Review of Bilbao

Bilbao (1978)
5/10
Disturbing and disagreeable Bigas Luna film about a tragic obsession with unexpected consequences
12 September 2018
Typical and unsettling Bigas Luna picture filled with strange happenings , twisted events , sex scenes , surrealist images , including close-ups of technological objects and erotic zones . This strong as well as sexy story is a passionate retelling and a dark story about a middle-aged man , a voyeur called Leo , (Abel Folk) who is really obsessed by a prostitutute , Bilbao , (Isabel Pisano) . Leo lives in separated rooms with María (Maria Martin) , an elderly woman with whom he makes love .Then , Leo kidnaps the gorgeous whore Bilbao with fateful results .

Full of visual images with zooms , close-up and background shots , fetishism and bizarre scenes , but including bad taste and strong sex scenes with loads of female nudism. This Spanish picture is twisted tale with suspense , trangression , cold scenes , thought-provoking characterizing about a few characters , competent realization and gloomy sets of the isolated world . It is an overblown as well as strange drama , including surrealist elements , being screen-written by the filmmaker himself . Director Bigas Luna also writes the script and story filmed in his usual style during his first cinematic period in which he directed Avant_Garde movies. However , the film's essential problem is its failure to generate the sort of pace drive that would forge its metaphoric patterns into edgy drama . The slow-moving storyline relies heavily on the continued activities of the starring , including a lot of sexual scenes , almost softcore , but it doesn't make boring . In spite of , the movie results to be acceptable and compellingly realized . Bigas carries out a weird maginary , a willingness for provoking in the elements of each shot , every sequence, every space . Being shot in 16mm and in underground style with granulated and washed-out photography. The designer Abel Folk , Bigas's fetish actor , as the sex-crazed man haunted by a whore gives a rare acting , and the veteran Maria Martin plays finely a perverted old woman with extreme sex desires , his interpretation is genuinely moving . And special mention to Isabel Pisano , she is marvelous and charming with her sweet and enjoyable countenance and appealing body . A bit later on , she retired from cinema and became a war correspondant . Including an usual voice-in off performed by Mario Gas playing the starring .

This cult movie was strangely directed by Bigas Luna , but somehow it's the disturbing as well as shocking on some scenes in the end that still succours the strongest and rarest impression. Luna follows his particular style , plenty of sex , food references and surrealist homages including some abstract dream sequences . Bigas Luna was born on March 19, 1946 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain as Josep Joan Bigas Luna . He was a Bon Vivant who along with his wife, produced wine, ham, and organic products ; they are well shown in his films . He was a writer and director, he started shooting Porno , and Avant-garde films . Subsequently , he made the flop ¨Tatuaje¨or Tatoo based on Vazquez Montalban novel and the weird films : Bilbao that was rated ¨S¨ and exhibited in Cannes Festival , Caniche and Angustia . Being especially known for ¨Jamón, Jamón¨ (1992), ¨Huevos de Oro¨ or ¨Golden eggs¨ (1993) "The Chambermaid on the Titanic" , ¨Angustia¨ or ¨Anguish¨ (1987) , ¨The tit and the moon¨ , ¨Volaverunt¨ , ¨Yo soy La Juani¨, ¨Di , Di Hollywood¨ among others . As he directed the notorious "Iberian Trilogy" formed by Jamón, Jamón , also adding Golden eggs, and ¨La Teta y la Luna¨ that is more sympathetic , gentler piece than its immediate predecessors . The first installment ¨Jamon , Jamon¨¨ concerns on satiric machismo in which a ¨macho man¨ falls in love for a lower-class girl ; ¨Huevos De Oro¨ dealt with a mean young attempts to build the great phallic symbol of power , at whatever cost ; while ¨The tit and the moon¨ director Bigas Luna adopts a more reflective approach . He's also an expert on murky atmosphere such as proved in ¨Caniche¨ , ¨Tatuaje¨, ¨Bilbao¨ , ¨Anguish¨ and ¨Reborn¨. Luna discovered actors Ariadna Gil, Leonor Watling , Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz . He sadly died recently on April 6, 2013 in Tarragona, Catalonia . This film ,¨ Bilbao¨ is rarely photographed and smartly designed and here Bigas Luna delivers his ordinary and erotic goods with his ordinary sense of style . The picture will appeal to Bigas Luna buffs.
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