Animales nocturnos

«Disfruta de lo absurdo de nuestras vidas. Duelen mucho menos que el mundo real». Es más o menos como si lo hubiera pensado Nicolas Winding Refn. Y fracasó. Una poderosa historia de traición y venganza, que evita las emociones directas del espectador, pero que sigue siendo absorbente y sobrecogedora. Contrasta con impotencia las líneas perfectamente ajustadas del entorno seguro pero frío de la alta sociedad de Los Ángeles, de un lado, con el desierto imprevisible y polvoriento de Texas, del otro. La colisión del vacío del mundo del consumo con los valores más fundamentales de la vida. Arrepentirse de las decisiones equivocadas de hace tiempo. ¿Acaso la película nos muestra al personaje que más nos interesa y por el que sentimos tanta pena? Es una cuestión espinosa, que persiste hasta la escena final. El arte académico americano, vivido con el placeres de ver a los actores. Y una banda sonora a lo Bernard Herrmann. (29.11.2016)

Después del deleite intelectual y visual de A Single Man, el famoso diseñador de moda ahora presenta un psicotriller en el que confirma su genialidad, su sentido de la belleza y su habilidad para capturar la magia del momento. Es fascinante observar cómo logra retratar contrastes, lo hermoso y lo feo, sin ofender al espectador, al contrario, logra generar fuertes emociones internas. Cada vez tengo más simpatía por Amy Adams y solo tengo palabras de elogio para ella. Después de escapar de la imagen de la chica gris en American Hustle, me ha cautivado para siempre y me parece sumamente sexy en cada papel que interpreta. Nocturnal Animals es simplemente una película que funciona en todos los aspectos, desde un guion brillante e inteligente hasta una maravillosa banda sonora. Sinceramente, estoy emocionado por lo que Tom Ford nos presentará la próxima vez. (08.12.2016)

If the opening assault on the eyes (especially male eyes) was supposed to capture the female protagonist’s lack of taste and judgment (because we find ourselves in her gallery), it would be possible to understand her subsequent enthusiasm for Edward’s trashy novel built on the most moronic plot twists and populated with caricatures of Southern rednecks, hysterical husbands and indomitable sheriffs. If, however, the film really required us to keep a critical (and cynical) distance from a protagonist who is so unprepared for the real world that she can’t even unwrap a package that she receives (after cutting herself, she leaves the job to an assistant), the melodramatic conclusion, which instead relies on our identification with Susan, would not make any sense. I’m not sure how seriously Ford wants us to take Nocturnal Animals. In any case, it can’t be taken too seriously. The characters are one-dimensional. Instead of impactful statements, we have trite phrases, which the characters use to reveal their emotional state to us (instead of acting it out). In Susan’s world, everyone and everything primarily has to look good, which sometimes applies and sometimes doesn’t in the world of the book Susan is reading. It is thus probably not true (or at least not all the time) that she projects into the novel what she wants to have in it as its plot materialises before our eyes. Or perhaps the fetishes of women from better society include Aaron Taylor-Johnson ostentatiously wiping his ass? I suspect the director himself did not have a clear idea of how (self-)ironic and deliberately campy he wanted the film to be, nor how much he wanted the romantic and spiritual to take precedence over material values. The result is a trio of films – a Southern thriller, a melodrama about class differences and a satire of the world of snobs who judge others based on whether they own the latest iPhone – that are all quite entertaining in places, but most of the time come across as much more serious and self-important than would be fitting, considering their hollowness. 65% (23.11.2016)

There’s power in simplicity. I guess that’s how I would evaluate this film after watching it. At the beginning, it offers fairly strange opening credits, through which it tries to create an atmosphere of mysticism and I was a bit worried that what I might be getting was another successor to David Lynch. However, I was quite lucky that this didn’t happen and the slow-paced life of the protagonist, who is portrayed by Amy Adams, began to unravel. But then the story jumps forward and I was watching a whole different story penned by Jake Gyllenhaal. And even though the two stories didn’t actually intertwine, there was such an interesting ending that I actually had to admit that the point couldn’t have been any better. The film looks mysterious but in the end it is a very solid drama. And by the way, Michael Shannon is really good in this one! (07.02.2017)

Beautifully shot and stylized, outstanding music and magnificently performed, bombastic and snobbish nothing. The worst thing is that the final unraveling scene (and it doesn't matter which of the two or three possible interpretations you chose) does not justify the would-be ingenious formal construction as a mindfuck. It rather fully shows that instead of three different story line layers, one main story line would be more than enough to achieve the same effect and convey the same message (for all three possible messages). However, introductory hardcore subtitles should be kept as they are the best and most subversive part of it. (21.11.2016)