Nobody Knows Anybody

Although the plot seemed a little far-fetched I was determined to watch this as Gil, Noriega and Amenabar (loosely). I did find it watchable and intriguing whilst it was on but cracks were showing, as a fan of Noriega's I'd say it's the weakest I've seen him, the character just didn't seem that convincing, surely a writer could do better things with his writer's block than crosswords. The two-faced villain seems to have no tangible motive, I think Molla salvages something from this character but I just don't get him nor understand his insanity.

All in all I think at this time Gil was trying to make another Abre Los Ojos, probably wasn't the best way to go.

I got a deception with this one. Not because it was really a very bad film, but because something so much better could have been done here.

I arrived at it because i've been interested in Spanish cinema, and this one could strike me as something worth watching though not the best Sapin has to offer.

In comes in a line of Amenábar. Somehow closed thrillers, appealing to an inner search, resolving conflicts in abstract, living parallel worlds, parallel to a reality which is as "normal" as possible. It worked in "Abre los ojos" because of the dreamworld vs hell duality. Here the mixture is between various "strange" or "not normal" worlds:

• the always fascinating period of religious ceremonies in Spanish Andalucía.

• the "game" world, invented by Mollà's character, through which Simón (Noriega) will get at his inner struggle.

• Noriega, again playing his "abre los ojos" character, safe choice by the production, no risk

This is a failure, due to several aspects: one related to direction, which has to do with not being able to "hold" interest until the end, the film dies completely as the historical Seville center is exchanged by the Expo92 site. this leads me to second aspect, picking up Sevilla, in the moment of its more visceral, more mediterranean moment of the year, and building there an absolutely inner abstract Amenábar kind of story is a failure by principle. No story can hold against those strong traditions. You either make a picture "about" Sevilla, about religion, and insert content on that basis (it was following that path for the first half) or you detach the story from any perfectly identifiable context (example once more: Abre los ojos) and build whatever you want in that abstract/normal/universal etc. space. And in this second,you have to hold the viewer with strong thinking and fine construction. The first chance s more documented in a way, more "earth-to-earth", the second may (or not) work out more intelligent.

Anyway, trying to mix both was the failure here. OK, Amenábar's soundtrack, following Herrmann is good, works in the mood, there are good shots of Sevilla, exploring some places, and the overall production is quite good (Spanish is now and was already here in a great production level). But you have much better things to watch from this country. Anyway i'm still trying to find something worthwhile and which understands Sevilla, a fantastic city to which cinema hasn't been paying the necessary tribute.

My evaluation: 3/5 (holds only for the production, some beautiful faces, and the other good elements i mentioned)

I hope that nobody believe this film ...it is totally unreal. People of Seville is very different like you see in the film. The same with the Semana Santa of Seville. I think that is a very bad film.

Amid the Sevilla International Exposition , ¨Expo 2000¨ , and the religious festivities of Saint Week , a corpse has appeared in the Maestranza . An aspiring novelist named Simon Cardenas (Eduardo Noriega) pays his invoices by composing crossword puzzles for the Sevilla Gazeta newspaper . Simon shares apartment with a strange young named Sapo (Jordi Molla) . Then , a cryptic recording left on his answering machine asks that he includes a certain word in a future puzzle . Meanwhile , at the Church of Salvacion is spilled gas Sarin , a nervous gas similarly to Tokio underground . Soon Simon is forced into participating in a real-life version of a computer game , a special Rol Game , on the narrow streets of Seville, the stakes being extremely high for the entire city . Later on , another corpse of a priest appears at the Church of the Cautivo . Then the prey Simon/Noriega becomes involved in an intense and increasingly deep chase by means of use of all kinds of methods of communication such as messages , internet and web cams . Simon knows a beautiful journalist (Natalia Verbeke) and both of whom investigate the rare events , as they go to Archive of Indians , get a clue and discover a fantastic enigma .

The film contains thrills , violence , nudism with some strong sexuality , mystery in a dark atmosphere , complemented with moving tension and intrigue . These elements provide the setting for this piece of action/suspense movie , giving it its own special quality and ambient . The atmosphere and perverse intrigue enhance as well as the Holy week religious procession take place . The flick caused great polemic in Spain , for the reason the explosions and bombings to spectacular processions that are considered as sacred . Interesting screenplay by the same filmmaker , Mateo Gil , based on the novel by Juan Bonilla . The film is starred by a Spanish all-star-cast as Noriega , Jordi Molla , Natalia Verbeke and Paz Vega . All of them would make subsequently a fine career as European as Hollywood , playing some international movies . Acceptable Eduardo Noriega as a young who becomes drawn into a spiraling tangle of mystery , danger and confusion . Gorgeous Paz Vega who holds a strong Andalucian accent and Natalia Verbeke who has the strong scenes of nudism . Thrilling and suspenseful soundtrack by musician/director Alejandro Amenabar usual collaborator to Mateo Gil and even appears a cameo as a boy in the bar . Colorful cinematography by Javier Salmones who shows splendidly the streets and monuments of Sevilla such as churches , Giralda , bridge of Alamillos by Calatrava , plus , the Expo 92 . The motion picture was well directed by Mateo Gil . Mateo is a notorious screenwriter , he wrote various films for Amenabar as ¨Agora¨ , ¨Mar Adentro¨ , ¨Abre Los Ojos¨ and ¨Tesis¨ . He only has directed ¨Nobody knows anybody¨ or ¨Nadie Conoce Nadie¨ and recently a Western titled ¨Blackthorn¨ . Rating : Acceptable and passable movie for its intrigue , noisy action and twists and turns .

Spanish-made suspense/action film with horror overtones.

It's the last Holy Week of the millennium in Seville and crossword puzzle creator Simon Cardenas finds himself at the center of a religious mystery. Things just keep getting crazier and crazier for poor Simon.

I'd say this is geek suspense at its finest. Interesting use of role-playing gamers and religious conspiracy, and crossword puzzle fans like myself may look for hidden messages in the NYT Sunday puzzle for a few days. Plus, I love "who do you trust" stories and I adore the fabulous gorgeous-ness of Eduardo Noriega, so this couldn't really fail for me. I thought it was a great little flick that kept me engaged and entertained all the way through.