“Madrid 1987” is a film that caught my radar, when seeing the film’s trailer. It looked interesting, but what sold it for me was that it was an official selection of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. As an independent film lover, I had to check this film out since I do enjoy most films that come out of Sundance.
The film takes on a hot summer afternoon in Spain, where and feared and respected old reporter meets a young female journalism student. His intensions are voluptuous, while hers are unknown. By some strange event, they are both locked in a bathroom naked without any escape. Now removed from the outside world, the two are pitted in a duel that involves age, intellect, ambition and experience, as they wait for someone to unlock the door.
“Madrid 1987” is one of those films that isn’t for everyone. It deals with a subject matter that might turn off some people and the fact it’s one of those films that only features two character talking for ninety plus minutes. With that said, I thought that this was a pretty good film.
One of the reason that this was a very good film was the direction. Writer/director David Trueba does a very good job making the film entertaining considering that it mostly involves two characters stuck in a contained space. What makes it entertaining was the fact that everything felt raw. From the lack of background music to the way the film was shot, it felt like it had a realistic tone to it. That’s one of the reasons why everything felt realistic. The other thing that makes it feel that way was the performances. Trueba does a very good job in the way that he directs the lead performances. From the expressions to the way that some of the dialogue was delivered, it was able to keep you’re interested in these characters. Both Jose Sacristan and Maria Valverde did a very good job keeping the film moving, as that’s a hard thing to do in a film that basically features only two characters for the entire time.
Trueba’s screenplay was also one of the film’s highlights. One of the things that he does well is writing some interesting dialogue. The dialogue in the film was very key to keeping the flow of the film moving. In a film like this, you need to come up for with cleaver dialogue with some emotion to keep the story moving. This film does a very good job, as there wasn’t a boring moment throughout. The other thing that I liked about this screenplay that it doesn’t shy away from anything. This film deals with a lot of things like age, politics, sex and insecurity. Through that, the screenplay does a good job not rushing or over doing these things to the point of it becoming boring or the characters wouldn’t be interesting enough. That what made the story something different from what I’m accustomed to seeing for the big studios.
DVD Extras:
Sadly, there wasn’t a lot extras on this disc. The disc has a photo gallery of still for the film and trailers for “Madrid 1987” and other Breaking Glass Pictures releases.
It would have been nice to have had interviews with the cast and director of the film. It could’ve explained the filmmaking process of this film, which I was interested in considering that the film only contains two characters and deals with a taboo subject.
Final Summary:
This is one of those films that you should try and seek out, if you like films that focuses on engaging characters and risky subject matter. “Madrid 1987” is an entertaining film with good performances and a screenplay that is different from other dramas of this nature.
Review Rating: Five Stars
DVD Extras: One Star
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