05


09


VERBO (2011) Dir. Eduardo Chapero-Jackson Stars: Alba García, Najwa Nimri and Miguel Ångel Silvestre


Sarah, a 15-year-old dreamer and lost soul floats through life at school and home and is a self confessed loner. Estranged from her mother (Najwa Nimri) and struggling to understand the things she’s being taught at school, Sarah delves into her own world. She becomes obsessed over an elusive Banksy like perpetrator called Lyrico (Silvestre) who leaves behind a series of cryptic poems and clues all over the estate walls, and begins to believe that it is her mission to follow the instructions and find Lyrico.


What follows is a series of dark, fantastical tests that see Sarah treading the lines between life and death in order to save herself and others like her. What springs to mind when watching Verbo is the vibrant, weird and wonderful worlds created by Guillermo Del Toro (Pans


Labyrinth) and Pedro Almovadar (Volver, The Skin I Live In), respectively. It’s


experimental, complex and in places


melodramatic.


Dealing with themes of suicide, depression, teen love as well as highlighting some very serious flaws in the Spanish education system Verbo ends up trying to be too many things at once subsequently leaving some scenes coming off as contrived and naïve.


Where the film does succeed is in its aesthetic quality. It’s so well shot that it may easily have worked without any words at all. Sarah (debut turn from Alba García) is sincere and by the end of the film, you’re rooting for her to overcome her demons with the help of Lyrico - a sort of urban cool fairy godfather from a dark underworld.


There is one consistent message


that director and writer Eduardo Chapero-Jackson executes fairly well throughout the film, if not in a slightly conceited way; the importance of having a voice and being able to articulate feelings to make a change.


Promoting all the great things Spanish cinema has to offer, LSFF showcases talent infront and behind the camera, diversity in Spanish culture and filmmaking and quality Spanish storytelling. I plan to make a conscious effort to catch LSFF from start to finish next year and I recommend you do to.


www.londonspanishfilmfestival.com • Words Alex K - Images: LSFF


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