En la ciudad de Sylvia (2007)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

José Luis Guerín

Writer:

José Luis Guerín (writer)

Release Date:

14 September 2007 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A man returns to a city to try to track down a lovely woman he met six years earlier. |

Plot Keywords:

Pursuit | Sketching | Street

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Pilar López de Ayala	...	Ella
Xavier Lafitte	...	Él
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michaël Balerdi	...	Un passant
Laurence Cordier
Tanja Czichy	...	Tanja
Gladys Deussner	...	Woman reading a book
Eric Dietrich
Charlotte Dupont
Philippe Ohrel	...	The strange man

Also Known As:

In the City of Sylvia (Europe: English title) (festival title) (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

Canada:84 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Spain

Language:

French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:G

Filming Locations:

Café du TNS-Théatre National de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France

Company:

Château-Rouge Production

Soundtrack:

That Woman (Night At Les Aviateurs)

True cinema.

This film made me feel like I had just undertaken a short vacation to a European city and returned. I basked in the splendour of visuals, sound and delightful observations of the city, its sounds and its people, particularly the young women, going about doing their thing. It made me smile, laugh and delighted me to simply observe.

I sincerely believe that it is extremely difficult for directors to make a good mood piece which keeps the viewer interested and does not lull him/her to sleep. Very few directors have this ability and I was thrilled to have experienced the keen sense of observation of the director of this film. I think I can actually count the total number of dialogues on my fingertips. There is a story in the background, but it is really not important to this film.

So before watching this, remember that you will be observing a piece of art in motion and not a movie with a particular story. This is how I believe cinema was supposed to be when it first was invented over a 120 years ago - as a medium of art in motion, and not for storytelling as it has been diluted to over the past century.

So, brilliant job, director, for you have realised the true meaning of cinema and have delivered us an excellent piece for the years to come. I sincerely hope I see more work from you heading into this direction in the future.