Friday, October 16, 2009

THE TIT AND THE MOON (Spanish) (1994)

It’s but natural psychology for a kid to have sibling jealousy when he witnesses that all the notice and care of his mother transferred to his new born brother. Tete is one such child who hates his infant brother because he’s having tit of his mother. The only solace for him is watching the moon and fantasizing about having tit. By chance he starts fantasizing and obsessing about having the breast of newly arrived French neighbor’s young and voluptuous wife at campsite. Here too he has a rival. In many of the scenes and plot of the film seems like Tornatore’s ‘Malena’, only the projection seems different.

The film is narrated from the point of view of fantasy seeking world of an innocent small kid using breast as symbolic moon. Just like the moon, breast is something symbolically unattainable fantasy and abstract dream for him. It’s embarrassing to see the close up of breast looming in most of the frames but most of them shot so aesthetically and it doesn’t look vulgar. The act of Tete (Biel Duran) and the beauty of Star (Mathilda May) are surely noticeable. Another fine part of the film is fine music score by Nicola Piovani.

The way European films show aesthetics in explicit love making scenes with undercurrent of funny dialogue and humor is something amazing and out of the box for Hollywood films. Only they can think about some subtle visuals like collecting tears in a glass jar for emotions and farting tricks for humor. Director Bigas Luna surely deserves credit for this. Liking and disliking of the film is subjective but making this sort of artistic film with such a subject/theme signifies that art lies in the air, the only thing required to smell it is good uncorrupt nose.

Ratings-7/10

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