LA TAREA is filmed in real time in a single room and features a total cast of two actors . This is not an epic film by any means . In fact I wouldn`t have actually remembered its broadcast on Channel 4 if it hadn`t been for the fact that the two characters Marcelo and Virginia indulge in a sex session , but what a sex session it is ! It`s not the type of graphic sex you`d see in a hard core porn film but I don`t believe for a moment the actor and actress are NOT really having sex . Maybe that`s the point of the film , the way the scene is shot is rather subtle and it`s left to the audience to make up their own minds , but I don`t think anyone is that good an actor during a love scene
10 Reviews
What a cool film
Vince_In_Milan3 April 2002
Warning: Spoilers
The idea behind this film is rather simple. A woman preparing her term project for cinema school hides a videocamera under a table and attempts to seduce a former boyfriend whom she has invited around for the evening.
For a lot of the film we are unable to see the faces of the actors. The camera is under a table, so we can only see their feet. But lots of things are revealed through their body language, as they come closer together, twitch, tap their toes, pull apart and so on. It sounds pretty silly but it's actually quite amusing and original.
Halfway through the film the camera is discovered and the films (plural: ie the "term project" and the film we are watching) undergo a rather dizzying series of changes until it becomes impossible to tell one from another or to clearly distinguish between the term project and the characters' daily lives. It plays a lot better than it reads.
This is a very worthwhile film, which goes to show just how much you can do with 2 actors and a fixed camera. The result is amusing and certainly quite memorable.
For a lot of the film we are unable to see the faces of the actors. The camera is under a table, so we can only see their feet. But lots of things are revealed through their body language, as they come closer together, twitch, tap their toes, pull apart and so on. It sounds pretty silly but it's actually quite amusing and original.
Halfway through the film the camera is discovered and the films (plural: ie the "term project" and the film we are watching) undergo a rather dizzying series of changes until it becomes impossible to tell one from another or to clearly distinguish between the term project and the characters' daily lives. It plays a lot better than it reads.
This is a very worthwhile film, which goes to show just how much you can do with 2 actors and a fixed camera. The result is amusing and certainly quite memorable.
great movie, great actress
doblearojo12 July 2000
Humberto Hermosillo did a great job not only did he write the story but he directed it. very original, funny, and a great sex scene. a woman has to video tape herself and a man having sex so she hides a camera and invites her ex-boyfriend to help her with the homework. it is shot from a camera under a desk through the entire movie and takes a great twist. it deals a lot with women and their sexual roles in society. Maria Rojo is a great actress with great movies under her belt. even though she doesn't flaunt it she is sexual and sensual throughout although she was in her 40's when she did the movie.
Funny--and sexy--Mexican film
Red-12526 January 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Mexican director Jaime Humberto Hermosillo has crafted a witty, sexy, unusual film.
The strongest aspect of this movie is the casting. José Alonso as Marcelo is quite handsome. However, María Rojo as Virginia is certainly attractive and sexy, but she's not "international movie star" beautiful. Therein lies the secret of the movie. Anything more said will be a spoiler--see it and find out.
This film is short and low budget. It is not a masterpiece, and clearly wasn't meant to be. I wouldn't travel through an Upstate New York blizzard to see " La Tarea," but it's worth renting when you want to stay home on a stormy night.
The strongest aspect of this movie is the casting. José Alonso as Marcelo is quite handsome. However, María Rojo as Virginia is certainly attractive and sexy, but she's not "international movie star" beautiful. Therein lies the secret of the movie. Anything more said will be a spoiler--see it and find out.
This film is short and low budget. It is not a masterpiece, and clearly wasn't meant to be. I wouldn't travel through an Upstate New York blizzard to see " La Tarea," but it's worth renting when you want to stay home on a stormy night.
Can the home-videos improve your sexual life and your marriage?
ricarri-214 November 1998
Maybe only the Mexican Wittiness can produce this film. A woman needs to do her homework, a natural and original film. What she does? She makes an appointment with an ex-boyfriend and seduces him while the hidden camera is recording everything. It seems to work but, suddenly he discovers the camera and the story has a dramatic change and an unpredictable end. María Rojo is not a beautiful woman, neither she has a good body, but she has a great "sex-appeal" that can make you see her as a desirable woman and understand José Alonso's behavior.
It has one of the most erotic scenes I've ever seen.
24fps440Hz5 June 2000
La Tarea is basically entirely shot in one scene. And what a scene. It's steaming with the most frantic (and it looks REAL!!) sex scene I have ever seen. If what you want is something different, try it. This is one of the movies that makes you wonder: If these are not hard core porno actors, how do they do that?
Actor´s film
erick_castaway28 December 2001
This is an actor´s film, and Hermosillo did his work by directing them in the right path. The camera and photo are just a way of keeping it real most of the time, so the true feelings and force of the film comes from the actor´s performances.
digging deeper
giapvu14 December 2011
"La Tarea: The Homework or How Pornography Saved a Split Family from Boredom and Improved their Finances"
Is pornography but a lewd display for the voyeur artless whose only anticipation is from extreme close-ups of tension swollen money shots? What started as a bizarre nauseating camera angle was soon obscured by the phenomena; sensory adaptation - that states we are less sensitive to repeated presentation of certain stimuli. In this case the practically seamless single camera angle exploring contemporary societal norms on sex, pornography and the role men and women play, during the time of this film, was eaten up enthusiastically with minimal shock and anticipatory awe.
I don't know if director Jaimi Humberto Hemosillo's intention, with the odd and constant camera angle, was inferred to symbolize mans ability to constantly evolve and accustom itself; but "La Tarea" personified the subjectivity of pornography and the voyeur in that the line between what is decent and acceptable gets blurred through personal experience and societal sensory adaptation. And the idea of what is art could be construed as anything thought provoking as a result of critical thinking.
To switch from an unaware participant, to the fumbling amateur actor, we see man on the offense and defense of his/her perceived role in society. Be it someone respectable, held in their own high esteem; or the insecure charlatan unsure of his /her role. As we saw by Alonso's astonishment and possible simulated anger at the fear of being found out of his subconscious thoughts and desires. Because of voyeurism there is, of course, the accomplice fueling the flames of an exploration into wonders already discovered yet waiting for acceptance
Is pornography but a lewd display for the voyeur artless whose only anticipation is from extreme close-ups of tension swollen money shots? What started as a bizarre nauseating camera angle was soon obscured by the phenomena; sensory adaptation - that states we are less sensitive to repeated presentation of certain stimuli. In this case the practically seamless single camera angle exploring contemporary societal norms on sex, pornography and the role men and women play, during the time of this film, was eaten up enthusiastically with minimal shock and anticipatory awe.
I don't know if director Jaimi Humberto Hemosillo's intention, with the odd and constant camera angle, was inferred to symbolize mans ability to constantly evolve and accustom itself; but "La Tarea" personified the subjectivity of pornography and the voyeur in that the line between what is decent and acceptable gets blurred through personal experience and societal sensory adaptation. And the idea of what is art could be construed as anything thought provoking as a result of critical thinking.
To switch from an unaware participant, to the fumbling amateur actor, we see man on the offense and defense of his/her perceived role in society. Be it someone respectable, held in their own high esteem; or the insecure charlatan unsure of his /her role. As we saw by Alonso's astonishment and possible simulated anger at the fear of being found out of his subconscious thoughts and desires. Because of voyeurism there is, of course, the accomplice fueling the flames of an exploration into wonders already discovered yet waiting for acceptance
Spartan movie
tony_le_stephanois3 April 2015
A guy is invited into the house of a woman. She films the flirtations between them for her 'study'. He gets mad once he finds out, leaves, then returns, suddenly excited. What's this all about? It can't get more Spartan than this. Who the hell makes a film with only two actors and a camera that stays at a fixed location throughout the film? Mexican director Jaime Humberto Hermosillo is who. There probably is a film with only one camera and one actor, but I haven't seen it, and anyway, I think this is already pretty inventive.
In the space of one-and-a-half hours Hermosillo shows us what possibilities a fixed camera provides for a movie script. Sometimes a foot or a rag appears in the picture. The camera itself participates as a subject in discussions. Moreover, this film quietly discusses where intimate boundaries seem to end in this day and age. Is this still pleasant to look at or should this kind of intimacy not remain private for the characters themselves? We can ask ourselves the same question, as we see all kinds of intimate videos on the web.
I enjoyed this film en didn't found it boring at all, which could be the case, with this experimental approach.
In the space of one-and-a-half hours Hermosillo shows us what possibilities a fixed camera provides for a movie script. Sometimes a foot or a rag appears in the picture. The camera itself participates as a subject in discussions. Moreover, this film quietly discusses where intimate boundaries seem to end in this day and age. Is this still pleasant to look at or should this kind of intimacy not remain private for the characters themselves? We can ask ourselves the same question, as we see all kinds of intimate videos on the web.
I enjoyed this film en didn't found it boring at all, which could be the case, with this experimental approach.
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