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El Bar
The Bar
Spain / Argentina 2017
produced by Carolina Bang, Álex de la Iglesia, Kiko Martínez, Sofía Fábregas (executive) for El Bar Producciones, Atresmedia Cine, Nadie es Perfecto, Pampa Films, Pokeepsie Films
directed by Álex de la Iglesia
starring Blanca Suárez, Mario Casas, Carmen Machi, Secun de la Rosa, Jaime Ordóñez, Terele Pávez, Joaquín Climent, Alejandro Awada, Jordi Aguilar, Diego Braguinsky, Mamen García, Daniel Arribas, Paco Sarro, Mari Giner, Tony Lam, Mariano Andrés, Sue Flack, Daniele Fileti, Miguel Fajardo, Helena Resano
written by Álex de la Iglesia, Jorge Guerricaechevarría, music by Carlos Riera, Joan Valent
review by Mike Haberfelner
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All Elena (Blanca Suárez) wanted was to recharge her phone in a rather
featureless café near the place she'd be having a blind date ... when
"they" were starting to shoot people right in front of the
place. Not knowing who "they" actually were (other than a sniper
in the nearby buildings) but triggered by the fact that the streets got
empty all of a sudden, she (and all the other patrons in the café) opted
to stay put in the place ... and soon saw the army arriving outside, but
not to save them or anything, just to burn some tires to literally create
a smokescreen, a fire in the city to divert from what's really going on -
and what is going on is that some patient zero of some epidemic has
escaped - and he's hiding at the toilet of the very café everyone's in
... and then dies on them, but he carries a few syringes of the antidote.
And soon then there's a fight for the syringes, and soon the patronage of
the café's split in two, those who haven't even touched patient zero and
consider themselves clean, and those who have who are forced into the
place's murky basement with patient zero. Thing is, those upstairs are
soon obliterated by some gouvernment agents while those downstairs really
start to fight, and soon even start to kill each other, over the syringes,
as there are less syringes than people ... The Bar might
read like a dystopian thriller that's bleak and dystopian as can be - but
with a director like Álex de la Iglesia this just isn't quite the case,
the film, while setting a proper dark atmosphere, lives from its
grotesque, absurd, and sometimes downright fun moment, thanks to a cast of
rather bizarre yet palpable characters, plenty of over-the-top situations,
and the right balance between painting in broad strokes and directorial
finesse to get some lesser points across. Basically, it might be a
depressing film ... and a really fun ride!
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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