Reviews

Astonishing! Impressive! Terrific! There're no words to express what you feel after seeing, after having the experience of watching "Voz" ("Voice", in English). Paragraphs from one of the most enigmatic texts of Samuel Beckett, the voice and presence of the best actor in Spain (Fernando Fernán-Gómez), special effects from Reyes Abades (there's no "ordinary" way to make a candle turn off in 90 minutes) and direction from Javier Aguirre.

One person, one shot, no movement. Another reflection about space/time from Mr. Aguirre, the most talented director of experimental cinema in Spain.

Spanish director Javier Aguirre is a special case in the history of cinema. Author of more than 40 commercial movies, in 1973 he created the term "Anticine" to name a special kind of short movies based on experiments about time and space mainly.

"Vida / Perra" is the first long movie of Aguirre's Anticine and, as far as I know and as its author says, is the first monologue in movies history. And it's simply incredible!

His wife, Esperanza Roy, is the actress of this piece of visual art made as an adaptation of Angel Vazquez's novel, whose texts are read by Esperanza "as they are". This means, the text have been extracted from the novel without changing their words.

But this is not the main peculiarity of this film. What makes it BIG, UNIQUE, UNBEATABLE, is the interpretation of Roy, different of anything you have seen, she makes you see what you can't see in the screen.

Just another kind of cinema. An essential experiment. A "must see" for lovers of film art.

Benito Pérez Galdós is considered (with Miguel de Cervantes) the best Spanish writer and, in fact, if you read one of his books I assure you'll read more. Adapted by lots of directors, like Luis Buñuel, now was the time of the greatest Spanish director alive (José Luis Garci) to film one of the prettiest dramas ever made. And for "The Grandfather" José Luis Garci had the help of a genius (not only an actor, also a writer, director, ...): Fenando Fernán Gómez, his name is a legend alive. So with the text of Galdós, the art of Garci and the character of Fernán Gómez what can you have? A piece of art.

A movie in black and white about a very simple story, about the sadness of losing a person you love with that kind of love that should be forbidden. A movie about movies, about impossible love, about fanatism, about life. A story from those times, "una historia de entonces", with a talented director at his best. Another kind of cinema, the kind of cinema only a few chosen people can do.