No es bueno que el hombre esté solo (1973) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
3 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
7/10
Gripping and compelling drama that contains over-the-top acting by Jose Luis López Vazquez , being well directed by Pedro Olea
ma-cortes20 June 2017
Resident in an industrial city , Bilbao , a widower man called Martín (José Luis López Vázquez) is a lonely person who lives isolated in his villa where he has created a world of his own , he is navigating his midlife crisis by carrying a monotonous existence , but he hides a dark secret , with whom he spends time at home . As he feels lonely , and falls in love with the most unexpected "perfect woman" : a mannequin who has a caste relationship and considers to be his deceased wife . In the next door apartment lives Lina (Carmen Sevilla , though Olea wanted Concha Velasco) , a whore , along with her daughter Cati ; at the beginning she's unaware of her neighbor's synthetic nature , but Lina seems to be aware that her widowed man has a 'fiancee' . Step by step , Martín will be dominated by Lina , to the point that she and her daughter settle in his house . Meanwhile , there shows up a pamperer called Mauro (Máximo Valverde) , and Lina's lover ; then things go wrong when the aggressive neighbors pull off an inappropriate behavior until an unexpected denouement .

This is a twisted drama , including thrills , suspense , plot twists and brief nudism . Sex dramas were all the rage in European cinema of the '70s, but this is ultimately a little stranger than most examples of the genre . It is an interesting drama in which starring's life goes regularly until an overly curious little girl and a suspect pimp will discover the truth and both of whom will precipitate the tragedy . Provoking and strange picture , including weird elements , turns and being extremely horrifying at times . This ¨No es Bueno El Hombre Este Solo¨ bears certain resemblance to ¨Grandeur nature¨ or ¨Tamaño natural¨ (1974) by Luis Garcia Berlanga , though the latter was strongly censored . Very good acting by the great José Luis López Vazquez as a middle aged man with a troubled life , with the help of an inflatable sex doll , the widowed person shares with Elena, a doll he treats as if she were his wife . At the beginning his long career , Vazquez played several comedies , usually as a secondary actor . José Luis met film-makers like Marco Ferreri, Juan Antonio Bardem, José María Forqué , Luis García Berlanga, and Pedeo Olea who extracted his best qualities . His popularity raised dramatically after he worked together with Gracita Morales in several films of less importance under the direction of Mariano Ozores . In the early 70s he surprisingly started to do good dramatic performances in films like Peppermint Frappé (1967), El Jardín de Las Delicias (1970), Bosque Del Lobo (1970) that had Best Actor Award in the 1971 Chicago Film Festival , Mi Querida Señorita (1971) Best Actor Award in the 1972 Chicago Film Festival, and Habla , Mudita (1973). He made a great success with these films which even got stronger after the international effects caused by his TV cult movie 'La Cabina' winner of an Emmy Award , and his contribution to George Cukor's Viajes Con Mi Tía (1972). And this hit set the rest of his career , full of successful films both dramatic and hilarious La Escopeta Nacional (1978) , La Verdad Sobre El Caso Savolta, (1979), La Colmena (1982), La Corte del Faraón (1985), Mi general (1987), El Largo Invierno ,(1991) and many others . Support cast is pretty good , full of known actors in brief interpretations , such as : Máximo Valverde as a nasty pimp , Eduardo Fajardo , Angel Menézdez , Helga Liné , José Riesgo , José Franco and the veteran Raquel Rodrigo .

This mystery/drama/thriller picture was professionally directed by Pedro Olea ; it achieved some nominations and awards , such as Prize of the National Syndicate of Spectacle Best Cinematography to Antonio L. Ballesteros and getting great success , especially in Argentina with 1.3000.000 spectators . Here Pedro Olea was able to extract from José Luis López Vázquez his funniness amazing nuances like tenderness , dirtiness, meanness , absurd and even nonsense . Olea is one of the most gripping Spanish directors , being an expert Basque director , producer and screenwriter . Pedro attempted to create a production company along with Eloy De La Iglesia and José Truchado but it failed . Olea was born in Bilbao , Basque Country , where he often directs his films , in fact this one was filmed in Bilbao . He began directing ¨Dias Viejo color¨ and followed a personal work titled ¨Bosque del Lobo¨ about an alleged werewolf splendidly played by José Luis López Vazquez . He subsequently directed a trilogy about Madrid , produced by Jose Frade , such as : ¨Tormento¨ , ¨Pim , Pam , Pum Fuego¨ and ¨La Corea¨ . After six years in which Pedro Olea dedicated in advertising and documentaries as ¨Guernica¨ , ¨River of Bilbao¨ and TV series as ¨Cuentos Y Leyendas¨ , and others about Basque themes , Olea goes back to shoot , thanks to subsidy of the Basque government , making a witchery story called ¨Akelarre¨. His biggest success was ¨A man called Flor De Otoño¨ with Jose Sacristán . After that , he made ¨Bandera Negra¨ about arms smuggling and a military thriller : ¨Moriras en Chafarinas¨ ; later on , he directed ¨Mas Allá Jardin¨ with Concha Velasco . And ¨Fencing master¨ that resulted to be one of his best films . And he also shot two films about witchery : ¨Akelarre¨, and ¨Leyenda Del Cura De Bargota¨ . Rating : 6.5 /10 . well worth watching
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
They sure don't make 'em like this anymore
udar554 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Owing a huge debt to PSYCHO (1960), this is a Spanish production that is part dark comedy and part suspense thriller. José Luís López Vázquez stars as Martin, a widower who has replaced his dead bride with a lifelike mannequin. Life is fine until Lina (Carmen Sevilla), the prostitute living next store, decides to insert herself into Martin's life. Threatening to unveil his secret, Lina moves in with her daughter in an attempt to provide a stable life. At first things are mutually beneficial as Martin can finally take his "wife" to business dinner and Lina has a roof over her head and is getting her daughter sent to school. Things change when Lina re-invites her slimy pimp back into her life and demands Martin get rid of his dolls (his dead wife's "sister" had just arrive in the mail).

Director Pedro Olea manages to balance the comedy and thrills pretty well. The film portrays the somewhat unbalanced Martin in a sympathetic light even though he does some pretty nasty things. Vázquez is excellent as the loner hero and Sevilla is deliciously sleazy as the opportunistic prostitute.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Brilliant thriller
f.gimenez4 July 2001
This Spanish films deals with the eternal fear of mankind, loneliness.

But it´s not only a drama, it´s a suspense film as well, really terrifying at times.

A widowed man lives in an old house, with a full size doll as his mate. His life goes by quite normally until a child who is his beautiful neighbor´s daughter gets into his house while he´s away and finds out his big secret. He begs the child not to tell his secret to anybody, but unfortunately she doesn´t!... and the problems have just begun for this tormented and humble man.

This is one of the best films I´ve seen starring the great José Luís López Vázquez. He and Carmen Sevilla are just terrific.

If you like Spanish suspense/horror films, you must watch this. And if you don´t, you´ll enjoy it anyway.

(10 out of 10)
10 out of 10 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed