cannibal [2013]

what's up with movies about cannibals?  from spain?  jess franco tried his hand at making two cannibal films in 1980.  the finished movies are horrible.  we shouldn't expect anything less from the great spanish exploitation filmmaker who would make a short pic about ants crossing a log.  but now i turn on the TV to the channel that specializes in spanish language movies & the above title is on.

from the start of the quarantine, & my working from home, i have discovered i receive many spanish language channels.  several are from central america, i.e. costa rica, el salvador, honduras, guatemala, a couple are from venezuela & peru, & more than a few come from mexico, etc etc., & this channel, Viendo Movies, that broadcast films from all over the spanish speaking world.  my spanish has improved by daily tuning in.  now i can understand every 29th word of spanish rather than every 30th palabra.

it helps too looking up the meaning of words.  that's where my phone comes in as well as the pause button on the TV.  i won't pass an 8th grade spanish exam but i can make my way thru the plot of a movie.

with some success.

i've seen this movie before.  it's about a mild-mannered tailor in spain who is a secret serial killer and cannibal.  it stars antonio de la torre as carlos.  carlos can't help himself with his taste for human flesh.  he is so mild-mannered as to be invisible.  yet he is not the standard deviate.  he falls in love with his next potential victim, nina, played by the very lovely romanian actor olimpia melinte.  a romance develops.  before nina discovers carlos' secret appetite.

this movie is a far cry from the late '70s/early '80s european cannibal vomitorium films where each director tried to outgross each other.  instead, filmmaker manuel martin cuenca, crafted a moody, melancholy piece with great finesse.  the lighting, editing, photography & direction make for a sensual experience that is more about the inner-life of its characters than the cheap gags of rotgut horror.

but as for my attraction to cannibal films?  i'd rather not dive into that morass.  rather, i am happy that a few brave storytellers created works that explore this dark topic.  these filmmakers have given me a subject i can sink my teeth into.