Well, Spanish cinema does tend to the weird (think Almodovar), and Ventura Pons' Caresses is no exception, though it's a bit more down-to-earth than El Mar. The closest well-known American movie to compare it to would be Magnolia. According to "A Course in Miracles," Everything is either love, or a desperate cry for it. Caresses is definitely in the "desperate cry" category.
It consists of 11 very distinct two-person conversations in which the dominant character from the previous scene becomes the non-dominant character in the next. The first three scenes are marked by shocking, unmitigated hatred, and each is a painting of tremendous emotional dissatisfaction. Most are downright disturbing.
Furthermore, although each conversation is presented as though it's happening straightforwardly, each is unsettling, surreal, and wildly improbable. The characters usually talk past each other as though they can't even hear the other. On only a few occasions does the listener even respond to the talker.
My interpretation is that none of the conversations is real, but we are hearing what the characters WANT to express to each other, but don't, such as what the teen-age junkie wants to say to the homeless man he robs, or what the man would want to communicate to him. Regardless of whether any of the dialog is imaginary, Caresses undoubtedly focuses on bringing the "Shadow" into the light... uncomfortable for most of us, and hence the negative reviews.
I can't give it a positive review either. The acting is erratic, the motivation of the characters incomprehensible. Most of the movie is downright painful to watch. Furthermore,the actors seem to be playing such different roles in their two scenes, it's almost impossible to see them as playing the same character in different circumstances.
Maybe it have worked if Pons had amplified the surrealism and used dream sequences to show us we're looking at the hidden parts of the characters. Or maybe not.
At any rate, like a few other Catalan films I've seen (Morir O No, and El Mar), I find it mostly interesting for studying that fascinating language. And unlike El Mar, these conversations takes place in colloquial Catalan in the Barcelona dialect... But God forbid you would say phrases like these when you visit there!
It consists of 11 very distinct two-person conversations in which the dominant character from the previous scene becomes the non-dominant character in the next. The first three scenes are marked by shocking, unmitigated hatred, and each is a painting of tremendous emotional dissatisfaction. Most are downright disturbing.
Furthermore, although each conversation is presented as though it's happening straightforwardly, each is unsettling, surreal, and wildly improbable. The characters usually talk past each other as though they can't even hear the other. On only a few occasions does the listener even respond to the talker.
My interpretation is that none of the conversations is real, but we are hearing what the characters WANT to express to each other, but don't, such as what the teen-age junkie wants to say to the homeless man he robs, or what the man would want to communicate to him. Regardless of whether any of the dialog is imaginary, Caresses undoubtedly focuses on bringing the "Shadow" into the light... uncomfortable for most of us, and hence the negative reviews.
I can't give it a positive review either. The acting is erratic, the motivation of the characters incomprehensible. Most of the movie is downright painful to watch. Furthermore,the actors seem to be playing such different roles in their two scenes, it's almost impossible to see them as playing the same character in different circumstances.
Maybe it have worked if Pons had amplified the surrealism and used dream sequences to show us we're looking at the hidden parts of the characters. Or maybe not.
At any rate, like a few other Catalan films I've seen (Morir O No, and El Mar), I find it mostly interesting for studying that fascinating language. And unlike El Mar, these conversations takes place in colloquial Catalan in the Barcelona dialect... But God forbid you would say phrases like these when you visit there!