Product Description: From Ventura Pons, Spain's most prolific and adventurous filmmaker, comes a kaleidoscopic x-ray of urban desire and erotic collision set in the sultry nocturnal streets of Barcelona. Night in a big city. Eleven interlocking stories of intimate encounters, laced with dark humor, reveal a poignant and eloquent topography of urban alienation and polymorphous sexuality (straight, gay, lesbian, young and old). Under the expert hand of Pons and the excellent performances of his actors, these pansexual trysts, while self destructive, are irresistibly tender.
Ventura Pons looks at eleven episodes of different encounters during one night in a large city near the turn of the 20th century. Each of the episodes is made up of interlocking scenes that involve two characters, one of whom moves on to the next episode and ultimately all comes together. Basically, the film is a series of dialogues and we witness the breaking point between the two characters in each and this could come across as repetitive. However, it appears to me that these totally unconnected vignettes are a reflection and analysis of love in the 1990's and a treatise on loneliness and the lack of love. The actors are all very good and they seem to play their parts with little or no direction and what could have been a film that was full of soul comes across as merely dialog. There is a good bit of surrealism here as the characters do not talk to each other but rather past each other. It seems that none of the conversations are real are what we hear is what the characters want to say but don't and this is somewhat uncomforting. Even though the acting is somewhat erratic and the movie is painful to watch, it is an interesting look at the way we behave when facing loneliness. There is an intelligence here but it is one that hurts and I do not think the film will gain many fans as most do not go to the movies to think. I actually like Ventura Pons's concept of cinema and am looking forward to the release of his boxed set from Water Bearer Films in December.
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