Pintadas

`Pintadas' is, to say the least, an unusual film from Spain, belonging very much to the new genre being fostered very heavily these days, especially by Basque and Catalonian film-makers. The film has never reached the big screen for some reason which just has not been explained anywhere, such that public showing has been limited to a few screenings on TV. Whereas it may not be anything like cinematographic art, I do feel that such meagre appearances is not deserved. Indeed, it has some pretty good points. Adolfo Fernández as Diego, and Emma Suárez as Clara put in quite good performances as the main couple who meet each other in different taxis stopped at traffic-lights, who then decide to live together in one of those great big roomy turn-of-the-century houses which in itself is enough to lend spooky mysteriousness to everything. The landlord - Fernando Fernán-Gómez - who lives on the top floor, adds to the spookiness; try comparing him in this film with Carlos Álvarez-Novoa in `Solas'. You might say that the house IS one of the actors: a previous married couple living in it stopped talking to each other and communicated only through notes scrawled all over the walls. Diego begins to collect them, trying to put them in some kind of order, and as he does so certain weird and mysterious happenings occur. Fabulously photographed, even with surrealistic touches, they had the luck of a bit of a snowfall in Madrid which added to the genuineness of a naked Emma Suárez being taken away on the back of a refuse truck, shivering uncontrollably, poor thing! It is a hard life being an actress....... Lucio Godoy's music is fine, and there are a couple of pieces from `La Traviata' thrown in for good measure. Worth a bit on the high side of 7 out of 10: entertaining and appropriate for adult viewing times.