Though beautifully produced and directed, "Secretos del Corazon" (Secrets of the Heart) by writer-director Montxo Armendariz Barrios is unimaginative and uneventful and will have a hard time of it except for TV dates in Spanish-speaking territories.
"Secretos", which was awarded the Blue Angel -- the grand prize of the European Academy of Film and Television -- at this year's Berlin film festival, tells the tender story of a young boy growing up in a slightly corrupt small-town world. The secrets of the title are the ones 9-year-old Javi (Andoni Erburu) must learn on his gradual path to maturity: the truth about the death of his father, the truth about his mother's lover, the truth about his spinster aunts, and the truth about the all-influencing force called sex.
Young Javi is pushed around a little bit by the fates of his family, but he is never really involved, and life is always more or less kind to his family too. But this is not about drama, it's about perception.
The photography by Javier Aguirresarobe is beautiful, warm and welcoming, and the characters are all convincing.
The film seems to have been made on the misconception that seeing the world through the surprised eyes of a little boy is enough -- it would have been interesting if something in that world was worth looking at.
SECRETOS DEL CORAZON
Sogepaq International
An Aiete Films/Ariane Films production
of a Montxo Armendariz Barrios film
Director Montxo Armendariz Barrios
Producers Imanol Uribe, Andres Santana
Writer Montxo Armendariz Barrios
Director of photography Javier Aguirresarobe
Production designer Felix Murcia
Editor Rori Sainz de Rozas
Music Bingen Mendizabal
Color
Cast:
Javi Andoni Erburu
Juan Alvaro Nagore
Maria Charo Lopez
Mother Silvia Munt
Rosa Vicky Pena
Carlos Inigo Garces
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Secretos", which was awarded the Blue Angel -- the grand prize of the European Academy of Film and Television -- at this year's Berlin film festival, tells the tender story of a young boy growing up in a slightly corrupt small-town world. The secrets of the title are the ones 9-year-old Javi (Andoni Erburu) must learn on his gradual path to maturity: the truth about the death of his father, the truth about his mother's lover, the truth about his spinster aunts, and the truth about the all-influencing force called sex.
Young Javi is pushed around a little bit by the fates of his family, but he is never really involved, and life is always more or less kind to his family too. But this is not about drama, it's about perception.
The photography by Javier Aguirresarobe is beautiful, warm and welcoming, and the characters are all convincing.
The film seems to have been made on the misconception that seeing the world through the surprised eyes of a little boy is enough -- it would have been interesting if something in that world was worth looking at.
SECRETOS DEL CORAZON
Sogepaq International
An Aiete Films/Ariane Films production
of a Montxo Armendariz Barrios film
Director Montxo Armendariz Barrios
Producers Imanol Uribe, Andres Santana
Writer Montxo Armendariz Barrios
Director of photography Javier Aguirresarobe
Production designer Felix Murcia
Editor Rori Sainz de Rozas
Music Bingen Mendizabal
Color
Cast:
Javi Andoni Erburu
Juan Alvaro Nagore
Maria Charo Lopez
Mother Silvia Munt
Rosa Vicky Pena
Carlos Inigo Garces
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/26/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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