A fantastic drama that shows the difficulties and pure cruelty of domestic violence, without ever becoming outlandish. Marull plays a woman that flees, with her son, from her marriage. The film is very clever in showing this act first. It leaves us as fascinated voyeurs and doesn't force us into feeling to much
animosity towards the husband. This is key in allowing the film to explore its themes. Later we hear about visits to the hospital, but we don't see this happen. In fact, we see the husband trying to seek help before we see him do anything cruel. I loved this clever touch, as our view of him wasn't tainted. This is probably how many family members saw him. Hearing about his exploits, but is there a chance the wife is exaggerating? As the film progresses, we see the husband as a tragic character. Tosar adds an infinite amount of layers, but we finally see his anger as an uncontrollable destructive force. He sees himself as the victim and his wife as the enemy. In his mind, he is being assaulted. As the film draws towards its climax, there is a sense that they could work it all out, and from that comes hope. The films greatest achievement is not being about the victims. It isn't sappy, preachy, or unbearable. It would have been easy to show Tosar beating Marull, but the film's climax is even more disturbing, due to all the misplaced anger. A great movie.
April 30, 2011
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