I'm back with more from FF 2011. My third film of day 2 was Nacho Vigalondo's EXTRATERRESTRIAL. Now at FF 2007, my very first film of the fest was TIME CRIMES which ended up being my favorite that year. Since then, Vigalondo has become a fixture at FF whether he's showing off his hilarious short films or his stellar karaoke skills, so I signed on without hesitation for the screening of his latest feature. I have to admit that after Vigalondo's feature debut my expectations were pretty high, and fortunately EXTRATERRESTRIAL did not disappoint. He takes the same cleverness and wit of TIME CRIMES and applies it to a twisted romantic comedy with a sci-fi subtext.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL begins when our lead, Julio, awakes to find himself in a completely unfamiliar apartment after a night of debauchery with a gal whose name he can't even recall. When Julia, his one night stand, finds him awake in his underwear in her kitchen the awkwardness is palpable, and Julio quickly gets dressed to leave. Before he goes, he asks if he can borrow her phone to make a call since he has no reception, and they discover that neither of their phones work (including the land line) nor do the TV or Internet. When they realize the usually busy street outside the apartment is deserted, they look up to finally see what is causing the commotion- a 4 mile wide UFO parked in the sky directly above Madrid. An emergency radio broadcast tells them that while they slept off their hangovers for most of the day, the rest of the city was being evacuated and any remaining citizens were instructed not to stay in their homes.
Now, while all of this sounds very creepy and ominous, it is mixed with a certain level of comic relief that sets the quirky tone for the remainder of the film. Soon, Julia's neighbor Angel joins them, filling in more blanks for the pair and further breaking up the seriousness of the situation with his snarky behavior toward Julio. Angel is full on obsessed with Julia and living right next door makes it pretty convenient to casually stalk her. After a day or so of just watching and waiting for something to happen with the UFO, something of another sort finally does happen- Julia's boyfriend Carlos returns home. Oops. Julia failed to mention that she has a boyfriend, and this is where the real story begins. The quick witted Julia easily convinces Carlos that she actually saved a disoriented Julio from the street outside her apartment. Carlos, satisfied with this explanation, welcomes Julio into their home, even going so far as forbidding him to leave. When Angel starts to poke around and interfere with Julia's story, a web of lies begins to form that soon spirals out of control.
The remainder of the film plays out as a brilliant love triangle with certain key plot points evolving from the backdrop of the alien invasion which makes for truly a great little film. Its the perfect example of what a filmmaker can do with a simple premise, great writing, wonderful performances, and a few key effects. Though very few scenes of the film actually take place outside of the apartment, Vigalondo manages to keep the film from feeling claustrophobic. The heart of the film is the amazing writing and characters. There really are no bad guys, and you end up rooting for each of them in a different way. The the end result is just good, solid storytelling and a lot of fun.
Next up, JUAN OF THE DEAD. I know you've already seen Harry and Nordling rave about this one, but I just had to get in my two cent as well. Believe the hype people, director Alejandro Brugues has a total winner on his hands.
I'm not going to go on and on since others already have, but JUAN OF THE DEAD just nails it. Just when you might think that the zombie genre is tired and needs to go to bed, along comes a film like this that reminds you just how much fun it can be when its done right. The movie is a terrific addition to the zombie comedy sub genre, sitting right up there with ZOMBIELAND or SHAUN, however the Cuban setting and cultural references that permeate every frame of the film make it wholly unique as well. It's already fascinating enough to see the stunning city scape of Havana. Add to that throngs of the undead and visual effects depicting the destruction of a litany of buildings and historical monuments (that rival any of those from the big budget disaster flicks, btw) and you have simple cinematic genius.
JUAN has all the usual bells and whistles (in a good way), but also serves up tons of originality in terms of mayhem and kills that had the audience cheering multiple time throughout the film. In addition, amid all the carnage, Brugues manages to serve up a charming little story that encompasses honor among thieves, friendship, and even paternal redemption and handles it all in a fresh and non-corny manner that never betrays the comedic heart of the film. JUAN OF THE DEAD is my absolute favorite film of the fest so far and if the movie gods are listening, you will all have a chance to check it out for yourselves very soon.
Annette Kellerman'
