Solas (1999) Alone
Solas (1999)
DVDRip | MKV | 704x368 | XviD @ 1718 Kbps | 96 min | 1,32 Gb
Audio: Español AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English (srt)
Genre: Drama
DVDRip | MKV | 704x368 | XviD @ 1718 Kbps | 96 min | 1,32 Gb
Audio: Español AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English (srt)
Genre: Drama
Director: Benito Zambrano
Writer: Benito Zambrano
Stars: María Galiana, Ana Fernández, Carlos Álvarez-Nóvoa
Maria, whose parents live in the country, cannot stand her father's authoritarian ways and moves to the city. She finds a job as a cleaner and tries to survive in a wretched apartment in the shabby part of a big city. She is pregnant, and the fact that her boyfriend has abandoned her does not help matters. When her father goes to the hospital for an operation, her mother comes to stay with her. Her neighbor, an old recluse whose only friend is his dog, begins to come out of his shell and these three lost souls try to give each other the strength to start over.
IMDB - 48 wins
Many thanks to Benito Zambrano for this beautiful delineation of human dilemmas humanely faced. Maria Galiana, as an elderly Spanish woman caught in the trap of a very bad marriage, but able to maintain her generosity and ability to love, is superb and inspiring. Her grown daughter, played with passion by Ana Fernandez, is more sophisticated and bitter. She has allowed herself to be used by a man, not unlike her unfeeling father, and her protrayal makes us sympathize with her, particularly when she finds she's pregnant and the man refuses to help her. And then there is the daughter's neighbor, played by Carlos Alvarez-Novia…a lonely old man with only his amazing dog for companionship. How he and the mother establish a tender, but "proper" relationship is a piece of rare and subtle film-making. I see no similarity between Zambrano's movie and the work of Mike Leigh (who apparently inspired him). Real people, yes, but the values demonstrated by Zambrano far surpass, in my estimation, those of Mike Leigh. My highest recommendation to anyone interested in a film that has soul, without sentimentality or grossness.
(click to enlarge)
Solas (1999) Alone
More in My Blog