The first 40 minutes of Venuto al mondo (Twice Born), competing in this year's Official Section of the Zinemaldia festival, are, frankly, laughably bad. As well as a corny script and stereotyped characters, the action and events completely lack credibility. Directed by Italian Sergio Castellitto, the film stars Penélope Cruz as Italian beauty Gemma who is swept off her feet by Emile Hirsch's Diego, an American photographer and free spirit. The character of Diego is so full of energy and utter rapture about everything that he is incapable of entering a room without tripping up with excitement over the wallpaper. He and la bella Gemma are first introduced by their mutual, stereotypically … [Read more...] about San Sebastián Film Festival: understanding war and ethnic division
san sebastian film festival
Spain’s film dubbing: ghost of a fascist past must be laid to rest
Most ex-patriots living and working in Spain will be all too aware of the Spanish penchant for dubbing foreign-language films. Whether Spanish-speaking or not, this is enormously irritating, particularly for those of us not living in more cosmopolitan cities like Madrid or Barcelona, with more cinemas showing films in original version. The nearest big city to me is San Sebastián, which hosts an annual international film festival famed for its predilection for the avant-garde. Throughout the festival, all showings are in original version and San Sebastián is extremely proud of its cinematic culture. Yet after almost 60 years of hosting the event, there is still only one small, two-screen … [Read more...] about Spain’s film dubbing: ghost of a fascist past must be laid to rest