Amapola (2014) User Reviews (4)

more like "Much Ado About Nothing"

[sir_humpslot · 3/10 · 11 August 2015]

The previous reviewer has got to be connected with the production somehow or on their P&A payroll. Because there's no way this movie is a 10/10 for anybody looking for a coherent story.

Basically, it's a fantasy/dream of the main character Amapola and adaptation of "A Mid Summer Night's Dream." But other than the opera central to the set piece, there's no further connection to Shakespeare's play. The ending that tries to allude to the play makes no sense because there's no mixed up lovers.

The poster and logline made it seem like an epic film about the Falklands War, but the only sequence is a minor CGI VFX shot of airplanes. The rest of the movie is an incoherent mess with over-saturated color palettes like the colorist stumbled on Red Giant Colorista 3 or Magic Bullet plugins and is crazy diffused color warm effect.

A waste of time, except for the leading actress is nice eye candy and good production design.

Phailed Attempt at Phantasy and Phairy Tale

[lavatch · 3/10 · 1 September 2019]

This film has the same effect as the outrageous spellings in the review title above. It pretended to be an art film, but came across as pretentious and ridiculous, due to scripting and production values as flawed as misspelled words.

"Amapola" follows in the tradition of such brilliant French films as "Les Enfants du Paradis," an epic romance framed in the context of a theater company struggling during an era of political turmoil in the Nazi Occupation of Paris.

But "Amapola" could have been set in any time at any place. Ostensibly, the film reflected the turbulent years of the Peron dictatorship and the Falklands War. But those events never came into play, as the film's protagonist Amapola engages in time travel without regard to the changing nature of Argentina.

While the relationship of Amapola with her boat man from Boise was touching, the other characters were shallow set pieces used primarily for the dance and theater scenes. The idea of drawing upon "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as a conceit for film's dreamlike vision was intriguing, but never fully realized. Overall, "Amapola" was disappointing as a fantasy-romance.

Beautiful film, well worth watching.

[rkowalczik · 7/10 · 3 December 2015]

I watched this movie online. It dragged a bit at the beginning but the last 2/3 turns into a beautiful film. Its well worth watching. First, let me say that it reminded me of the 2006 movie 'The Fountain' but not as confusing. If you liked that movie then I think you will like this one too. If you haven't seen 'The Fountain' or didn't like it then maybe you should pass on this one. Second, it is not a film about war, but a film about love and possibilities. I found it to be both beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted. I also enjoyed listening to enchanting Argentine Spanish spoken by the characters. The only reason I downgraded the film is because it took a bit for me to get into it. All in all I really enjoyed how this movie turned out.

Magical alternate reality

[margueritedorchester · 10/10 · 9 June 2014]

This is a visual feast and a wonderful film. I drifted into the cinema accidentally while on holiday in Buenos Aires and was enchanted to be taken on an exquisite sensual and almost spiritual journey where the acting is precise and almost theatre like, allowing you to taste each word like a rich delicate patisserie. The decor, colour, texture and mood is so captivating that you are plunged into Amapola's world and it is a little difficult to re-adjust to drab normality after wards. This is what I have always wanted in great cinema making: a subtle story, visual enchantment, layered and intricate detail and a glimpse of another reality.