REVIEWS Childish Games REVIEWED BY JONATHAN ROMNEY
Playing childish innocence against adult guilt has been a staple of psychological horror ever since The Turn Of The Screw, and it has been a reliable ploy for recent Spanish chillers — notably The Orphanage and, before that, The Devil’s Backbone. Considerably less Gothic than those films, Childish Games (Dictado) could nevertheless modestly emulate their success in sales terms, if only because it is a relatively efficient reworking of familiar tropes. But once it has set out its premise, Childish Games does not do much more than run through its moves to increasingly routine effect. After a distractingly confusing prelude involv-
ing a father and son — their identity does not come into focus until much later — the story kicks off by introducing us to likeable youngish couple Daniel (Botto) and Laura (Lennie), both teachers. At school, Daniel is approached by a wild-eyed man from his past, Mario (Rodriguez), who is agi- tated about his daughter. Mario soon takes his own life, in a setpiece that
is one of the film’s more effectively shocking moments, and Laura, who is desperate for a child, suggests she and Daniel temporarily adopt the dead man’s traumatised daughter Julia (Perez). Daniel agrees — but with reluctance, for reasons to do with his childhood: as boys, he and Mario
COMPETITION
Sp. 2011. 95mins Director/producer Antonio Chavarrias Production company Oberon Cinematografica International sales Filmax International,
filmaxint@filmax.com Screenplay Antonio Chavarrias, from a story by Sergi Belbel Cinematography Guillermo Granillo Editor Marti Roca Production designer Isaac-Pierre Racine Music Joan Valent, Zacarias M de la Riva Main cast Juan Diego Botto, Barbara Lennie, Magica Perez, Marc Rodriguez, Agata Roca
were involved in an incident involving the death of the latter’s sister, Clara. As Julia moves in, bonding with Laura but definitely not with her adoptive dad, her behaviour becomes increasingly trou- bling — and Daniel’s becomes pretty erratic, too. Could it be that Julia is the vengeful reincar-
nation of the dead Clara? And who is really in dan- ger from whom? Maybe it would be better if everyone just took a nice relaxing break in the country. That should resolve tensions — and there couldn’t possibly be anything to fear from a cobwebby old house and a dizzying nearby clifftop, could there?
FROM THE HEART OF INDIA... A heart-rending story featuring a physically challenged child prodigy
EUROPEAN FILM MARKET PREMIERE Feb. 15 (Wed) 4:30 pm @
Martin-Gropius-Bau (MGB)-Kino featuring ARJUN SARJA,
MADHURI BHATTACHARYA &
9 year old SANKALP
The most interesting thing about this psycho-
chiller is that director-writer Antonio Chavarrias has crafted his story as an implicit juvenile Vertigo, with one child seemingly possessed by another. To that effect there are creepy elements, such as the appearance of a red ribbon common to both girls, and the eerie recurrence of a nursery rhyme (the ‘dictation’ of the film’s Spanish title), not to men- tion some distinct Bernard Herrmann tinges in the over-emphatic and by-the-book score.
SCREEN SCORE ★
AKK ENTERTAINMENT PVT. LTD. presents
PRASAD
PRODUCED BY ASHOK KHENY
n 10 Screen International at the Berlinale February 12, 2012
A GIFT OF THE GODS DIRECTED BY
MANOJ SATI MUSIC BY ILLYARAJA BOMBAY BERLIN FILM PRODUCTION : Katharina Suckale
www.bombayberlin.com sales@bombayberlin.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60