THE WAIT Reviewed by David House
This film from Spain is a drama suffused with a shadow of horror. “The macabre descent into hell of a man who suffered the tragic loss of his family.”
This is a terrifically well made film, beautifully shot throughout. The acting is excellent, especially by the lead actor playing Eladio, the man who tragically loses his wife and young son. Eladio is an illiterate man, and recovering alcoholic, who takes the job of ranch guard to try and create a future for his family. His family mean everything to him. After losing them he is tormented by guilt, and explodes with rage to avenge their deaths when he realizes that he has been set up to fail by the landowner Don Francisco. The setting is a hot, dry and dusty ranch land. Eladio constantly glistens with sweat on his sun bronzed and dirt encrusted skin.
After watching the film you will want to take a shower, for more than one reason. This is a classic tale of exploitation of the peasant by the overlord, with a dark and sinister cast to the events. Highly recommended.
ONLY THE RIVER FLOWS Reviewed by David House
This is a neo-noir set in rural China in the 1990’s
Inspector Ma Zhe is assigned to investigate the murder of an old woman, ‘Granny 4’, on the riverbank. It soon appears that she was killed by ‘madman’, a mute man with mental illness who Granny had adopted a couple of years earlier after her husband died. Shortly after, there are two more grisly murders in the same area, one of the victims a young boy. Now Inspector Ma wonders if his original suspect really is the serial killer, but he is pressured to close his investigation and wrap the case up.
This is a terrifically well made and acted film, especially the lead actor playing Ma Zhe. The cinematography is a strong complement to the storytelling. The film is shown in a muted dirty pastel of colour, accentuating the grimy feeling of the rundown village and the depressing gloom in the constant rainy downpours. The soundtrack music is spare, but with a highly effectively used Beethoven piano sonata. The film is a wonderful mystery in a village full of secrets. There is also the story element of Ma Zhe’s wife’s pregnancy, and their fears that their child might be born mentally handicapped. Along with his doubts about the case, this results in Inspector Ma experiencing some weird dreams or hallucinations, blurring his perception of what is real or imagined.
