REVIEW: DVD Release: 3some























Film: 3some
Release date: 14th March 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 94 mins
Director: Salvador Garcia Ruiz
Starring: Adriana Ugarte, Nilo Mur, Biel Duran, Cristian Magaloni, Pepa Pedroche
Genre: Drama
Studio: Matchbox
Format: DVD
Country: Spain

‘Love triangle’, ‘Ménage-a-trios’, ‘threesome’; call it what you like, it’s not a new concept within European cinema. Arguably the most famous film to explore an unconventional relationship between three people is Francois Truffaut’s Jules et Jim (1962). Truffaut’s masterpiece, adapted from the novel of the same name by Henri Pierre Roche, examines the vibrant, but ultimately destructive, relationship between Jules, Jim and Catherine and is a paradigmatic example of the French New Wave movement. Like Jules et Jim, Salvador García Ruiz’s latest offering, 3some (originally titled Paper Castles) is also adapted from a novel. In addition to this, the film also explores the unusual relationship between three young people.

Maria Jose (Adriana Ugarte) is an art student at the College of Fine Art during the 1980s. One day, whilst preparing a canvas, she fails to notice classmate Jamie (Biel Durán) furiously sketching her portrait whilst his friend, Marcos (Nilo Mur), watches admiringly.

Jamie has taken it upon himself to help cure Marcos’ sexual inadequacies and it’s not long before he decides that ‘Jose’ is the perfect woman to help Marcos overcome his phobia of sex. Although she is initially unsure, it soon becomes clear that Jose enjoys their unusual arrangement.

What ensues is a complex relationship between three students who strive to enhance their understanding of many things (art, sex, truth), but ultimately, what they want to achieve is a greater understanding of themselves before the time comes for them to leave college and enter the real world…


3some is certainly influenced by Jules et Jim and the films of the French New Wave to an extent. It’s filmed in a highly naturalistic manner, which serves to make the unconventional relationship more plausible. Perhaps the best example of this is the first of the film’s numerous sex scenes.

The considered performances from Adriana Ugarte as Jose and Nilo Mur as Marcos perfectly capture the nervous uncertainty of two young people who are about to sleep together for the first time, which then gives way to polite disappointment when the relationship cannot be consummated. That’s why it is not preposterous when the camera pans round to reveal Jamie watching them through the doorway, or indeed, when he decides to join them. This voyeurism is prominent throughout the film as the characters constantly watch one another in order to ensure that whilst they may not be participating in the action, they are still involved. The camera also honours this voyeuristic agreement as the male bodies are objectified just as much as the female.

This equality is carefully constructed and maintained by the trio. For the most part, they live within the confined space of a small flat that is filled with their own artwork. This self-created, self-contained world is their shelter. Therefore, it is unsurprising that when the characters venture into the conventional outside world - a trip to the beach, or dinner at Jose’s parents’ house - the lure of a conformist relationship becomes too much and various jealousies and insecurities start to become apparent.

However, despite the film’s semblance of realism, it is ultimately superficial. The characters spend a great deal of time discussing grand concepts, such as art and truth, but these conversations lack depth to the point that they are almost clichéd: “We’re not normal, we’re artists,” Jamie proudly informs them. This lack of depth also makes it difficult to discern the characters’ true feelings. This is true of Jamie, in particular; for example, it is not entirely clear whether his jealousy towards the growing relationship between Jose and Marcos is genuine. When he bans them from seeing each other without him, it is not clear whether it is because he loves her, or whether it is all part of his plan and he is merely trying to provoke Marcos into a rage that will unblock his artistic creativity. It is possible that the characters themselves don’t even know the answer.

Moreover, although the film is set during 1980s Spain, it fails to engage in a discussion of the true spirit of the post-Franco era, and the way in which people were embracing an unknown degree of personal and sexual liberation. Whilst the unconventional central relationship pretends to do this to an extent, it is actually quite tame. It is an issue that has been explored to much greater effectiveness in the films of Pedro Almoldovar.


3some has some nice flourishes, but it is predominantly lifeless. Although it is largely preoccupied with the idea of the importance of creativity and emotion, it fails to examine the film’s events in any sort of depth. The film’s historical context is also largely ignored, much to its detriment. Therefore, despite a promising start and some solid performances from its young cast, 3some is a rather shallow affair that doesn’t really contribute anything stylistically or thematically to the well-worn idea of the ménage-a-trios that hasn’t been seen before. SH


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