353 Sólo con tu pareja

[MichaelB]

Hmmm, I tend to think this whole movie can be summed up by the word, vapid. Anyone who finds any artistic value in this film probably also finds it in any student film ever produced as well. There is a reason this film was never picked up for distribution in the country... IT'S JUST PLAIN BAD!

I've just realised that I've seen this - way back in the early 1990s when it was trying to find a British distributor.

I remember it being very very mildly amusing, but nowhere near good enough to take a chance on (my colleagues all agreed, and the discussion that concluded with the decision not to pick it up lasted about five seconds) - and, clearly, every other UK arthouse distributor felt the same way. Either Dylan's on some very interesting drugs or age has improved the film literally beyond all recognition.

Put it like this: if you didn't know it was directed by Alfonso Cuarón in advance - and I didn't (or rather, I'd never heard of him back then) - would you rate it at all? I certainly didn't.

[Dylan]

I'm thinking of Law of Desire and Matador - both are awesome for Almodovar's early efforts.

I haven't seen them yet, but I've been meaning to, so I'll keep my eyes peeled. It shouldn't be long before Sony releases new DVDs of these.

Or is that typical of Spanish-language films of that time?

I'm not sure because I haven't seen very many Spanish-language films made during this time, but I'd venture to lean toward this. Personally, I couldn't stop thinking of Emmanuel Lubezki in general, or even at times (strictly in terms of lighting) Bertolucci's "Luna" during much of this.

I have no idea how to respond to the Latin American Tower sequence. How those two people give to each other before jumping. I thought that was a little too much. What is your take on all this, Dylan?

I couldn't possibly express the brilliance of the ending any clearer than Rob Lineberger of DVD Verdict (big spoilers follow, don't read unless you have seen the film):

The movie climaxes at the tip-top of the Latin American Tower on a cold, clear night. Clarisa stands resolute, clutching the hand of Tomás. She has just interrupted Tomás, who was trying to commit suicide by frying his head in a microwave oven. He has recently given her a bag of his own feces. No matter what weirdness came before it, this bizarre ending is riveting. The nuances are all there: Clarisa's lip trembling in the cold. The new light of wisdom and self-loathing in the eyes of Tomás. The spotless, impossibly white sheen of Clarisa's silk panties as they drift down into the street. Cuarón has achieved a poignant, dramatic—and yes, powerfully romantic—moment out of absurdity. This is perhaps the clearest indicator of his directorial prowess.

This completely echoes what I feel about the ending, and I also just thought it was very sweet, and I also didn't know what would happen...in a film like this, it could very well end in comic tragedy.

I was somewhat reminded of the big apartment flood at the end of Jeunet's "Delicatessen." You think you know what's going to happen, you know what you want to happen (you want these people to end up together, dammit!) but it could really sway either way. I like "Delicatessen" quite a lot more (then again, everybody on here knows I'm a big Jeunet fan), but the Latin American Tower sequence here wouldn't be out of place in that film, or any of Jeunet's. Or any Germi, for that matter. I don't know, I just thought it was very sweet and really fun, perfectly balancing the tragic possibilities.

[Ishmael]

I also didn't know what would happen...in a film like this, it could very well end in comic tragedy.

Is this a bit of hyperbole? What is comic tragedy anyway? Given the film's ultra-light tone, and the fact that Tomas's insensitive behavior is treated as a silly joke throughout, I never had the slightest feeling that this could culminate in anything other than a happy ending. Remember--oh, spoiler warning here--that Tomas does not really have AIDS, and there isn't any reason for us to think that the girl is completely bat-shit loony, which she would have to be to jump off a tower because her player fiancee--whom she knew had cheated on her before--had just slept with a "girl from Continental Airlines." See, when I hear silly jokes like that, they don't prepare me for tragedy. There's not one single moment in the film, in fact, that would have made tragedy plausible... certainly not the scene where he's about to cut his wrist in the bathtub, since that turns into a big joke when his mother calls and interrupts him. No, if this had ended with them jumping it would have been such a huge tonal shift that it would have destroyed the movie. Now, if the guy at the end of "Quartet for the End of Time" had jumped off the tower--okay, that I could see. But regardless of your like of Solo Con Tu Pareja--which I'm actually not trying to undermine--you're dead wrong to try to sell it as a comic Tristan and Isolde.

[colinr0380]

I remember it being very very mildly amusing, but nowhere near good enough to take a chance on (my colleagues all agreed, and the discussion that concluded with the decision not to pick it up lasted about five seconds) - and, clearly, every other UK arthouse distributor felt the same way.

So is the opinion on this mostly that Criterion were perhaps blinded to the 'quality' of the film by either wanting to have an Alfonson Cuarón directed film, or by wanting the first Latin American film in the Collection? Either way, it is looking like this is going to be the serious front runner for 'disappointing release' in this years forum awards for many people!

On the other hand, however I think Michael B's comments about how no distributor wanted to touch it is interesting, so although the film might be bad Criterion is doing, at least me, a favour by releasing a film nobody else will touch. Probably the only reason it has been released is because Cuaron directed it and went on to bigger and better things, but at least I have the opportunity to see it (or choose not to!).

I'm a person who would really like to see all films released everywhere, no matter how bad (yes, even Armageddon ). I like to hear other opinions but in the end I still want to see something for myself and make up my own mind. However I completely understand that this sometimes doesn't happen because of the costs involved in distributing and releasing a film so don't hold it against anyone that they have to make decisions about what to pick up and what to leave alone.

What are the extras on the disc like? The film might be terrible but there have been a number of DVDs that I've hated the film and loved the special features of, and Criterion produces some of the best supplemental material.

What are the short films like?

I've also found a review from DVD Verdict.

[Cinesimilitude]

I am half way through right now and I love this film. The scene with Tomas drinking with japanese tourists and the dream sequence that follows is fantastic. I don't know what the haters are hating, this is an excellent comedy.

I just finished it, and I loved it. In the making of, Carlos speaks of the playfulness as being influenced by Lubitsch. I agree with him, although it might be slightly biased since my favorite film of all time is Heaven can wait.

The use of green in this film is overwhelming, but it works. I wonder what Cuaron thinks of the matrix trilogy...

This is definitely one of the best releases this year for me.

[Barmy]

One of the worst films ever. Really. That endless scene where he was dating/screwing the 2 women at the same time was one of the most pathetic failed attempts to be funny I have ever seen, not to mention extremely implausible in a very boring, lame and tedious way.

[Anthony]

There are so many things wrong with this movie on so many levels. Who would have predicted after this movie that Cuaron would go on to make such fine movies as The Little Princess and Y tu Mama?

[Cinesimilitude]

I really hope this isn't generational, I really don't have any idea what you guys are talking about. could you go into more detail than just "Terrible!" or "so wrong on so many levels!"?

[Barmy]

I think it boils down to the fact that not a single thing that happened in the film was even remotely plausible on any level. Absolutely nothing--the microwave, the screwing the 2 chicks at the same time, the climbing the tower, nothing. I realize a response could be "HE INTENDED IT TO BE THAT WAY!" But if you are asking me to care about 2 people falling in love, the relationship needs to make sense and not just be a (failed) joke. The "plot" is completely haphazard and random. The staging is blocky and cheap. If the film was funny I could forgive all that, but it wasn't. It is extremely strained and awkward, from the cutesy naming of the characters on down. It just screams AMATEUR. I'm surprised Cuaron didn't try to suppress this, ala Kubrick and "Fear and Desire".

[Anthony]

How bout... the acting was horrible, the plot was full of cliches, the characters were totally unbelievable (what planet was this movie suppose to take place on?... it was never revealed... but it certainly wasn't earth), et. etc. Maybe the confusion derives from the fact that you watched a different movie than us... say maybe Solo por Hoy.

[sskeats]

It is difficult for me to believe Crit was blinded to the quality or lack of it, in this film. It's been awhile since they've fallen so far in judgment. There had to be another reason...some benefit...some stroking of the "right" powers for whatever reason.

The release itself under the Crit label is the only farce in sight.

[CSM126]

Or, ya know, the folks at Criterion don't share your opinion. Perhaps they like the film. Shocking, I know, but it's entirely possible, believe it or not.

[Napoleon]

I don't believe it.

No, actually I do and you are quite right.

Although considering the MO of a couple of the posters who are saying this is no good, I am led to believe that it must be the most awesome film ever made.

[MichaelB]

On the other hand, however I think Michael B's comments about how no distributor wanted to touch it is interesting, so although the film might be bad Criterion is doing, at least me, a favour by releasing a film nobody else will touch. Probably the only reason it has been released is because Cuaron directed it and went on to bigger and better things, but at least I have the opportunity to see it (or choose not to!).

Just to clarify, I meant no British distributor. I'm assuming it opened somewhere!

And of course you have to set this in the context of the UK marketplace in the early 1990s, when Spanish-language cinema was largely represented by Pedro Almodovar and Latin American cinema was barely known in Britain (if I remember rightly, London's annual Latin American Film Festival had only just started). In other words, back then a Mexican film would have had to be really really exceptional in a way that, say, a French comedy with name actors wouldn't - and Solo con tu pareja just wasn't, even by the most generous possible yardstick.

(Would Amores perros or Y tu mama tambien have done any better at that time? We almost certainly wouldn't have turned them down quite so rapidly and unanimously, as their formal merits would have been so obvious - but they still might have been considered a gamble. But who knows?)

I'm a person who would really like to see all films released everywhere, no matter how bad (yes, even Armageddon ). I like to hear other opinions but in the end I still want to see something for myself and make up my own mind. However I completely understand that this sometimes doesn't happen because of the costs involved in distributing and releasing a film so don't hold it against anyone that they have to make decisions about what to pick up and what to leave alone.

Absolutely. And the weird thing about arthouse distribution is that success in the field depends on being able to balance personal passion with hard-hearted business sense. I'd trawl through assorted film markets seeing loads of films that I personally loved but which I knew would be a commercial risk (to put it mildly) - and the bottom line is always: whatever my own personal feelings about this film, do I think that it's strong enough to justify a minimum five-figure investment (and probably more)? And, by logical extension, is it good enough to justify squeezing out other possible titles that might be equally worthy, but which won't be affordable if I pick this one up?

And in the case of Solo con tu pareja, the answer was a resounding no.

[Michael]

Here's why I hated it:

The humor is embarassingly juvenile. There's nothing romantic or funny about the Tower sequence. What kind of woman would jump off the tower because her lover cheated on her and not only that, she also gave herself to that guy seconds after he told her that he had AIDS. He fucked her knowing he had AIDS even though they thought it'd not make any difference because they were gonna jump off the tower anyway. The movie expects me to take all that lightly? I don't think so. I don't mean to sound like a prude but why bother going through all that trouble if the movie doesn't bother developing those characters a bit. Ridiculous.

I nearly lost faith in Criterion but all that's changed after watching Sweetie last night.

[Cinesimilitude]

Although considering the MO of a couple of the posters who are saying this is no good, I am led to believe that it must be the most awesome film ever made.

Every time someone says they don't like 8 1/2, every filmmaker dies a little inside...

The humor is embarassingly juvenile.

That might be exactly the reason why there are such mixed opinions.

[Michael]

It's not that I don't mind juvenile humor. I love it in movies like Jackass and South Park. They're masterpieces in that venue of humor because they know what they are. But Solo doesn't.

[jon]

I am very interested in the film, but have been put off by all the comments on the quality of the film. Any good reviews by credible critics that really capture what the film is all about?

[Michael]

jon, if you're very interested in the film (for what reasons may I ask?), then do watch it. Rent it. There is at least a couple of fans of this film.. it's not like the film is dismissed totally by this forum. I rented the movie mainly because I'm so in love with Y Tu Mama Tambien.

[Cinesimilitude]

I think one of the things I really like about this film is the fact that Cuaron managed to make a sex comedy without female nudity. It's not a bad thing to have skin in a flick, and Tomas more than makes up for it, but in modern cinema, you rarely see a film that has male nudity, and not female. It was just refreshing to see that.

Jon, how old are you? as for what has been said in this thread, it seems that the 18-24 demographic, myself included, have enjoyed it.

[Michael]

I prefer the male nudity in Y Tu Mama Tambien. =P~

[Jeff]

I am very interested in the film, but have been put off by all the comments on the quality of the film. Any good reviews by credible critics that really capture what the film is all about?

I would suggest reading Tony Scott or Ed Gonzales reserved recommendations.

[jon]

I think one of the things I really like about this film is the fact that Cuaron managed to make a sex comedy without female nudity. It's not a bad thing to have skin in a flick, and Tomas more than makes up for it, but in modern cinema, you rarely see a film that has male nudity, and not female. It was just refreshing to see that.

Jon, how old are you? as for what has been said in this thread, it seems that the 18-24 demographic, myself included, have enjoyed it.

18, so i guess ill like it

[Cinesimilitude]

I prefer the male nudity in Y Tu Mama Tambien. =P~

I can comfortably say "me too". But the female stuff far surpasses it.

[Gregory]

I have not seen this film but I ordered the DVD blind. I felt obligated to do so after having been one of the most vocal members of this forum calling for Criterion to pay attention to Latin American cinema. This film was definitely not what I had in mind when hoping they would start releasing Mexican and other Latin American films, but I decided to give it a shot after having liked Y Tu Mama Tambien and even Cuarón's Great Expectations, in many ways. I bought it for nearly 50% off, so if I decide to get rid of it I'll hardly be out much.