Barrio (1998)

Director:

Fernando León de Aranoa

Writer:

Fernando León de Aranoa (writer)

Release Date:

2 October 1998 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Cemetery | Brother Sister Relationship | Brother Brother Relationship | Night Watchman | Drug Dealer

Awards:

11 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Críspulo Cabezas	...	Rai
Timy Benito	...	Javi (as Timy)
Eloi Yebra	...	Manu
Marieta Orozco	...	Susi, Javi's sister
Alicia Sánchez	...	Carmen, madre de Javi
Enrique Villén	...	Ricardo, Javi's father
Francisco Algora	...	Ángel, Manu's father
Chete Lera	...	Inspector de policía
Claude Pascadel	...	Antonio, Javi's grandfather
Pedro Miguel Martínez	...	Neighbor
Daniel Guzmán	...	Chico bar de copas
Lluvia Rojo	...	Chica bar de copas
Nicolas Abraham	...	Carlos, Rai's brother
Concha Gómez Conde	...	Ana, Rai's mother
Pepo Oliva	...	Ignacio, padre de Rai

Runtime:

94 min | France:100 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:U | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Elías Querejeta Producciones Cinematográficas S.L.

Movie Connections:

References "Baywatch" (1989)

Nice concept, poor execution

I really didn't like this movie when I first saw it. In retrospect, I am a little more forgiving, but not much.

The reason I actually gave this movie a 5/10 is that the concept was really, really good: three youths in urban Madrid seem to have little or no chance in the larger world, because of factors completely beyond their control. The environment these boys live in is devastating to think about, because it neglects so many things about them and the world they live in, yet they can't even perceive this deficiency precisely because of that deficiency.

Now, if you're thinking this sounds good, you're right. But the actual movie is not that good. While there are a few scenes that really shine(especially the final one which quite literally has a young man "trying to walk the straight and narrow"), the majority of this movie is interminably slow, with no sense of direction whatsoever. It almost felt like I was watching a very badly edited documentary. In fairness, I think I might have lost some of the more sophisticated elements of the film given that I haven't spent a lot of time around Madrid's urban slang, but the language gap wasn't so large that it could possibly explain the deficiencies of this film.