EU FIilm Days 5/23 Nobody Knows Anybody

The Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo showed Nobody Knows Anybody (Nadie Conoce A Nadie) on Monday.

A member of the Spanish Embassy introduced this film with a (long) speech about the history of Spanish cinema. What was more interesting was the great spanish lisp he had and the fact it took him about 5 times to pronounce Spain 'Espain' in Japanese.

Written by Mateo Gil (who also wrote one of if not my absolute favorite film, Abre Los Ojos ), and a musical score by Abre Los Ojos's director Alejandro Amenabar, this film is about a frustrated novelist who is doing crossword puzzles for a local paper to earn a living. It takes place during holy week and the La Ferria de Sevilla in Seville, there are many mysterious attacks, which the protagonist, Simone, gets wrapped up in.

What a fantastic film. When I left the theater after seeing Abre Los Ojos, it ripped my mind apart and left me all wobbly like, like a good thriller should. 'Nobody' wasn't that good, but it was certainly close. The movie starts with a steady cam aerial shot(the first of several in the film) of beautiful Seville, panning into a colloseum with a Christian worshiper dressed in KKK like clothing is dead in the center with huge cross stabbed through his heart.I really like the aerial shots because, as you find out later, they have relavance to the story. It even integrates the old world expo building site from Seville and one Santiago Calatrava's wonderful bridges. It's clear that Mateo Gil and Amenebar worked on this film; Amenebar composed the score for the film, and the use of sound adds incredible tensity to the film. Gil is a master at creating gripping thoughtful thrillers.

One thing this film had that Abre Los Ojos didn't, was the great location. It really utilized and integrated it into the plot. Abre Los Ojos could have taken place anywhere (which Cameron Crowe, unfortunately, thought as well) I will be buying the DVD of this soon.