Destello Bravío

The Spanish province depicted as a bizarrely beautiful nightmare. Atmospherically dense and fascinating, this debut paints a portrait of a patriarchal world in decay.

Men howling at each other like wolves or licking the ceiling; women talking about their clothes while dreamily caressing themselves; a mountain that emits a threatening murmur. The setting for these absurd happenings is a small Spanish town caught between patriarchy, Catholicism and obsolescence. Here, women's unfulfilled longings collide with the inadequacies of a doomed male world. It is a story of desperate attempts at breaking out. But this courageous debut comes together less through its plot than through an aesthetic of suggestive and mysterious scenes, photographed with a peculiarly pale colorlessness. This oppressive and enchanting cinematic vision distinguishes itself just as much through its artfulness as its wealth of ideas. Who would have thought that absurdity and morbidity could be so refreshing!

Director