Dark Blue Almost Black

Strand Releasing

Is Spanish writer/director Daniel S?nchez Ar?valo the heir to Almodovar? Perhaps I just raise the question because I don't know enough about contemporary Spanish cinema, but Ar?valo's first feature shares some similarities with Almodovar's work. It's a sympathetic yet uncompromising look at a contemporary family dealing with unusual problems, it's directed with a marvelous blend of crispness and fluidity, and it flirts with melodrama and farce. But whereas Almodovar embraces the extremes in his films, Ar?valo splits the difference; everything in DarkBlueAlmostBlack is underplayed, and the subtle tone often borders on deadpan. Jorge is a young man in a rut; he's put his dreams of upward mobility on hold to care for his invalid father. Jorge is resentful of everything and everyone, including his much more successful quasi-girlfriend and his jailbird brother Antonio. Antonio falls for fellow inmate Paula, and the couple conspires to get pregnant so Paula can move into the nicer maternity wing of the prison. When they learn Antonio is shooting blanks, naturally they ask Jorge to impregnate Paula. That's a normal favor to ask of your brother, right? Meanwhile, Jorge's friend Sean is obsessively spying on his father's secret gay activities, and finds himself questioning his own sexuality. It all sounds like the exploitive raw ingredients of soap opera, but Arevalo's steady hand, and the excellent performances, transform the material into a natural, bittersweet exploration of ambition, fate and family ties.