★ 6 / 10
A very strange silent film portrays how a young drug addict gives birth in the middle of one of her seizures and incapable of taking care of the baby, she sells him.
ma-cortes
¨Baby¨ potently challenges the viewer with impressive images , intense drama and unsettling events; being splendidly filmed on location in Vitoria , Pais Vasco…
¨Baby¨ potently challenges the viewer with impressive images , intense drama and unsettling events; being splendidly filmed on location in Vitoria , Pais Vasco , where the same director was born and lives. Downbeat but acceptable film about tragic deeds occur a dim-witted girl and lead a cruel nightmare . Emotive drama , thriller , grim tragedy , befittingly photographed, including engaging interpretation , and acceptable direction . This Spanish picture is an enjoyable story with an interesting characterizing about a few characters , tragic drama and thought-provoking events . It deals with an extremely unfortunate girl (Rosie Day) , she's a drug addict, and gives birth in the middle of one her breakdowns. Her addiction leaves her mute and mentally disconnected from the world, and she sells it to a midwife who dabbles in child trafficking. The girl will soon regret her decision and she will have to overcome her weaknesses and face her deepest fears. There's a merciless villain (Harriet Sansom Harris) and her two weird daughters (Natalia Tena, Mafalda Carbonell). Soon after, riddled with regret, the girl will then attempt to get her offspring back. And she decides to retrieve him, at any cost .This interesting but some depressing film contains human drama , thrills , emotion , tragical events , complemented with a colorful cinematography and sensitive musical score . These elements provide the setting for this piece of dramatic deeds , in which a junkie unable to give proper care to her baby, she sells him to a disturbing woman who works in the child trade business. Giving it its own special quality and ambient ; making a strong description of a drama inside a mentally weak girl. So in the picture there's suspense, terror , depression , death , illness , isolation, and madness. Ulloa's most films were shot in Vitoria and this Baby (2020) especifically in: Murgia, Araba, Basque Country, Otzarretako basoa, Zeanuri, Bizkaia,Legutio, Araba,Nanclares de Ganboa, Bodegas Baigorri, Samaniego, Araba, Basque Country. It contains an emotive as well as thrilling musical score by Bingen Mendizabal . In addition , a spotless pictorial cinematography and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot, every sequence , every space .Juanma Bajo Ulloa remarked about his new outing, Baby (2010): ¨The main character is born of a cynical society that is intoxicated by materialism and which worships the banal, a society that neither offers her a chance of redemption nor forgives her mistake, her lack of wisdom or perhaps even her weakness. It's a society where failures are looked upon with particular disdain, mistakes are stigmatised and, in many cases, losers are condemned to be social outcasts. Nevertheless, life always gives us another chance because new life begins every day. And life is what will place in the protagonist's hands the opportunity to find courage, strength and the will to rise up, to overcome pain and fear, and maybe to finally tread her own path".The cast is mostly unknown: Rosie Day, Harriet Sansom Harris and young Mafalda Carbonell (the daughter of comedian Pablo Carbonell, whom we saw not long ago in Vivir dos veces by María Ripoll), alonf with the already established actress Natalia Tena and veteran Charo López; all of them give fine acting .It boasts a brilliant cinematography by José María Civit (The King of Havana) and a score composed by Koldo Uriarte and Bingen Mendizábal (El juego del ahorcado). ¨Baby¨ is a Frágil Zinema production, which saw the involvement of the Basque Government, the Álava Provincial Council, the Vitoria City Council and Televisión Española. It is being made in conjunction with Caja Rural de Navarra and the Vital Foundation. The film was part of the Fantastic 7 project run by the Sitges and Cannes Film Festivals. Juanma Bajo Ulloa was born in Vitoria, a small town in northern Spain where he has set most of his movies. The rare screenplay of which was penned by director himself is plenty of intrigue, tension and plot twists. Juanma Bajo Ulloa is a good but little prolific filmmaker and with ¨Alas de mariposa¨and "La Madre Muerta" caught the attention of the Spanish media and spectators because of its shocking visual style and the crude scenario, winning prizes in several Festivals like Venice and Montreal . In 1989 he filmed his first movie in 35 mm , "The kingdom of Victor" that won the Goya of the Spanish academy to the best short movie . Ulloa's first long film was the successful ¨Butterfly wings¨ in which appears a brief cameo by Karra Elejalde -his favorite actor- as a neighbour , this movie achieved numerous national and international prizes . As it won 3 Goyas of the Spanish academy , such as best first movie , actress and original screenplay . After two years of writing along with his brother Eduardo, Juanma Bajo Ulloa directed his second long movie . In 1993, he realized ¨La Madre Muerta¨ or ¨Dead mother¨, starring Karra Elejalde , Ana Alvarez and Lio , considered to be his best by many of his fans , in which the starring carries out a kidnapping and asks a mental institution for ransom ; but them emerges a strange relationship between the girl and the heartless delinquent , and it becomes a tragic one , driving the final to an inevitable and upsetting tragedy. It was released in the Festival of Cine of San Sebastian winning the first prize and subsequently won awards in many international festivals . This film along with ¨Butterfly wings¨ or ¨Alas de Mariposa¨ forms a splendid diptych in which stands out its darkness , gloomy environment and deep drama. In 1996, his third movie , "Airbag" , an action road-movie , became the biggest Spanish box-office hit of all time , being a real national success . However his third film ¨Airbag¨ disappointed some of his longtime buffs who preferred the obscurity of his first movies .Despite the success , he has been unable to make any other movie in the last 8 years . He attempted to adapt the Spanish comic hero "Capitán Trueno" but the producers turned him down , and being finally realized by Antonio Hernandez . Others projects couldn't be financed due to creative differences with producers. In 2004 he filmed in secret, and with his own money, his fourth movie, "Fragil", that will be released in 2005 but was a commercial flop.
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★ 9 / 10
A homage to Guillermo del Toro
elizab-28129
A dark fairytale, with beautiful imagery. Don't pay attention to the 1 star review. If you like del Toro, you'll probably like this movie. Those who find it…
A dark fairytale, with beautiful imagery. Don't pay attention to the 1 star review. If you like del Toro, you'll probably like this movie. Those who find it boring, have the attention span of a peanut, and no appreciation for artful films. True, it may not be for everyone, because it's not spelled out for you, and with there being no dialogue, you need to pay attention to the details, but it is a good film. You should broaden your scope, and watch it with an open mind.
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80%
AUDIENCE
5.0/10
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