Homework (La Tarea)

Rating:
Summary: Daring yet innovating and insightful.
Review: La Tarea is a daring film from the new wave of Mexican Cinema. Unfortunately for movie lovers in this country we haven't been exposed to these films. Maria Rojo is fabulous along with her co-star Jose Alonzo. The Blair Witch Project could only wish to be THIS original! This movie is definitely only for an adult audience due to the nudity and adult content, yet it is carried out in a very tasteful matter.

Rating:
Summary: UNUSUAL SATIRE....
Review: Odd satire on voyeurism (?) that has film student Virginia (Maria Rojo) wrapping up her film studies class with a video project that will require another person. She gets former boyfriend Marcelo (Jose Alonso) to come over for a drink and to talk. She plans on using him as an "experiment" in the project. She tries to seduce him but he discovers the camera, gets angry and leaves but returns later and agrees to help her. They get naked and have sex for the video project. "Homework" takes place on one set and from the angle of Virginia's camera. It's a two-person character study that turns out in the end not to be what it appears at all. The sex is lengthy and explicit and designed to turn you on (it takes place in a hammock) setting up the viewer for the twist at the end. The first part of the film is a tease as to when the clothes come off (especially with Alonso) and when they finally do you feel you are peeping in someones' window. Virginia explains to the camera what her project is supposed to be about and why she's doing it. But the end leaves you feeling that this has been about something different altogether...role reversal? Exhibitionism? Voyeurism? or a woman determined to find herself over and over until she gets it right? I'm not sure but it's well acted by the two leads and one hell of a sexy movie.

Rating:
Summary: Dazzling
Review: This film is amazing. The plot is rather simple: a nameless woman hides a video camera under her living-room table and invites a male friend over. The idea is to seduce him, capture the whole thing on videotape and use the results as her term project for her cinema course.

As the film progresses, both characters show more (and often unexpected sides) of themselves. For a good bit of the film, the camera (which at that point is, remember, hidden under a table) can only capture voices and the movements of their feet. The power of the actors' body language is quite remarkable and the idea is odd enough to make this part of the film quite amusing. A lot is left to the imagination: you see the couple move closer and edge apart. There are embarrassing silences, there are moments of tension, of silent understanding.

The film progresses glibly between eroticism, comedy, pathos, suspense and more. As the characters become more rounded, the relationship between them changes, as does the nature of the film. This is basically a film about different sorts of relationships. And it's a pretty good rollercoaster ride, with a twist ending to cap it all off. I've never seen so much done with two actors and a fixed camera. It's cinema at its purest.

Whether you are a devotee of foreign film or are simply wondering what to do with your videocam now you've shot your sister's wedding, this is a wonderful film.

Rating:
Summary: Dazzling
Review: This film is amazing. The plot is rather simple: a nameless woman hides a video camera under her living-room table and invites a male friend over. The idea is to seduce him, capture the whole thing on videotape and use the results as her term project for her cinema course.

As the film progresses, both characters show more (and often unexpected sides) of themselves. For a good bit of the film, the camera (which at that point is, remember, hidden under a table) can only capture voices and the movements of their feet. The power of the actors' body language is quite remarkable and the idea is odd enough to make this part of the film quite amusing. A lot is left to the imagination: you see the couple move closer and edge apart. There are embarrassing silences, there are moments of tension, of silent understanding.

The film progresses glibly between eroticism, comedy, pathos, suspense and more. As the characters become more rounded, the relationship between them changes, as does the nature of the film. This is basically a film about different sorts of relationships. And it's a pretty good rollercoaster ride, with a twist ending to cap it all off. I've never seen so much done with two actors and a fixed camera. It's cinema at its purest.

Whether you are a devotee of foreign film or are simply wondering what to do with your videocam now you've shot your sister's wedding, this is a wonderful film.