Uproarious laughs are largely confined to two characters, but the material takes considerably more risks than the director's work of late, and consequently yields rewards that are altogether richer and more satisfying. In its lush mix of tragedy, comedy, and cruel paradox, fed by doses of realism, rural romanticism, and an intrinsically Spanish flavor, the film plays like a ravishing old-Hollywood sentimental drama drunk on sangria and dancing to a flamenco beat.
The uproarious laughter should come from both main characters, but the director deliberately slows and delays these jokes, resulting in a fuller and more satisfying effect. The film is a feast of tragedy, comedy, brutal contradictions, a touch of realism, country romanticism, and its inherently Spanish flavor, like a ravishing classic Hollywood sentimental drama, as if full of sangria intoxication, dancing to the rhythm of flamenco.
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