Lúa vermella
Director: Lois Patiño
Writer: Lois Patiño
Cast: Rubio de Camelle, Ana Marra, Carmen Martínez, Pilar Rodlos
Part of: Viennale
Seen on: 31.10.2020

Plot:
Rubio (Rubio de Camelle) has saved many a sailor in the area, but now he is missing himself and just as the red moon is nearing the earth, threatening to wake monsters. Three witches (Ana Marra, Carmen Martínez, Pilar Rodlos) come to town, looking for Rubio.

Lúa vermella was, unfortunately, a sleeping pill of a film. I was hoping that I would be able to fall into the film’s mood, but it just didn’t work. Instead I was constantly on the verge of falling asleep.

Red Moon Tide is a Galician film shot in Galician and, to me, this was the most interesting aspect of it. I had never heard Galician spoken before, so I now know that it sounds like a mix between Spanish and Portuguese (and basically tailor-made to fuck with me as I used to speak Portuguese very well, which was then overlaid with a surprising amount of Spanish, so now I can’t keep the languages really straight anymore in my head).

But even if the film was very interesting to listen to for me for that reason, and even though it really has some stunning visuals that should be really captivating, it just never really got me. Or I didn’t get it. Either way, me and the film just weren’t ever in the same place.

The narration just kept me at arm’s length and I am not sure I actually followed it entirely, as it unfolds in bits and pieces and often with no clear connection from one fragment to the next. Now, I can see this working like a puzzle, intriguing people who want to figure out whether they got it right or if there was something they didn’t take into account yet. Trouble is: I just didn’t care to figure it out. Mostly I was just bored with it.

That made the film pretty much a test of my patience, and one I didn’t pass. Maybe you will be able to fall into it like I hope I would, but didn’t. But I won’t be giving it another go.

Summarizing: no, thanks.