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Directed By
Paul Morrison
Written By:
Philippa Goslett
Cast:
Robert Pattinson, Matthew McNulty, Marina Gatell, Simón Andreu, Sue Flack, Arly Jover, Ferran Lahoz, Javier Beltran, Rubén Arroyo, Adrian Devant, Ramón Enrich Borrellas, Diana Gómez, Esther Nubiola, Bruno Oro, Vicky Peña, Joan Pico, Marc Pujol, Christian Rodrigo, Adria Allue, Ferran Audí, Pep Sais, Xavi Siles
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Little Ashes (2008)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
May 9th, 2009
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Robert Pattinson's status as a heartthrob might well be challenged by his role in 'Little Ashes', where he plays the amorous painter Salvador Dali, in a film that details Dali's relationship with poet Garcia Lorca (Javier Beltran), and filmmaker Luis Bunuel (Matthew McNulty), with whom he would collaborate to make the famous, experimental Surrealist movie Un Chien Andalou in 1929, with its famous image of a knife cutting through a woman's eyeball, impressive and disturbing considering this was before the development of computer-generated visuals, so they had to use a real eyeball, which came from a pig, I believe, but few would have known that at the time.
Dali was a gifted artist, who engaged in outlandish, and often loathsome behavior, which alienated even his closest friends, and made his enemies despise him even more. Lorca was a poet, murdered by fascists in 1936, presumably because he was homosexual, in a society that grown increasingly conservative on the eve of the Spanish Civil War, in which Franco would overthrow the leftist government, with a little help from Mussolini and Hitler.
Lorca's politics might have something to do with it, too; though he was mostly apolitical, or at least never publicly disclosed his political views on any matter, unlike Dali and Pablo Picasso, who both flirted with Communism, and a variety of other extreme ideologies. Bunuel leaves Spain and goes to Mexico, returning later as one of cinema's most visionary directors, with a body of work that places him in the same league with Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Fellini, and Bergman; he is certainly Spain's greatest director, but his international reputation is nearly as great.
'Little Ashes' gives Pattinson to step out of the shadow of Edward Cullen, the vampire lover of Kristen Stewart in Twilight, and he seems serious enough about embracing more mature, adult-oriented roles, unlike Zac Efron. Unfortunately, Pattinson is simply the wrong choice for someone as flamboyant, fiery, and charismatic as Dali; a better actor is required to sell the character, or at least encapsulate his most maddening qualities. I thought of Johnny Depp, but he may have been too old for the Dali we see here, a 1922 college student in Madrid. Lorca is reduced to a stereotype, a shy, sensitive poet, harboring a homosexual attraction to Dali.
Think of what transpired between Leonardo DiCaprio and David Thewlis in Total Eclipse, how passionate and unpredictable their relationship was, and then see the wasted potential here. I imagine Pattinson was perhaps a bit too nervous to go all the way with Beltran onscreen (no full-frontal nudity for those who might be expecting it). Bunuel is portrayed as a raging homophobe, and Lorca seems to be full of self-loathing, a pious Catholic struggling to deal with his impure thoughts, praying to be rid of them, and perhaps cleansed of his homosexuality altogether. He will have sex with a female companion, Margarita (Marina Gatell), while Dali watches them from a dark corner and masturbates.
This scene is ludicrous, especially as a depiction of voyeurism, if that is what one could call it. The only things funnier is the moustache Pattinson is forced to wear later on, so obviously fake, but Dali's trademark. The script is filled with generic platitudes, and dialogue that often verges on excruciating. Costume design is first-rate, however. Pattinson and his co-stars are indeed quite handsome, and this makes it more watchable than it otherwise would be. Failed historical drama.
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