwise a beautifully filmed piece of art.

An actual day trip to the beach at Valencia would be much less arduous than having to encounter these fictional characters again anywhere, anytime.

Bigas Luna is a strange breed of the Spanish cinema: He is out to shock his audience all the time with sex, sex, and more sex. How strange, when everyone else is busy imitating him... The story he gives us here connects Ulyses and Martina in a web of passion in which the same sex they live for prove to be their own downfall.

We cannot fault the director with an eye for giving us gorgeous women like Penelope, Aitana, Leonor, and others just as beautiful, except Romaine Bohringer in The Chambermaid of the Titanic. Mr. Bigas Luna has an eye for the visual, as he demonstrates with the opening scenes with the sounds effects and music. The only problem with this film is that the story doesn't hold when it turns out to be another soap opera in which Ms. Watling goes into her own fashion show. While it is fun to watch, one comes out after seeing this film empty of any emotional involvement with the characters or the situation that was presented here. Jordi Molla and Leonor Watling make an attractive couple. It's obvious that Mr. Molla's screen appearances let him express himself by letting it all "hang out" as shown in this film as well as in Second Skin! Well done Bigas Luna and see your alligator later.........