Reviews

Good dialogues and well developed plot and characters in a movie shot in a Spain that had just come out of Franco's National Catholic (Clerical fascism) dictatorship and censorship and was desperate to breath and show freedom.

I was doubtful about seeing the movie due to the low rating, then I read some reviews and I saw a sharp split between haters and lovers of this movie, so I went for it. The movie is unbelievable, honest and truthful. It's a tragedy, I supposed people, mainly Kit Harington fans, were expecting to see Kit Harington in an unsubstantial movie, a happy story, a fairytale, with minor hitches and happy ending.

This movie should had won many more prizes, even the Oscar and certainly should be rated highly, beyond 8.

It happened recently to me with another movie, The D train, aka Bad Bromance, an extraordinary movie rated here just 5. , I suspect it was a similar case, people were relying in the main actor to be in a different kind of movie and they just could not appreciate its quality.

So summarizing, we have stupid people rating very low a movie because they expected another type of story to be played by the actor they are fan of and they were disappointed, furthermore their very basic cultural formation and taste incapacitate them to understand any movie that is not plain and simple and dumb.

I was very close to overlook this movie because of the low rating, but then I read some reviews, and I realized there was something going on, some people liked it much, others felt disappointed. I understood that most people rating it as a bad movie was due to the fact that they expected a comedy, and most people rating it as good liked it because they understood the drama, tragic in the movie, which is the main theme.

I think there are two problems here, first if you see a movie tagged as comedy and drama, what do you think it is? well, you should think is both, and you don't know which part plays a bigger role.

Second issue is that IMDB movie genre tagging system is quite short, you can not tag a movie as a comedy that will show up in comedy list if it is no just or only a comedy.

This movie is a TRAGICOMEDY, and that label does not even exist in IMDB, we have that genre since the ancient Greek times, it is certainly not the most common genre nowadays but it has always been there and we have it there in all cultural works, so it should be in IMDB. If not I should advise IMDB to tag this move only as a drama.

I Loved this move because it is true and realistic, it tells you something that happens and has happened to millions of people though the ages, and that everyone address in different manners, some more intelligent and calm, some more stupid and catastrophic, but causes you an enormous pain.

I approached this move with curiosity, I knew the story wouldn't please me, but the unpleasantness and the challenging of it, ( would it defy my beliefs or ideas?, would it reveal me something new, unknown? or would I just learn something, whatever...?) plus the main actors, so gay friendly, and therefore unlikely to act in a biased, bad or religious preaching movie, drove me to watch it.

I expected the sad story of a gay activist abducted by religious beliefs..... and that's what it is: a gay man in which the fear for his own death and the afterlife, the search for a sort rock of stability and reconciliation with a dodgy conception, a misrepresentation, of the idea god, leads him to buy all the christian made up merchandise about it.

I like the even, unbiased approach, showing the conversion in an objective and balanced manner but I find it too plane, sometimes boring, I miss a deeper approach to the psychology of that process, and a bit more challenge of the christian ideas and faulty reasoning that wreak havoc in Glatze's mind by the other characters in the movie.

The answer to the questions I started with is a cold NO.

My view on M. Glatze personal conversion story: I understand the fear of death and the longing for and afterlife, but and adult, empiric, scientific and properly reasoning and educated mind should know and be aware of a few things:

1.- Nobody knows anything about god. God has never spoken to any human being no matter how many of those men claimed so, because they could never prove it. If god wanted to communicate with us he/she/it certainly would have many blunt ways to do so: showing in the sky like Woody allen's mom, or in any other direct manner. So, until it can be proven, beyond doubt, in a scientific way, his existence can NOT be asserted. 2.- The Bible is NOT god's word, but man's word speculating about God's nature and plans with the huge ignorance of the times it was written. this is so obvious that is almost shameful having to say it.

3.- The idea of salvation and the promise of the afterlife is an old trick of all religions to impose fear and gather power and money from people. Selling salvation is a lucrative business, especially since they sell a good or service they don't have to pay spend any money in, and for which they can no be held accountable if is not delivered. Amazon delivery policies and regulations are way more advanced and fair than this.

I seriously recommend

• the videos and books of Richard Dawkins, like God delusion,
• and the experience of Daniel Everett, a missionary that lost faith to Amazonian tribe Piraha.