Daniel Cebrián's gritty drama "Segundo asalto" is another wonderful example of how European directors are more willing to explore the territory of painful, irresolvable emotions and are not afraid to present us with films that dare to leave us with questions and sometimes even in tears. Because real life hurts, and there is no shame in asking the stories we tell one another to mirror some of that pain. Behind the simplicity of the plot lies a very powerful and touching coming-of-age drama. Angel (Álex González) is a twenty-year-old loner and an aspiring boxer. He is being trained by Paco "the Tiger" for his shot at the big time. But Paco's idealistic advice is starting to sound hollow, since away from the ring, things are falling apart for Angel. The director skillfully rolls the camera through the streets of South Madrid and thus reveals the squalid chaos of life in the poorest districts that makes the poverty tangible and looks like exactly the kind of background anyone would want to escape from. So when Angel encounters the dangerously charismatic Vidal (Darío Grandinetti), a career criminal who aggressively tries to persuade him to take "the easy route", the young boxer is virtually torn in two directions - forced to choose between the familiar environment of the boxing ring, and the seemingly "easy" route to which Vidal beckons. As a result, Angel's sense of stability begins to crack and weaken under this external pressure, and he starts to lose his bearings. But ironically, by responding to Vidal's proposition, Angel can determine his core values and goals and the direction of his life, and thus gain the inner strength necessary to move forward. The authenticity of Angel's inner struggle is reinforced by a brilliant photography that gathers the sad light, with all the greys of the places he goes. It is also emphasised by the intelligent use of the sound track that highlights the atmosphere, for example the incredible Bajofondo Tango Club music. Another very interesting thing about the film is the open ending. It seems that the final desire of the director Daniel Cebrián was to get to see Angel and Vidal fight together - like a symbolical fight between old and new, between good and evil, between right and wrong, between the past and the future. This not only highlights the general idea of the movie but also shows what a remarkable cinematic effort Cebrián's "Segundo asalto" is and would hopefully leave the spectator satisfied by interpreting the ending in one's own way!
Review of The Good Boy
