Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

rse I am an avid film fan and when I saw this DVD I thought "Great. Banderas, director, loved Crazy in Alabama, should be good." Wrong.I did stick it out to the end in some sort of masochistic exercise. The film rambles endlessly. And that combined with the almost unintelligible "acento Malagueño" plus all the gratuitous adolescent sex made it difficult for me for me to like. I didn't get any kind of message and neither did the other three people watching it with me. I then watched the interview with Banderas and my take is that he read the novel, loved it and decided to make a movie. He has the international clout to get incredible financial backing (the backing credits at the start read like a phone book) and made the huge mistake, in my opinion, of having the author do the screenplay. I think a third person could have stood back and taken a better, or at least cohesive, view of the content. On the positive side, I thought the photography was sensational and the ambiance of Spain under Franco was pretty good. I am not too sure those kids could have gotten away with all the free-wheeling sex during that period of Spain's history but I have never lived in Malaga. My end comment would be "don't bother".

indiemoviemaker First of all, this is the first Antonio Banderas film I've ever seen. It never crossed my mind that he could be a great director. I loved his vision; and he gained my respect for making such a beautiful film. I was blown-away, I really was.The dialogue was sublime and 'clever'; and let's take into account that the screenwriter was Antonio Soler himself, author of the homonymous book, El Camino de los Ingleses. Never thought that the dialogue could be so strongly poetic and passionate and therefore I was touched by it. I think that the voice-over was absolutely necessary and never found it annoying. It didn't bother me, as opposed to others. The acting was superb. They all were convincing and true to themselves and to the film. They all delivered a great performance; especially Raul Arevalo (Babirusa), which I must admit, he was my favourite of all. He managed to transmit a great feeling to the film. I believed him; **(here's the spoiler)** particularly when he's burning his magazines and he tells Miguelito that they're the type of people who don't forget, that they're the type who get their precious belongings and burn them.** You'll understand it better if you watch this film.The photography was completely breath-taking and awe-inspiring; the landscape (Malaga--Bandera's place of birth), the use of vivid colors, angles, pretty much everything was magnificent. The music was great, too, and very inspirational. The score was composed by Antonio Melieveo, in case you needed to know.I felt that El Camino de los Ingleses is, perhaps, the most honest work of the director. I could see that he delivered not only a great work, but passion and the best of intentions.Hope you enjoy it, (and play close attention). Thanks!(Uh, this is my first time posting a review for a film, so I hope you forgive me for not writing an exceptional one.)

logube i was thinking that maybe Antonio Banderas has spent a career in commercial movies to be able later on to develop his own projects. who knows maybe it's like this. yes, this movie was not made by an fine director, the pace is uneven, there are a lot of scene that could have been removed improving, not hurting , the movie. but the movie is not entirely pointless, it seems to have a sincere desire to say something to the viewer, especially with a very well mixed balance of music and images, those seem to be the most powerful moments of the movies. the plot , the story is to a certain degree irrelevant , this is a movie of powerful images, of details, of obsessions. The love scenes are a very small part of the movie, yet they are incredible details, nearly as in a soft porn movie, but this is not a limitation of this movie, but one of features. the bodies of the characters are explained in details, a flat stomach, a leg, a hand, a scar , eyes, aging hands. the movie is poetry and as poetry it refuses to be confined in the structures of novel, this is a movie of images and music, it's like the work of an Impressionist painter, maybe there are autobiographical elements, let's not forget that AB was born in Malaga in 1960, so he more or less would have been the age of the characters at the same time. All in all it's a good movie and it was worth watching it, I hope who reads this has enjoyed it already or will in the future.

chocopoco This movie tells the story of a group of young friends facing the end of their teen years during a fateful summer.Although it is a Spanish film set in the seventies, the topics and the way they are portrayed make it a whole universal experience (I am Spanish but I can't recall any localism of notice). You can tell that this movie has been made with all guts, heart and soul, or passion if you like, it sparkles all over the frame.The suffering and pain of teen years (and the joy of friendship, love and sex) are portrayed in a very poetical way.Both visual and acoustic poetry (the movie is narrated by the character "el garganta" as if reciting a somewhat complex yet beautiful poem). I've got only good things to say about this second directorial effort of Mr Banderas; lush cinematography, good music, nice pacing, and an ensemble cast whose performances shine like gold. This film is a true joy to your senses, brain and soul.