Review of El amor brujo (1986) by Tim H — 24 Oct 2007

Okay, technically, this should be the last review of Carlos Saura's Flamenco trilogy because I had all these supports in the other films why this movie only gets three stars. But since Flixster has yet to add them, I suppose that I must review them without the support of the other two movies.

Blood Wedding and Carmen all build up to this movie. Blood Wedding is a fairly traditional theatre experience while Carmen uses the theatre world to tell a fictional story. El Amor Brujo is just a fictional melodrama. That's okay, but it does somewhat crawl over the course of an hour-45. While I appreciate a good romantic ghost story, the dancing in this film both add and detract from the emotional intensity. We see very little character development compared to Carmen, which incorporates dance into the personal battle that rages inside the director's soul. What is very impressive about Amor is the visuals. It is a very stagey-feel and the movie really embraces the surreal world that these characters dance in.

There is also an extremely odd transition in this movie. After Antonio Gades's character returns from prison after being mistaken for the killer (how? I don't know), life simply continues on. If I hadn't read the plot summary, I would have been completely lost until well into the next discussion. Maybe it's because I'm an idiot, but that's how I felt.

But again, the dancing is fantastic. If you are looking for a loose story with fantastic flamenco dancing, this movie will do it for you. If you are looking for real, in-depth substance...perhaps this isn't the place to go.