dtello

I could see this short-film in the International Festival in my city, in a double-program with Johnny Guitar, directed by Nicholas Ray. It tries to show us (Occidental citizens) about the way of life in the East, in China, during the months before spring. It's nice to know how different we are, how is considered spring as a birth of life. We can see performances, works, houses, landscapes... that can make us think about cultural differences between two worlds in the same world... But, honestly, I was so nervous waiting for Johnny Guitar that I didn't notice this film very much.

This is the first film after "all about my mother", which won the Oscars a couple years ago. It's pretty different from other films directed by Pedro. Instead on focusing on the actresses, Pedro decides to choose a film where actors are essential. He tries to build and show a relationship between two men. Not sex. Only friendship, maybe love. But not sex. Both Javier Camara and Dario Sanguinetti give perfect performances, but sometimes the film "stops" in sub-plots or sub-stories that might lose some of the basic one. This is maybe the lack of this film.

This is a genuine 50's drama. Starring Deborah Kerr and Van Johnson, director Dmytryk offers us a story about love, religion, war and jealous. Sometimes in the film there are too long monologues, that might make some scenes a bit boring. But it's a good film, nice to spend a rainy afternoon in winter.