Summer and Spanish thrillers go hand in hand, especially when they are mixed with detective elements to make them even more exciting. It’s the same in Oscar Aybar’s film, set in the early 1980s, where a young policeman, Andrés, arrives with his wife and daughter at a seaside resort in Spain to take up his duties. There, the seemingly dull daily routine will be disrupted as he embarks on a case of the tragic death of his predecessor that will lead him into the darkest of the mysteries of the small community.

Aibar easily creates the right atmosphere, against the backdrop of a sunny town, which, nevertheless, hides, albeit in plain sight, very familiar monsters of History, who, as you know, took refuge in Frankish Spain after the Second World War. . Here, of course, we are not dealing with documentation, but with fiction, so the journey of the hero and the few comrades who help him in his difficult mission is more important.

Ricardo Gomez excels in the title role, a man with his own demons and weaknesses, but also with a strong sense of duty that carries him to the end. In general, Aybar’s film may not have the dramatic depth that it had, for example. however, the (thematically similar) “Little Island” boldly explores a “delicate” subject and at the same time manages to keep the viewer’s interest until the finale.

One of the strangest yet enchanting films of this summer hits theaters this week, based on the bestseller Will You Give Me That Dance? Olivier Burdo. The main characters here are Georges (Romain Duris) and Camille (Virginie Efira), two young people who meet and instantly fall in love at a social event. He is a pathological liar and an eternal optimist, she is an incurable romantic and indifferent to the conventions of everyday life. Their union is explosive and will continue even after the birth of their son. The kid grows up in an environment of wild fantasy, endless parties and dances, while he sees how his parents call each other by different names and address him in the plural.

All this extravaganza appears on the screen in a truly impressive way, with a kind of humor and paradox that dominates almost every scene. Of course, none of this would have been possible without two great protagonists who are also some of the best French actors of their generation. On the other hand, all this madness, combined with the tragic weight, which drops off somewhat sharply in the last track, and an excessively long duration definitely do not allow the ensemble to “breathe” and emphasize its merits even more.

Another love story, this time more traditional, is set in a fictional area of ​​Paris. There, Vincenzo (Sergio Castellito), an Italian bookseller living with his disabled daughter, finds life taking on new interest when Yolanda (Berenice Bezo), a rambunctious actress rehearsing at a nearby theater, literally bursts into her. Extroverted and impetuous, she shows him that there is life outside the four walls of a bookstore, and Vincenzo tries to introduce her to the magical world of literature. The film script, signed by the late great director Ettore Scola (A Special Day), brings Sergio Castellito to the screen; he’s also starring alongside the explosive Berenice Bezos in a bittersweet movie that’s a pleasure. watch without breaking away from the conventions of the genre.

In the dark world of mercenaries, often taking on the dirty work of the secret services, we are trying to take us away from the British action movie, based on the bestseller of the same name by Andy McNab. When a dangerous group of mercenaries take over a train in the Channel Tunnel to blackmail the government, a young agent will try to stop them and save his fiancée, who is among the passengers, at the same time. Militarism at its worst, a script full of holes and problems overall, for a movie with some impressive action scenes, but nothing more than that.

Baravento
DRAMA (1962)
Directed by: Glauber Roja
Interpretations: Antonio Pitanga, Luisa Maraniao, Lucy de Carvalho

One of the most characteristic films of the most important representative of the Brazilian Cinema Novo, Glauber Roja, is being re-released for the first time in Greek cinemas. In a fishing village in the state of Bahia, whose inhabitants are descendants of slaves from Africa, the cult of mysticism still holds. The arrival of Firmino, who many years ago fled to El Salvador to escape poverty, leads to a polarization of tensions. Firmino rejects the fatalistic treatment of his fellow citizens and encourages them to rebel against the owner of the nets they use to fish.