Search - Gaudi Afternoon on DVD

Certaintly not your average hollywood comedy flick

giovanni | Greece | 08/26/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Gaudi Afternoom is what you could call an alternative piece of comedy . Set and filmed entirely in Spain , the movie is sharp , witty and full of dark humour . More of a film-noir if you'd like to categorize it , it's been carried by a group of talented , underrated female actors . Davis is excellent in the lead role and so is Marcia Gay Harden ( in her most unusual part yet ) who is been provided with more than a couple of poisonous lines to work on by the script . The female versus..."female" scenes are all great yet the best one of all is when Harden and Taylor try to convince a little girl that they can compromise with each other and get over their differences , all in return for her precious love . Certaintly not your ordinary hollywood comedy flick , this spicy film waits for you to discover ."

Love This City, Love These People, & Love Judy Davis !

Tsuyoshi | Kyoto, Japan | 10/15/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Gaudi of the title is, of course, Antonio Gaudi, one of the most famous architecht of the world, and you may remember the unique form of The Church of Saglada Familia, in Barcelona. This film follows the journey of Cassandra, amateur translater turned amateur detective, who wanders in the maze of sexuality in this beautiful city situated in Catalonia.But don't misunderstand here. This is an off-beat comedy, so you see no blood or dead body. Actually, it is delectable Judy Davis you will see, and as Cassandra she is at her best since her role in "Children of Revolution." Cassandra, born in Missigan, is now living in a narrow apartment in Barcelona, where she landed some years ago. She is making her ends meet by translating a Spanish book into English, but finds herself no longer capable of the job. Facing the danger of eviction, she meets a mysterious visitor Frankie, who asks her to find a person named Ben. Reluctantly she accepts the offer, but it is only the begining of her new life among the colorful, unconventional people living in this city.I refrain from mentioning the further development of the story, because there are many twists and turns in it. Not that the story is difficult to follow; rather, you will find the film is challenging our concepts on sexuality and family. Director Susan Seidelman (known for "Desperately Seeking Susan," one of the decent films Madonna made) knows what she is doing, presenting the portraits of characters as unique as Gaudi's works, and many of them will easily and elusively slip away from our ideas about gender, which are formed from their outward looks.So, relax and enjoy the complicated web of sexuality, and as Judy Davis's character is, you will be always comfortably deceived. As I said, Davis is superb, and Marcia Gay Harden is also effective. You see Juliette Lewis (as April, always with some smell of illegal substance) and Lili Taylor too. For Spanish film fans, you find Pedro Armodbar regular Maria Barranco, and from England Christopher Bowen appears as a magician (whose sensual singing is a stand-out).Always pleasant, and surprising, the film keeps on going not in a straight way, like the undulating forms of Gaudi architechture. Speaking of which, you can see many Gaudi's works in Barcelona, from the distant view of Saglada Familia, to the apartment house where Judy Davis stakes out to photograph the still unknown character Ben. You may say that the city itself is the leading actor of the film, and perhaps you are right. The film is as original and free from conventional views on sex, and succeeds to make its point without being heavy or dogmatic. The story inevitably looks muddled at the end, but still the film offers something very unique, and idiosyncratic."