The Hidden Face (2011)

The Hidden Face (La cara oculta) – A Spanish orchestra conductor deals with the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend.

My good friend Gary has been banging on about how I should watch this movie for a few months now. He convinced Eric to watch it and he loved it, so I eventually took the plunge and watched it, just to see what they were going on about. You know what? I’m angry at myself for waiting this long. What a great movie. I’ll get to my thoughts in a second, but before that here are a couple of quotes I’ve borrowed from their reviews. Hit up the links to see their full thoughts, and thank you both for opening my eyes to this film.

This is not an action movie or a comedy or anything of the sort; nor is it bloody or gory or features serial killers. It’s a serious movie that takes its time and fucking delivers. Eric – full review

Since I didn’t know the twist in advance I was thrown for a loop; what a GENIUS turn-of-events that I in no-way, shape, or form saw coming in the slightest. I cannot recall seeing anything done quite like it before! Gary – full review

As for my thoughts? Well, sometimes less is more, and the best thing I can do for those of you reading this is just to tell you to stop what you’re doing and go find a copy of The Hidden Face. It really is that good. I went into it based on Gary & Eric telling me not to watch or read anything about it, and that’s what I did. Having since watched the trailer (after the film) I can confirm the first 5 seconds of it give away the huge twist. What the hell were the marketing folks thinking?!?! It’s kind of like The Sixth Sense trailer starting by telling you ***** is a *****. Crazy. So please, don’t watch the trailer, don’t go on IMDb or read anything that might give things away. I will give you some basic info below, and hopefully that is enough to tempt a few of you to check it out.

La cara oculta, or to give it the English translated name The Hidden Face, is directed by Andrés Baiz and as you might have guessed is in Spanish and requires you to read subtitles. That will be enough to put off a few people, but for those that aren’t too lazy to pay attention and read subtitles, you will get a movie unlike anything else being made. Comparisons to stories from Hitchcock and Poe are compliments I’m sure to Baiz, and he has given us a special movie here.

At the beginning we are introduced to Adrian (Quim Gutiérrez), a successful Spanish Orchestra conductor hired by the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra in Columbia. Moving to Bogota from Spain with his girlfriend Belen (Clara Lago), they take up residence in a charming secluded mansion. However, soon after moving, Belen suspects Adrian to be a two timing womanizer, and so she sets a trap to expose him. In doing so she inadvertently sets about a chain of events that will change their lives forever.

After returning home one day to find a video by Belen informing him she is leaving, Adrian wallows in dejection at a local bar. He is charmed by the affections of a waitress, Fabiana (Martina García). After a while they become an item, and Fabiana moves in. Before long, Fabiana is plagued with a nagging sensation and suspects foul play behind Belen’s disappearance. Adrian becomes a suspect in the disappearance of Belen, yet the investigators can find no evidence of Adrian’s involvement in Belen’s disappearance.

To say anymore about the plot would ruin it. I will say that the twist around the half way point blew my mind, and was in no way what I anticipated. I was making a few guesses as the film progressed, but I was not expecting what I saw. I even watched it twice in the same day, I just had to watch it again. I actually improved my score after the second viewing.

The acting is superb, I can’t really pick anyone out as it would be unfair. They all add to the experience, and I never felt I knew who I could trust and who was playing games. The time flies by and the pacing was pretty much perfect. Proof once again that Europe is making some phenomenal movies whilst the US concentrates on it’s Superhero/comic book money grabbing phase.

It’s not perfect, I had a couple of issues with little things, but that’s not a discussion for here. I won’t be doing spoilers, the film deserves better than that. It’s a thoughtful, intense, uniquely claustrophobic thriller and a brilliant example of how a gripping whodunnit should be. Give it a chance if you can, I can’t imagine you being disappointed.

• Just as a quick extra, I would like to thank Morgan & Sir Phobos for their advice with my A-Z index. All fixed now, and hope it sheds a little light and attention on some old reviews you may have missed. I appreciate any extra views on those reviews, and as an incentive I added a load of new site headers. OK – no great incentive as such, but I think they look good and if you all click about 20 different times for different images, you may like one or two (plus it would boost the hell out of my stats) 🙂

Posted by Tysoncarter182 on June 27, 2013

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