Ryan McNeil
Some time ago, I became a sucker for Spanish cinema. All it took was one watching of ABRE LOS OJOS, and I was hooked. Since then, all it takes is a name like Amenabar, Vigalondo, or Almodovar and I blindly fork over my cash. I’m not quite certain what it is about Spanish cinema that hooks me in…maybe the storytelling, maybe the acting style.
Whatever it is, I always make sure I have at least one Spanish selection in my TIFF programme. This year I have three, and things began on Saturday night with FIN (aka THE END).
FIN begins with the reunion of friends who haven’t seen each other for twenty years. Their gathering brings with it memories, confessions, and ultimately revelations. One of the group, Felix (Daniel Grao), throws the balance of the group off just a bit by bringing a woman who is posing as his girlfriend. On the first night of the gathering – right around the time that it starts looking like these relationships might have been better off left in the past – an unexplained celestial event lights up the night sky. In its wake, nothing electronic will work, and the group has to decide what options they have to get to safety.
In some ways, FIN is evocative of TAKE SHELTER. The natural phenomena are there, the fear of what’s coming. The biggest difference though, is that in FIN we are certain that what we are seeing is happening – there’s no chance it’s all someone’s nightmare, or a side effect of psychosis.
The eeriest thing about FIN is that after the happening, people begin to disappear. The trailsigns they leave behind are things like have finished card games, abandoned bicycles with still-spinning wheels, and empty cars whose seatbelts are buckled. Such sights would be spectre enough, but when you accent it with roaming animals like vultures, dogs, and mountain goats, what you get is a film that is deeply engrossing.
Perhaps the saddest piece of philosophy that comes into play in FIN, is something one of the last few survivors brings up. In talking about those who have disappeared, she suggests “Maybe they were lucky to get out of this nightmare”. When considering events of mass devastation, one doesn’t always consider survivors as being the unfortunate ones, but perhaps that is the case. Perhaps there are atrocities in this world that are worse to live through than to fall victim to.
FIN would have been a wonderful watch had it just focused on the unsaid things these friends left in the past, and how those things have affected who each person grew up to be. In taking that group dynamic and dropping it into a story of post-apocalyptic survival, director Jorge Torregrossa has created a visually fascinating take on Ten Little Indians.
The Spanish – they never disappoint.
FIN (THE END) plays tomorrow – 3pm at Cineplex Yonge & Dundas, and once more on Sunday September 16th – 9:15pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Cool! Although it may never show up in a theater near me. I guess that’s what makes netflix so great! I don’t know if you’re aware but there’s a TV series starting called “Revolution” where disaster strikes when suddenly nothing electrical works! Sound familiar? I’m a big fan of Spanish cinema as well. For me, and maybe the whole world, it started with “Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown”. My current favorite is “Sex and Lucia”. Spanish women are so hot! Maybe that’s why we love their cinema!
Yeah, that certainly doesn’t hurt, and one of the lead actresses in this film fits that sentiment (Clara Lago).
I’ve never heard of “Revolution”, but perhaps when all of this insanity is over, I’ll look it up.
I’m actually not that familiar with Spanish cinema, perhaps I just haven’t seen one that got me hooked. I’m just starting to catch up with your TIFF reviews, Ryan, keep ’em up! 😀
They’ve been making such wonderful films in the last decade or two – heck, the filmogrophy of Almodovar alone is enough to make me want to move there! Try to track down THE ORPHANAGE, EXTRATERRESTRIAL, and THE SEA INSIDE…that oughta get you hooked.
And thanks for the encouragement. Mercifully, this morning I have no screenings so I can get some words down.
Hi Ryan – great site. I was talking with you while in line for this film. Like you, I have been enjoying plenty of Spanish output at TIFF over the years. That said I can’t say I was taken by FIN. I would have rather it played out more as a drama than a thrill-ride to capture some of the more existential questions you indicated in your review. It simply wasn’t that thrilling. But FIN is certainly much more effective that the similar but poorly done VANISHING ON 7TH STREET that played at TIFF in 2010.
Hi Ken – Welcome to The Matinee!
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner, but keeping up with writing about all I watched left me very little time to respond to comments.
FIN hasn’t stuck with me the same way that other Spanish films in the past have, but I was still pretty smitten with visuals like the mountain goats and the dogs. You’re right though, it doesn’t entirely know what it wants to be, which might be what holds it back for viewers like us.
Don’t be stranger!
I see that the Spanish premier of Fin is today – and I saw a new trailer for the movie yesterday which led me to seek out some reviews. I hope it makes its way back to North American shores soon because even with some tepid reviews I’m still looking forward to seeing this one, Ryan.
And I hear you on Spanish movies. Whether it be the ones you mentioned or Los ojos de Julia or El rey de la montaña or the very underrated La hora fría, it’s great stuff. Also – really looking forward to the new film from the Pastor brothers, Los últimos días.
ps. with respect to Ray, Revolution is just horrible.