The ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival returns once again to Cornerhouse in Manchester this March and as ever there is a tantalising range of movies on offer. Historical dramas, coming of age stories, off-beat comedies and gripping documentaries are just a taste of the genres that will be on show from Friday 8th to Sunday 24th March. The very best films from Spain, Uruguay, Chile, Nicaragua and many others will be showcasing at Manchester’s home of independent cinema.
There are plenty of great movies to check out over the course of the festival but here’s a few picks that you may wish to note in your diaries.
El Mundo Es Nuestro (The World is Ours)
The World Is Ours is a chaotic Spanish comedy in which a farcical bank robbery serves as a far from subtle metaphor for the disastrous state of the Spanish economy. The two would-be robbers find themselves in way over their heads as the array of colourful and borderline insane staff and customers make their job increasingly difficult. Things then take a turn for the truly bizarre when a desperate unemployed man arrives at the same bank with a bomb strapped to his chest threatening to blow the whole place up unless he receives some financial help.
It’s a fun if a little exhausting movie and one which delivers its message in a surprisingly effective manner. The rich hostages blame the poor for the current economic climate; the poor in turn blame the fat cats. None of the hostages can agree on the best way to solve their situation and remain more concerned with their own predicament than the wider problem at hand. It’s an enjoyable farce with plenty of laughs dotted throughout.
30 Anos de Oscuridad (30 Year of Darkness)
A truly fascinating Spanish documentary about a subject which I wager few of us have previously known a great deal about. At the end of the Spanish Civil War, many of the Republican fighters were forced into hiding in order to avoid the heavy hand of the Franco regime. They avoided detection by essentially confining themselves to house arrest and living in horribly cramped and confined conditions in their family homes. The central focus of the film is one Manuel Cortes, a former mayor of a town in Malaga who spend three whole decades in hiding, spending a large portion of this time in a tiny crawl space behind a wall in the front room of his residence. Living in constant fear of being detected, he is forced to watch his children grow up from afar and miss important events such as his daughter’s wedding and family funerals.
The documentary combines talking heads with animated recreations of Manuel’s story. The animation proves to be especially effective and sequences such as the tense moments where Manuel and his wife make a run through the night in order to relocate Manuel in their new, larger home, are filled with tension. The film serves as an intriguing glimpse into the torrid Spanish history from the end of the Civil War right through to the eventual opening up to the West in the 1960’s. It’s an important and frankly astonishing story and one which deserves to be heard.
Els Nens Salvatages (The Wild Ones)
A coming of age drama focused on three disaffected youths and the tragic consequences that unfold after their frustrations finally come to a head. The three kids in question are all from different backgrounds but in their own way feel increasingly marginalised and let down by their own families and the school system itself. As they slowly bond and form a close knit trio, there is a sense of foreboding which begins to surface and we can only guess at the cause of a sinister undercurrent which runs through the movie.
The film’s structure is especially effective. The film unfolds by having each of the three kids being interviewed by unseen authority figures. We aren’t sure who they are or what they want to know but they are insistent that the three kids tell them what happened the night before. We then gradually see a little more of the picture unravelled as the trio regale the adults with a story of friendship in the face of perceived adversity. Packing a powerful and effective climax, this is a thoroughly absorbing and affecting movie.
La Demora (The Delay)
This hard-hitting Uruguayan-set drama from Mexican director Rodrigo Pla was Uruguay’s entry for this year’s Oscars and the themes of single parenthood, desperation and the difficulties of caring for ageing relatives certainly make it a powerful entry. Maria is a single mother struggling to earn enough to take care of her kids as well as her father Augustin. Augustin is deteriorating in health and requires an increasing amount of attention. After she learns that it is unlikely she will be able to place her father in a home, Maria seemingly reaches the end of her tether and appears to resort to desperate measures.
It’s a bleak and difficult film to watch in places but one which is nevertheless addressing an important issue and delivering it in a particularly touching manner. It may be a little bit too heavy going for some but it contains some terrific central performances and a wonderfully balanced finale does leave you unsure as to exactly how it will end.
Ali
Ali is a wonderful Spanish coming of age comedy drama which possesses a captivating blend of quirky American indie and distinctly Latin drama. Ali is a teenager working in a dead-end job in a local supermarket. Clearly something of a rebellious sort, she smokes on the job, ignores customers and steals booze to sell to underage kids. Full of youthful exuberance and with an endearing rebellious streak, Ali also engages in an on-off frisson with a male co-worker. One minute hot, the next cold, we are assured by an exposition heavy voiceover that she has long built a wall around her heart and struggles to let anyone in. Ali’s home life gives us a glimpse as to why this may be as her emotionally fragile mother, who Ali is clearly fond of but struggles to look after, has obviously experienced man trouble in her own past. As her mum starts seeing a new man who begins to spend a lot of time at their home, Ali begins to grow increasingly protective of her mother and begins to selfishly sabotage their relationship.
Ali’s fear of love and of letting someone get close to her seems set to ruin not only her own chance of happiness but her mum’s too. Quirky in the best possible way, Ali is a sun-kissed dramedy with a charming and memorable performance by young Nadia de Santiago in the lead role. Light-hearted and serious in equal measure when required, it’s a fresh and enjoyable movie that’s well worth seeking out.
For more information please visit the official Cornerhouse site here .
