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Film: Julia’s Eyes
Year of production: 2010
UK Release date: 20th May 2011
Distributor: Optimum
Certificate: 15
Running time: 112 mins
Director: Guillem Morales
Starring: Belén Rueda, Lluís Homar, Pablo Derqui, Francesc Orella, Joan Dalmau
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Format: Cinema
Country of Production: Spain
Language: Spanish
Review by: Dave O Butnu
The return of giallo to the international film circuit will be just the thing many horror fans have been waiting for, and with recent successes like Amer, we can only wait with baited breath for the next crazy European psycho killer to mess with our brains. New Spanish thriller Julia’s Eyes could well be the next big thing. Anyone that’s seen The Orphanage will certainly have high hopes, given that it is made by the same team, but can such a mainstream aesthetic live up its more visually flamboyant predecessors?
The story follows Julia, who has a degenerative condition which leads to blindness. Her twin sister has the same affliction and is found hanged in a basement soon after losing her sight. The verdict is suicide, but Julia suspects something more sinister at play.
As she begins to unravel her sister’s personal life, she finds herself in a losing battle for her own eyesight. However, her growing obsession drives her on to continue hunting for the person that she is convinced has killed her sister.
The trail of clues leads to a nail biting conclusion, as Julia discovers how her sister died…
Just in case you’re not too sure what giallo is, it’s a genre that was popularised by some legendary filmmakers, such as Mario Bava and Dario Argento. Most giallo movies were made between 1960 and 1990, but in the last two decades, the genre has been something of a rarity in cinemas. It is a type of thriller/horror which originated in Italy. They are called gialli (plural), which simply means ‘yellow’, because many were based on detective novels which came with a yellow cover. Generally, giallo involves a number of characters who are all killed off one by one by a mysterious gloved/masked killer.
There is usually a strong psychological element, as well as sexual themes and a lot of focus on style and fashion. Julia’s Eyes features just about all of the tell-tale signs of giallo, with numerous plot twists and mind games at play. For most of Julia’s Eyes, we find ourselves frequently changing our minds about if there really is a killer and who they might be. In terms of its script and story, this film is a meticulously constructed rollercoaster of fear and suspense.
It may be obvious, but the dominant theme of Julia’s Eyes is vision and voyeurism, which is always a subject close to the heart of cinema. The power of the gaze is often regarded as a metaphor for sexual and physical dominance; however, when the gaze is taken away, we are infinitely more vulnerable and impotent. These concepts all manifest through Julia’s struggle to keep her vision, which is cleverly used to take us to some very dark places indeed. It is said that the most frightening films place the horror off camera, but Julia’s Eyes actually puts it in front of the camera and keeps us from really being able to see it. It’s almost as if this approach makes the most of both displaying and concealing at the same time, creating a whole new perspective on fear and edge-of-your-seat suspense.
This theme is explored through the dialogue and events, but, most strikingly, through the visuals. Unlike the vibrant, colourful imagery of Amer, and many other gialli, Julia’s Eyes mostly presents us with shades of gloom and grey. Many of the sets use very low key lighting and restrict what is visible, using what we can’t see to create tension and suspense. It also implements a lot of out of focus shots and shadows, further obscuring what can be seen.
Starring in the title role is Belén Rueda, who also played the lead role in The Orphanage. Belen seems to have an amazing talent for playing the distressed, as once again we see her as a character that is quite literally on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She conveys this distress so well that it envelops the audience in her hysterical panic.
Julia’s husband, Isaac, is played by Lluís Homar, who also appeared in the Pedro Almodovar film Bad Education (incidentally Almodovar produced Guillermo del Toro’s The Devils Backbone). Homar plays the role of Isaac brilliantly, with a thoroughly believable performance. His role in Julia’s Eyes is not an easy one. Isaac is a husband whose wife is apparently going crazy and blind, but his ability to adapt to each new twist in the story, with just enough restraint to make us question his virtues, is a truly uncanny ability.
One other notable element of this movie is the use of flash bulbs to blind people in the dark. This echoes perfectly the voyeuristic Hitchcock classic Rear Window, both visually and thematically. This light bulb homage is a very fitting reference, considering that Rear Window and Julia’s Eyes share a lot in terms of the themes that they both tackle, since both films feature amateur sleuths with not just disabilities, but restricted viewpoints.
Julia’s Eyes is a more subtle giallo than most, offering all the usual giallo hallmarks, but in a much more conventional and mainstream package. The plot will keep you guessing from start to finish and may also deliver a few (un)pleasant surprises, which makes Julia’s Eyes a must for any fan of European slashers and gialli, but perhaps, more importantly, a very accessible introduction for anyone new to it. Julia’s Eyes is an all round pleaser, ticking all the boxes and offering the occasional bit of gore as a bonus. DOB
Film: Broken Embraces
Release date: 1st February 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 124 mins
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez, Rubén Ochandiano
Genre: Drama/Romance/Thriller
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Format: DVD
Country: Spain
Acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodόvar reunites with his long-time collaborator Penélope Cruz for his 17th full-length feature in a tale that explores themes of vision, identity and betrayal. Released to great acclaim, Broken Embraces was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and garnered various other international awards, including a number of BAFTA nominations.
Set in 2008, the story focuses on the life of the blind writer and director Mateo Blanco (played by Lluís Homar) who lost his sight in an accident fourteen years previously. Discarding his original name following the accident, and the subsequent end of his directing career, he adopts the name of Harry Caine – possibly a subtle reference to the hurricane of events that led to this change of name – and spends his days writing scripts and stories. His closest friends are his agent and former production manager Judit (Blanca Portillo) and her teenage son Diego (played by Tamar Novas).
Upon learning of the death of infamous businessman Ernesto Martel (José Luis Gómez), Caine is visited by a young aspiring filmmaker called Ray X, who asks him to write a screenplay about a man who can only rebuild his life after the death of his detested father. Caine, with the encouragement of Judit, turns him down, quickly sussing out Ray X’s identity as Martel’s son.
Ray X’s appearance re-awakens the memories of the events that changed Caine’s life in 1994. When Diego suffers an accidental drug overdose, Caine takes him under his wing while Judit is away, and tells Diego of his previous life as a film director on a film titled Girls And Suitcases. In a series of flashbacks, we learn how Caine gave the lead role to the beautiful Lena (Penélope Cruz), with whom he was having a love affair, and who happened to be the Ernesto Martel’s mistress. Devastated by Lena’s betrayal, Martel plots his revenge, and sets into motion a series of events that can only end in tragedy...
Broken Embraces does not mark new terrain for Almodόvar. The film explores similar themes to some of his previous work, and the director’s shift towards the stylistic reference points of film noir, in particular, was evident in Bad Education. However, Broken Embraces boasts magnificent central performances by Cruz as the doomed Lena and Homar as the remorseful Caine/Blanco that prevents the narrative from feeling tired or repetitive. Cruz’s on-screen charisma is central to the film, and allows the love triangle between Lena, Harry Caine and Ernesto Martel to be both believable and intriguing. José Luis Gómez also puts in a strong performance as Ernesto Martel, carefully treading the line between odious and pathetic in his lust for Lena.
Whereas Broken Embraces is imbued with many of Almodόvar’s typical stylistic touches – primary colours, snappy dialogue, and oddball characters – what sets it apart is the manner in which it makes reference to cinema as a medium. Reprising the film-in-film technique established in the aforementioned Bad Education, Almodόvar spends a significant portion of Broken Embraces showing us people being filmed, filming others, or watching their loved ones betray them on film. Some of the most entertaining moments in the film involve Caine directing a movie that is essentially Almόdovar-lite (the fictional Girls And Suitcases is clearly a nod to his earlier work such as Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown and Pepi Luci Bom), while trying to shake off the young Ray X who is simultaneously shooting a documentary on the making of Girls And Suitcases. Almόdovar presents cinema as the purveyor of truth and fiction throughout Broken Embraces, with the medium being used to destroy one moment (as in the case of the released cut of Girls And Suitcases) and reveal truths the next. In one telling scene, a distraught Martel is watching Lena confess her infidelity on-screen as she enters the room. As she stands behind him repeating her confession, Martel sits transfixed by her on-screen image, never once turning to face her.
Disappointingly, the film’s final third fails to live up to the fascinating premise. Lena’s departure robs the film of one of its most interesting characters, and the film does not succeed in carrying the momentum it held through to its conclusion. A number of revelations towards the end of the film fall flat and do not have the emotional impact one would hope for. Furthermore, various plot strands are tied up in increasingly implausible manners, and Harry Caine’s final transformation appears more of a casual afterthought than the exorcising of demons Almόdovar hopes it to be. The web of intrigue that the film has built up throughout its opening ninety minutes is never unravelled in a satisfying manner and leaves the viewer with a sense of dismay. “Films have to be finished, even if you do it blindly,” observes Caine during the film’s closing scene. Unfortunately, it feels as though Almόdovar heeds that advice too closely.
Broken Embraces is a touching, romantic and entertaining film for the most part, which stumbles just when it should be hitting its stride. The excellent central performances and interesting premise manage to save it from a clumsy and convoluted final third, yet it does not succeed in reaching the heights of Almόdovar’s previous work. NBO
