A slick and symmetrical thriller, "Passages" joins "Bound" in the growing subgenre of lesbian noir. The new film from director Daniel Calparsoro and lead actress Najwa Nimri ("Jump Into the Void") bowed in Los Angeles in the American Cinematheque's Recent Spanish Cinema series at Raleigh Studios.
Dressed in black, with short blond hair, butch thief Gabi (Nimri) is planning to dump her girlfriend when the latter does not survive their latest robbery. Gabi's escape is a little convenient, as is the element of the obsessed cop that takes her lover's life, but once past the setup, "Passages" offers an intriguing love story.
Rebuffed by fellow criminal types Manu (Lafredo Villa) and Butano (Ion Gabella) when she tries to hide out, Gabi goes after an older woman, Carmina (Charo Lopez), that she sees on the street one day. Obsessed with the romantic ideal of an elegant woman in "green marble shoes," disarming Gabi comes on to Carmina, a nurse, and is met with only minor resistance.
Although she is straight and has "plans," Carmina has known mostly failure in her life and eventually falls for Gabi, and she even takes part in a robbery to prove her commitment. Macho schemer Manu and emotional boxer Butano try to go straight but are nearly caught selling stolen videotapes.
Unsure of whether she has killed a woman, Gabi grows cold toward Carmina and agrees to a final job with Manu and Butano that goes badly.
The film's abrupt ending is a bit of a turnoff, with with no satisfying closure to Gabi and Carmina's relationship.
The characters do earn one's sympathies, however, and the film's visual style is refreshingly unflashy but compelling. With her huge, outlined eyes and fast delivery of dialgogue, Nimri is a big success as the spooky, whiserping Gabi, an enigmatic survivor in this downbeat tale of the gloomy 1990s.
PASSAGES
El Deseo, S.A.
Writer-director Daniel Calparsoro
Executive producer Agustin Almodovar
Production manager Esther Garcia
Director of photography Kiko de la Rica
Editor Pepe Salcedo
Music Alberto Iglesias
Art director Julio Torrecilla
Costume designer Estibaliz Markiegi
Color/stereo
Cast:
Gabi Najwa Nimri
Carmina Charo Lopez
Manu Lafredo Villa
Butano Ion Gabella
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Dressed in black, with short blond hair, butch thief Gabi (Nimri) is planning to dump her girlfriend when the latter does not survive their latest robbery. Gabi's escape is a little convenient, as is the element of the obsessed cop that takes her lover's life, but once past the setup, "Passages" offers an intriguing love story.
Rebuffed by fellow criminal types Manu (Lafredo Villa) and Butano (Ion Gabella) when she tries to hide out, Gabi goes after an older woman, Carmina (Charo Lopez), that she sees on the street one day. Obsessed with the romantic ideal of an elegant woman in "green marble shoes," disarming Gabi comes on to Carmina, a nurse, and is met with only minor resistance.
Although she is straight and has "plans," Carmina has known mostly failure in her life and eventually falls for Gabi, and she even takes part in a robbery to prove her commitment. Macho schemer Manu and emotional boxer Butano try to go straight but are nearly caught selling stolen videotapes.
Unsure of whether she has killed a woman, Gabi grows cold toward Carmina and agrees to a final job with Manu and Butano that goes badly.
The film's abrupt ending is a bit of a turnoff, with with no satisfying closure to Gabi and Carmina's relationship.
The characters do earn one's sympathies, however, and the film's visual style is refreshingly unflashy but compelling. With her huge, outlined eyes and fast delivery of dialgogue, Nimri is a big success as the spooky, whiserping Gabi, an enigmatic survivor in this downbeat tale of the gloomy 1990s.
PASSAGES
El Deseo, S.A.
Writer-director Daniel Calparsoro
Executive producer Agustin Almodovar
Production manager Esther Garcia
Director of photography Kiko de la Rica
Editor Pepe Salcedo
Music Alberto Iglesias
Art director Julio Torrecilla
Costume designer Estibaliz Markiegi
Color/stereo
Cast:
Gabi Najwa Nimri
Carmina Charo Lopez
Manu Lafredo Villa
Butano Ion Gabella
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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