When you think of Spanish films, you might think of a lot of wonderful little-budget suspense films. For example, I gave you Amway before "The Dark Side", "The End of the Tunnel", "The Sin of Time and Space" and so on. Last year, "The Invisible Guest" was released, which caused a wave of enthusiasm among domestic audiences.
But Spanish cinema is more than just suspense films, and today I'm going to talk to you about a comedy with a bold style. This film combines many elements such as supernaturality, deviant love, same-sex, rock, family and so on, and the pompous plot and the curiosity of the style are dazzling, but after watching it, it can also bring people a little touch - "They Are Dead".
The woman on the poster is also the heroine of the film, Lupe, a former rock star.
For those who are familiar with Spanish-language movies, they may not be unfamiliar with the actress Elena Anaya.
Because she has acted in many works with special (fragrant) names (yan), and often plays some curious and reverie roles. For example, in Almodóvar's "Skin of My Habitat", she plays a "rapist" who is forced to undergo gender reassignment surgery;
For example, in "The House of Rome", a lesbian who talks about love to a philosophical height is played.
And in the "They Are Dead" shared today, her role is also equally difficult to say... Let's start with the story.
The film opens with a monologue by the heroine's son, who tells the audience as soon as she comes up that everyone wants their parents to be rock stars, but you say so because you haven't met my mom.
It is conceivable how bad the heroine Lupe did as a mother.
However, this is actually excusable. At that time, Lupe and her husband Diego's rock band became a hit. The two are both soul mates and passionate lovers, and they have embarked on the peak of their lives at a young age.
However, jealous of talent, a car accident suddenly took Diego's life.
Since then, Lupe has been devastated.
Her music career quickly ended, and the whole person became increasingly depressed.
She became cynical and lived a chaotic life: she slept until three o'clock in the morning every day, and never ate with her family on time;
She suffers from wilderness phobia, is afraid to go out, and refuses to communicate with people.
Not only that, But Lupe is also flammable and explosive.
Her son inherited her artistic cells, was obsessed with music, and often played rock and roll at home. But as soon as she heard the music that touched the scene, she would explode, and once even rushed to her son without saying a word and threw the tape recorder out of the window...
Such a hard-core mother, just ask you if you can stand it
All in all, Lupe was never able to get out of the grief of Diego's departure. The former rock star is now half-human and half-ghost, and his son is basically thrown to his mother.
However, among the three grandchildren of this family, it is not only Lupe who is in trouble.
Her mother was already seriously ill, and the days left were running out. But the old man saw that his daughter was unconscious and self-enclosed every day, and he really did not dare to imagine what the family would become if he died.
So, instead of confessing her illness to her family, she went to a friend who knew the art of witchcraft. The two old ladies plan to get Diego's ghost back to Lupe to untie her knot.
Because only when Lu Pei decided to change his mind and become a new person, the old man dared to leave with confidence.
As a result, you don't have to say, the old lady's spell was almost immediate - Diego's ghost sneaked home that day.
And seeing the lover who has died again, Lupe's shock and mix of feelings do not need me to say that you can imagine, the expression gathered on the face is a capital wtf -
But soon Lupe found that she was the only one who could see Diego, and only she could communicate with Diego.
So she pretended nothing had happened.
She didn't tell her family that she could see Diego's ghost, she didn't let Diego sleep with her, and she locked up the basement where the two of them had previously recorded songs... Because she didn't want to be invaded by the memories of the past again.
It can be said that although Diego has returned, Lupe is still refusing to open his heart - the mother's soul-summoning dafa does not seem to work.
However, all this soon changed with the arrival of a young man.
And that starts with Lupe's son's troubles.
Lupe's son, on the other hand, is facing the troubles common to many teenagers in European cinema – he suddenly finds himself gay.
Because he liked a cool guitarist at school, Blonde.
Lupe's son fell in love with Blonde at first sight, just in time for the school to hold a Christmas concert, so he plucked up the courage to invite Blonde to join his band and perform together at the concert.
The blonde brother happily joined the company and quickly played with Lupe's son. But that's not because he's interested in Lupe's son too, but just because he's a crazy fan of Lupe.
One day, the blonde came to Lupe's house as a guest. At dinner, when he saw the idol Buddha-figure, he could not hide his excitement, and he stared at Lupe and forgot who I was and where I was:
Again, he paid homage to him incoherently and expressed his love for idols with albums that he had treasured for ten years:
And this fanatical worship from fans instantly made Lupe, who had been away from the stage for a long time, re-realize her value and awaken her passion for music.
Not only that, but when it comes to the rise of the blonde brother can't help but play the album he brought. And a room full of people sang to the music, one by one—perhaps for the first time after Diego's death, Lupe sang their song.
As a result, Lupe had to fall back into memories of Diego. And only then did we know that she had been unable to come out of her grief not only because Diego died young, but also because she had caused her death.
At that time, the two used to get themselves drunk before taking the stage. As a result, after a performance, Lupe was in a car accident while drunk. What has plagued her all these years is not only sadness, but also endless guilt.
She thought she would never have a chance to express her guilt to Diego, but at this moment we saw that Diego's ghost was sitting quietly next to everyone.
That night, Diego's ghost found Lupe, and he said to her—
"I didn't know (after my death) that you went through this, it must have been torturous. I want to tell you that I forgive you for letting me die. ”
Although they were only two short sentences, they really changed Lupe's life.
She promised her son to rehearse for the concert with his band, and also opened the basement that blocked memories;
She started playing the piano and singing again, and little by little she picked up her passion for life under the treatment of music.
However, just as everything was moving in a good direction, the unexpected happened again.
Because the son suddenly discovers the truth about the blonde brother and his closeness to himself- just to get close to his mother through himself. When he bravely confessed to the blonde, he was told that the blonde was straight.
The son was depressed, quit the band and locked himself in the house. At this time, it was The turn of Lupe, who had come out of the haze, to enlighten and encourage him.
Diego's ghost saw all this and offered an assist.
He told Lupe that he had recorded a single before his death and that no one had ever heard it. What this song is about is fruitless love.
And as the song surfaces, the film reveals a shocking secret for us - Lupe and Diego are brothers and sisters. The two have been hiding the truth of this evil, and everyone thinks that Lupe's son is just an ordinary bastard.
Therefore, what really makes Lupe unhappy all the time is sadness, guilt, and regret.
The song was written by Diego for Lupe, but now he hopes to give it to his son, so that he can understand that since it is fruitless love, he should not dwell on it.
At the end of the story, Lupe sends away Diego's ghost and walks out of the house into the sun;
The son shaved his hair, rejoined the band and sang Diego's posthumous work at concerts;
After seeing the change of her family, her mother also confessed her illness to them, and finally passed away peacefully in a festival.
Seeing this, we will find that the film is actually a story about farewell.
Although the story is based on the entanglement of Lupe and Diego, it is actually about the three grandchildren who jointly open their hearts and learn to say goodbye to the past and the shadows that haunt their hearts.
The phrase "they are all dead" in the title also has a double meaning.
It ostensibly refers to the fact that at the end of the film, both Diego and the old man are dead;
In fact, it tells us that no matter what kind of love and harm the deceased has brought, the living still need to look forward.
Those who are unspeakable confess to themselves; those who owe something, learn to make up for it -- say goodbye to what should be said, and then embrace life again.