El juego del ahorcado

The film starts in Gerona 1980 , there two kiddies called Sandra and David begin a long friendship out of the ordinary . Some years later , Gerona 1989 , sixteen-year-old Sandra (Clara Lago ) and eighten-year-old David (Alvaro Cervantes) go on being adolescent friends and companions of confidences and adventures since their infancy , in which the innocence and cruelty of the children years , happened long time ago , to follow an existence with violence , and brutallity of the adults . As in their adolescence taking place a passionate sentimental initiation altering the course of their student lives . But a terrible event takes place that will leave them marked forever . Finally , Sandra and Alvaro falling in love desperately and subsequently there occurs some missings and killings . Along the way and years , they maintain their love and secrets as authentic accomplices . Meanwhile , Sandra is trying to learn English along with her lovely teacher (Mary Murray) and attempts go to UK to finish her studies , and she , finally , goes Dublin . Shortly after, their lives push to cross the threshold of a dark secret , finding out the only thing that he has never told her.

Enjoyable but downbeat drama/thriller far from ordinary , concerning a sexual obsession in which a childhood couple and once have reached adolescence suffering twisted happenings , it seems logical that their friendship leads to a deeper relationship , but things go awry . It is plenty of moving drama , nudism , emotion , rough sex , thrills , mayhem and surprise ending . This ¨El Juego del Ahorcado¨ or ¨Hanged game¨ is Manuel Gomez Pereira's return to top form , with an intelligent and engaging script which uses moving situations to give us a good movie in a high suspense and complexity and that kept you entertained for the almost two hours of duration . Regarding the complex relationship of a couple through several years , as Sandra is seriously affected by an offense , as an unpredictable event cruelly hits each one separately , then , she will become a survivor and he , the protector of her life and secrets . Flawless story with a duo of handsome protagonists , one couple of very young actors . Interesting screenplay from prestigious Spanish screen-writers : Salvador García Ruiz and Manuel Gómez Pereira himself , based on a novel written by Imma Turbau . The flick develops a lot of steamy affairs between two main roles involved into an embarrassing and disconcerting relationship . Rightly agreeable , milestone drama/thriller which neatly combines nail-biting set pieces , love scenes , entertaining situations and tension . You can find a little flaws in the story lines , there are some left unexplained and others characters end up being implausible . Nice acting by Clara Lago as the innocent and good teenager , in spite of youthful , she parades sexily at her best and more relaxed and enticing than ever . However , Alvaro Cervantes gives a worse performance than her , playing a doubtful youngster who is obsessed for Sandra and for speed and motorcycles , too . Pay attention the very well played support cast , giving portentous interpretations , as usual . Including an acceptable plethora of secondaries , such as : Adriana Ugarte , Abel Folk , Victoria Page , Mary Murray and Cristina Brondo.

It was entertaining , but briefly depressing , great actors and a super soundtrack composed by Bingen Mendizabal . Bingen composes an excellent score in intriguing and suspenseful style . And adding the following songs : Born to be wild performed by Steppenwolf ; Soy como dos , Written by Álvaro Urquijo and Enrique Urquijo performed by Los Secretos ; A quién le importa Written by Carlos García Berlanga and Nacho Canut performed by Alaska y Dinarama and Desolado performed by Pastora . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Juan Amoros . The motion picture was well written and directed by Manuel Gomez Pereira . The movie had Goya Nominations , such as : Goya Awards 2009 Nomine Best New Actor : Álvaro Cervantes and Best Original Score : Bingen Mendizabal . Gómez Pereira usually writes his films and occasionally for other directors as "What Makes Women Laugh?" by Joaquin Oristell who in "Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health" is screenwriter and producer ; both of them are ordinary collaborators . Pereira is an expert on comedies as ¨¨Rose sauce¨, Why do they call it love when they mean sex ?¨, ¨Mouth to mouth¨ , "All Men Are the Same" , though he also has made some drama as ¨The hanged man¨ and this ¨Between your legs¨ . His latest projects, however, tanked as "Off Key" starred by an American-all star cast but was a failure both economically and artistically or simply didn't deliver as "Atrévete y Verás" . Nowadays , he directs TV chapters as ¨Gran Reserva¨ and ¨Cheers¨ series . Rating : 6/10 . Decent Spanish thriller , though a little sad for the successive distresses happen the protagonists . The picture will appeal to Clara Lago/Alvaro Cervantes fans .

..it's a pretty good little film.. the two leads really make it work.. and at pretty much the age of the character she's portraying this incredible young teenager does an absolutely remarkable job.. indicating just how much talent she possesses, and she is just a wonder to behold on-screen, she'll be around for a very long career if she so chooses.... but seriously, in real life would most any teen age boy be able to keep his hands off her until he was eighteen.. of course not.. but these kinds of scrips lots of times require some substantial leaps of faith.. and this one for sure has more than its' fair share.. but in the end you'll probably give it a six, or maybe even a slightly higher rating (for her especially).. even with an ending that you pretty much knew had to happen... yes, from the very start he was 'the hanged man'... and btw.. her name was first in the opening acting credits.. but appeared near last at the end of the movie... that should not have been.. as it was totally 'her' film

Based on the novel of the same name by Imma Turbau, El Juego del Ahorcado is written like many Euro thrillers, as a cinematic opera with strong characters having wildly passionate affairs & often making irrational choices - some of which test the viewer's suspension of disbelief.

Also like many Euro thrillers - such as Clara Lago's prior film, La Vida Que te Espera (My Next Life) - this film centers around an accidental murder for which the lead characters improbably fear they will be imprisoned. Perhaps the prosecution of victims is a rampant reality in Europe, but to many in the rest of the civilized world, this will play as simply a tired & worn plot device. Similarly, the personal object that pivots the relationship between the main characters is rather silly. Any 17-year old who could construct an elaborate lie to cover a murder, could easily construct a simple one to cover for the appearance of this object. Again, you've seen this before from Puccini & Mozart and you'll need to play along a bit.

However, the acting in the film is SUPERB. Clara Lago & Alvaro Cervantes are beautiful on screen, and they are completely believable as a teenage couple. Both get a turn to reveal their transformative dramatic skills (and skin.) Even 8-year old child actors Nacho Fernandez & Carlota Morien perform their own stunts. Likewise, Pereira's adept direction and keen cinematography from the legendary Juan Amoros (R.I.P.) are impressive, and the score by Bingen Mendizabal conjures a textured Hitchcockian vibe.

Why El Juego del Ahorcado has not received an American release (or at least streaming distribution) is a bit of a mystery. Even more of a mystery is why Clara Lago has not become an international superstar rivaling the popularity of Penelope Cruz. She should fire her agent immediatamente.

This relatively obscure film is difficult to find even on Region 2 DVD, but well-worth the effort for fans of Euro thriller. For fans of Clara Lago, Alvaro Cervantes, or Manuel Gomez Pereira, it is required viewing.

The review proved informative. I have still to see this movie before I could comment on the same. I saw Alvaro Cervantes movie "Three meters above heaven" and was happy with him featuring with Mario Casas. The review appears good and the film should have been a big hit at that time of the period when it was released. One thing I have to complement is that Spain really has a few very good story writers, film producers and directors who come up with great stories and films. I wish to see this movie too. However, I have been made to understand that we could free download the movie via IMDb. If yes, please provide me the link. I would appreciate the movie with proper English subtitles This will help me to understand the movie best. Thanks