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View Full Version : The Bar (Álex de la Iglesia)



Grouchy
07-14-2017, 02:58 PM
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Grouchy
07-14-2017, 03:09 PM
And De la Iglesia delivers yet again! I admit I haven't felt as enthusiastic about his films since The Oxford Murders - not only because I think that one is pretty bad but because for some reason his style has evolved in a direction where he seems to have no nuances in tone. Every single scene is ramped up to eleven, even the ones that would benefit from a slower pace and slightly more subtle approach. I feel something similar has happened with Peter Jackson since Lovely Bones.

However, this tense thriller with the usual dark comedy touches actually benefits from that intensity. In the surreal storyline, six patrons, a bar owner and the waiter are trapped inside a bar because a sniper terrorist is taking out everyone who crosses the door. This is the starting point for a thriller plot which is obviously not as simple as all that. What's great about the characters De la Iglesia and his usual writer Guerricaechevarr*a (I copy-pasted that) present us with is that while they're introduced as stereotypes they soon reveal a depth and complexity which challenges our initial limited perspective on them. That's true on all cases except for the beggar, who remains pretty much the same from beginning to end. He's a funny character, sure, but also a one-trick pony and I think he would have warranted a re-write.

Regardless, this is the best film in the recent De la Iglesia output, up there with As Luck Would Have It which also featured a claustrophobic conflict.