The festival of the Spanish cinematograph in Kiev

Warm Spanish Wind

The festival was held between 15th and 20th of February featuring movies by the modern spanish directors both prominent and not that famous. Although the majority of the films were reflecting difficult and somewhere desperate circumstances of life the whole atmosphere of the festival was particularly, remarkably benevolent and friendly


By ANNA TKACH
from Kiev, UKRAINE


Sometimes we can hear people saying that the so-called deep, insightful movies are comprehended and understood with a certain difficulty, owing to the complicated fabric of the plot and intricate connections between numerous metaphors, allusions and/or ironic clues. Modern Spanish cinematograph was the vivid contradiction to this statement proving that a movie can be both conceptual and easily comprehended and at the same time funny stuff does not obligatory is dumb or far-fetched.

The festival of the Spanish cinematograph was held in Kiev between 15th and 20th of February featuring movies by the modern spanish directors both prominent and not that famous.

The festival was opened by the film "Madeinusa" by Claudia Llosa, the film was awarded on the several international film festivals and shares the very specific air of the strange story of the young girl who was born and raised in the small village lost in the mountains of Peru. This movie unequivocally transmits the idea of wilderness and spiritual virginity in its all embodiments, both positive and negative ones, the naivety mixed with the capability of committing a cold-blooded murder of own father, the simplicity of the world perception and readiness to start a new life from the very blank sheet with no regrets and no bitter memories. There is basically no way of assessing the movie in positive or negative terms for it stands apart from the accepted and established norms. By the way, if you split the name of the movie and of the main character - Madeinusa - into 3 separate words, you will definitely smile. Unmissable.

"20 centimeters" by Ramon Salasar is a vigorous yet funny movie depicting the history of the transsexual, Marietta, as she calls herself or Adolfo, as it stands in her ID, who, being unemployed and apparently drug addicted is dreaming of becoming the star of a musical, and the only and bitter obstacle to that are the notorious 20cm, which remind her that she is still Adolfo. The film, where many stylistic and conceptual aspects continuously remind of those of A. Almodovar, has basically nothing new or outstanding in it and can quite easily be put onto the shelf among the number of such films, with only one remark - the latter number is not so big for this film to be lost among hundreds of the similar, as there are not so many films about tolerance, about sexual minorities treated without disgust and repellence, about those marginal people treated as people primarily.

The next film about the people standing on the edge of social precipice is the "Princesses" movie by Fernando Alon de Aranoe, mitigating upon the concept of friendship and freedom hidden behind it in the very stranded conditions - in the conditions of prostitution, where the two women found themselves. This is a thoughtful, honest and sincere history of the ups and downs in the relations of the two women, of their friendship as it happens in real life, with the heights of self-sacrifice and kindness and the abysses of envy and concoction, all at the vivid and truthful, bitter and dimensional, pulsating background of conflicting and challenging social and personal circumstances.

Although the majority of the films were reflecting difficult and somewhere desperate circumstances of life the whole atmosphere of the festival was particularly, remarkably benevolent and friendly. To some extend, I believe, due to the audience, which was highly receptive to the cinematograph, revealing those tiny sad, funny, strange, awkward aspects of life.