Yes I'm sad, I count the number of films I see each year or rather I keep a numbered list, and on Sunday I notched up my 50th, a little South American film called Undertow.
And I must start by saying that it didn't live up to expectation but that is mainly because the film I expected from the trailer seemed to be an entirely different film to the one of watched. What I was expecting was a story of a poor fisherman, wife expecting, drawn into some sort of crime/murder endangered his life.
What Undertow is in fact about, is Miguel a poor fisherman, wife Mariela expecting, who has an affair with Santiago, a rich male artist visiting Miguel's village. It is more of South American Brokeback Mountain crossed with Ghost.
So you see why it didn't quite meet my expectation but that isn't to say it isn't a good film. ***Plot spoilers*** The pace can be a little slow and it is a little bizarre if you aren't expecting it when it wanders into Ghost territory. What happens is that Santiago accidentally drowns and his ghost asks Miguel to find his body and give it a proper sea burial so that his soul can move on in the traditions of the village.
Miguel is the only one who can see Santiago but is reluctant to let him go. Miguel's happy situation is brought to an abrupt end when two amorous teenagers discover Santiago's naked portraits of Miguel giving fuel to the sparks of village gossip which were ignited when Santiago first visited the village.
The truth is painful for both Miguel and Mariela but also the villagers as their perceptions of masculinity and tradition are challenged.
Undertow is a slightly bizarre little film but with a poignant and moving story at it's heart.
What the professional's thought
The Observer's Philip French described it as "a touching, warm-hearted fable about honesty and tolerance with an authentic lyrical quality."
Anthony Quinn in The Independent gave it three stars saying of the "sensitive investigation of marriage, masculinity and devotion becomes cumulatively very moving."
This is a slightly different trailer to the one I saw:
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