Tiovivo c. 1950

A film without a precise plot but rather it develops in the form of episodes that sometimes intertwine with each other, just an etching or a sketch of those one-minute portraits that painters made in the streets of Madrid around 1950, in which it is still in a latent postwar period (Spanish Civil was from 1936 to 1939) . The capital was then, more than ever, the axis of Spain that tried to be like the average Spaniard was. A grey place still rationed, tender and cruel, poor and convalescent, but also mischievous, festive and surreal. The movie shows a carousel of numerous citizens trying to make a living in a gloomy country.

This is a thought-provoking drama filmed with great sensitivity and feeling. It's an intelligent and touching story although sometimes is a little bit boring and tiring but is finely developed with sense of style and sensibility . Pleasant drama , plenty of sensitivity , emotion , artistic scenes and abundant scenarios filmed on evocative interiors perfectly photographed (Although a perfect remastering is necessary since the copy of the film is in poor condition). Garci, winner of the first Oscar for the best foreign language film for ¨Volver a empezar¨, closes here his trilogy on nostalgia, which he began with ¨You're the one¨, and ¨Historia de un Beso¨.

This time he is filming the script again with his usual collaborator Horacio Valcarcel, and his gaze to the past is directed this time to the everyday scenes of Madrid in the fifties, the cafes, the cinemas, schools and walks of childhood. More than a real plot, it is a compilation of life fragments, of memories of a past full of good intentions. This is Garci's return to top form, with a brooding and engaging script which uses entertaining situations to give us a good movie in a high sense and intimate sensitivity and that kept me entertained for the almost two hours of duration . Filmed in his usual formal and luxurious style , without leaving a trace the joyful themes , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement .

The director has counted on a truly luxurious choral cast with more than 70 actors, and which includes very well-known names from the cinema of yesterday and today. That is why it is a real fun to guess the long list of actors who appear parading here and there, among which are the following: Alfredo Landa, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Antonio Dechent, Fernando Delgado, Tina Sainz, Carlos Larrañaga, Agustín González, Fernando Guillén Cuervo, Carlos Hipólito, Javivi, María Kosty, Ana Fernández Santiago Ramos, Beatriz Rico, Ángel de Andrés López, María Asquerino, Aurora Bautista, Frank Braña and many others.

After his collaboration in previous films, Garci reprises with the cameraman Raul Pérez Cúbero who makes a careful photography, as well as the composer Pablo Cervantes who usually uses the piano to provide the film's sensitivity and adding a select collection of songs, both cameraman and musician give unity to Garci's trilogy.

The film had 6 nominations for the Goya Awards (film, actor, best new actor: Jorge Ri-oelas, costume photography, makeup/hair, and production design) and finally won the last of them, the work of the master Gil Parrondo (winner of two Oscars for Nicolas and Alejandra and Patton), who created 24 different sets for the film.

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Jose Luis Garci (El Crack I, II, Luz Domingo) who won one Academy Award for ¨Volver a Empezar¨. José Luis Garci is without a doubt one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film in Spain and perhaps the best known writer in the country. He has left a distinguished talent in his successful movies throughout the years: La Cabina (1972), Las Verdes Praderas (1979), El Crack (1981), Volver a Empezar (1982), Canción De Cuna (1994), La Herida Luminosa (1997), El Abuelo (1998), Tiovivo c. 1950 (2004) and Ninette (2005) , among others. Rating : 6.5/10. Better than average and well worth seeing . For these reasons is essential and indispensable watching .

This movie has any coherent plot. It is more the portrait of the lives of different people in the hard years of post-war in Spain (the 40's), and how people manage to survive in a country desolated by the war. Like other films: la colmena or roma (fellini) it shows us lots of characters and some moments of their lives. Despite this style, Tiovivo is not as good as the movies it is like: more boring, less charismatic, the emptiness of a story makes it too hard to see. In addition, the 2h 30min it has does not help to make it easier. Not like la colmena (90 min) or Roma (100 min), the enormous longness of the movie makes it so hard and so awful that, despite the fact it is very well filmed, it has most of better Spanish actors and the scenes are interesting, the result is a boring never-ending film that could have been better if being shorter.

'Tiovivo c. 1950', José Luis Garci's new film, is a complex story. It has more than 60 actors and all of them perform important roles. They embody those people who had to face the difficult times Spain was living in the middle of the Twentieth Century, after the Spanish Civil War.

In my opinion, the best interpretations belong to Ana Fernández, Elsa Pataky and Andrea Tenuda. My favorite one is Miss Fernández's, since she develops an excellent role in four and a half minutes only.

The technical aspects of this film are good, but its score is almost inexistent. Although 'Tiovivo c. 1950' has a runtime of two and a half hours, it is not a boring production.

In short, Garci's new film is better than other of his former projects, but it is not a masterpiece.

7/10

As happens with many movies nowadays, this one shuns the traditional script with one or two main stories in favor of the multi-story kind of script. We are presented with bits and pieces of the intertwining stories of some two dozen or more people, during 1950 in Madrid. In my opinion the use of this kind of script, no longer a novelty, is becoming tiresome lately. This movie in particular abuses of it. There are far too many characters and stories, and in the end no one of them has a chance to become especially interesting. The movie tries too hard to include every kind of story, every kind of situation, every kind of character, every kind social class, every kind of political view, becoming too long and boring in the end. And by trying to populate the movie with dozens of Spanish stars, as if to offset the script's deficiencies, it becomes pretentious. It could be interesting to watch it only f you're interested in having a glimpse of the not-so-bright life in Madrid during the 50s, although there could be better movies for this.

I wouldn't like to end this commentary without mentioning the actress playing the old destitute lady. I don't know the name of the actress, but she seems to have so many face- lifts that hardly fits the part of an old beggar in 1950 Madrid !.

Garci's "Tiovivo c. 1950" could be considered as a deserving heir to Camus' "La Comena", based on Camilo José Cela's marvelous novel. As its predecessor, "Tiovivo" has virtually no plot, and limits itself to representing the lives of a bunch of people in the Madrid of the post-war era.

The cast is simply impressive, it looks like just any actor who was available was summoned by Garci to star in his film. However, we would have liked to see a bit more of some actors who appear in little more than glorified cameos (Fernando Fernán Gómez, Ana Fernández or Beatriz Rico, to name just a few). There are some extremely fine performances from the likes of Alfredo Landa, Tina Sáinz, Andrea Tenuta or, surprisingly enough, Elsa Pataky and Francis Lorenzo. All of them make the most of their bit parts in this ensemble piece, but the heart and soul of the picture is Aurora Bautista, who plays a destitute woman who sells religious stamps.

Taking into account that the movie has virtually no plot, there is no apparent reason to make a two-hour-and-a-half movie. There are so many great stories, but I couldn't help to wonder whether the film would have benefited if Garci had kept a few of them for a further project. The eventual result is overlong, and definitely not as good as "You're the one" or "Historia de un beso", but it is still worth a watch if only for the great performances.

Overall rating: 7/10