Little Ashes aka Robert Pattinson playing gay
{FILM DIARY}
Little Ashes (2008, UK/Spain)
Seen: Friday, 4th December 2009 (DVD)
Runtime: 112′
Director: Paul Morrison
Cast: Javier Beltrán, Robert Pattinson, Matthew McNulty, Marina Gatell
Production House: APT Films, Aria Films, Factotum Barcelona S.L., Met Film Production, Met Film
Plot: (from imdb)
About the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Bu?uel and writer Federico García Lorca.
Trailer
Impressions In Short
I have to say - Robert Pattinson was right for dissing this ;)
More About the Film
I guess the main attraction of the film for me is seeing Pattinson playing gay - I like that sort of thing as I’m sure most of my readers have fathomed by now ;-P
On most other levels it failed IMO. It felt awfully fake to me. There were lots of questionable choices - like having the film in English and yet reciting Lorca’s poetry in Spanish with an English voiceover.
It also totally failed in engaging me in the characters, which is what matters most to me (you don’t have to engage me in the plot, but if I’m not interested in the characters then I’m definitely not going to like the film much :]). I also found myself wondering how much of the gay twist in the film was true. The way it was written it seemed rather far-fetched (which doesn’t mean it’s not true, mainly I just think the writing was terrible :]). It’s a shame really cause the idea itself isn’t bad.
The acting was ok I suppose. Javier Beltran was good (without him the film would have been much worse :]) and Marina Gatell also. Pattinson had his good moments and his bad moments. McNulty was the weakest link IMO - to me his whole performance felt very fake. Though I suppose the script didn’t help, I think he got the least to work with.
Recommended?
Nope :] Although I suppose you could watch it for the sex scenes and gay romance - watching Pattinson playing gay is IMO kind of fun and Javier Beltran is nice to watch in them too ;) Some of those scenes are also genuinely funny (I loved how Dali kept asking Lorca what he should wear).
