Can someone explain this comment from Ebert's review?
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eL137 — 18 years ago(May 04, 2007 10:42 PM)
that's really interesting that you guys all read ebert's comment as directed toward Luisa. it makes a lot of sense if it's about Luisa and you're probably all right, but for some reason, i saw it differently. to me, ebert's comment was about Julio and the fact that he was in love with Tenoche and whether or not he's gay. and i saw the 2 shots as being:
- when Julio sees Tenoche and Luisa have sex in the hotel room and
- when he has tears in his eyes after Tenoche leaves the cafe at the end of the movie
did anyone else see this?
"From now on, call me Nuwanda."
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tampaMr — 17 years ago(April 09, 2008 01:55 PM)
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mm389907 — 17 years ago(September 27, 2008 03:22 PM)
yeah that julio thing is pretty interesting.
If it has to do with Luisa, then the two scenes are
(1) The doctor's office
(2) When she is sitting on the beach holding the baby and talking to the baby's mother (forget her name Chuey's wife..). The woman says something about how Luisa would make a great mother, and that she's the perfect age too. Just look at Luisa's face during this scene, and you'll know what I'm talking about. -
blacklives4ever — 17 years ago(December 04, 2008 05:36 PM)
What's great about the scene with the children is that when you see the look on her face you think it's because she's thinking of Jano and how they probably won't stay together and have children.
"The success of the horror genre has led to its downfall."
-Dario Argento -
Krustallos — 13 years ago(July 18, 2012 10:20 AM)
I think the gayness is a fourth level. The Luisa dying storyline is quite a big thing after all, I don't think Ebert would completely ignore it in his review. In fact having seen the film for a third time, there's a strong case for reading the whole thing as Luisa's story, with Julio and Tenoch as supporting characters. There are references to death in almost every frame.
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity. -
neonfreak52 — 13 years ago(July 23, 2012 06:47 PM)
I've seen the movie several times but never once noticed tears in julios eyes at the end? I guess I'll have to go back and check for that.
does anyone else agree about this? It could be an option, but I still think ebert is mainly refering to Luisa's storyline b/c I - for one- was definitely shellshocked after seeing the film the first time and learning of her cancer. I was completely stunned and couldn't get the movie out of my head. -
GuyOnTheLeft — 13 years ago(November 04, 2012 01:51 AM)
Yeah, this revelation at the end definitely gave the movie a little extra something in retrospect. I thought it started well, really flagged throughout the middle, and thendue to that revelationended very strongly. But the flaccid middle section still drags it down enough that it only rates a 7/10 for me.
See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc -
PamBaby — 13 years ago(February 06, 2013 07:03 AM)
People are saying the hidden level was Luisa's illness, but I never thought of that as a hidden element. I thought it was open and obvious, considering that she was at the doctor's office one minute, waiting for test results, and in the next frame she is sitting shell-shocked. And throughout the film, she is seen grieving, completely different from how she was at the beginning.
Also, the levels Ebert refers to are themes, not actual plot points. So I suppose, if Ebert was referring to anything about Luisa, it might be Death in general, instead of the specific death of the character. That would incorporate all the random references to death throughout the movie that another poster pointed out.
Death and endings, perhaps. The end of Luisa, the end of Tenoche and Julio's friendship, the end of adolescence (coming of age would signal the end of one stage and beginning of another), end of a marriage, end of relationships, end of a way of life for the fishermen, on and on. -
pontifikator — 12 years ago(February 03, 2014 01:19 PM)
there are only two shots in the entire movie that reflect the inner reality of one of the characters.
It's not possible to know exactly what he meant since he doesn't say. My guess on it, though, is
that since he refers to only one of the characters, he refers to Luisa. The two boys are a pair. There are no scenes which show us the inner reality of only one of them.
If the inner reality is a reference to the boys' feelings towards each other, we have a view of the inner life of both. Tenoch and Julio are a pair.
Because Ebert never says, eL137's comments concerning the two scenes he proposes can't be disproved, though, even though I disagree. I can't say he/she is wrong. However, as Luisa says to them, it's just chance that she had sex with one first, and not the other. I'm not sure I want to take chance as the determiner of a key scene. However, I still may be wrong.