Hierro (2009)
Hierro follows the plight of Maria, who loses her son Diego after falling asleep on a ferry ride to an island called“El Hierro”. The police search high and low for him but he doesn’t turn up. Months later, Maria returns to the island with her sister in tow to identify a body police have found. When Maria informs the cops it’s not Diego, she is forced to stay onthe island until a DNA test can be carried out, so Maria is forced to check into a desperately creaky old hotel and explore the island. Gabe Ibáñez’s first feature film"Hierro" feels more like a twilight-zone-like short story, extended to ninety minutes. It never truly satisfies despite having so much going for it. The spare and uninteresting dialogue, the slow pace and the very few characters make this movie feel even longer. Film's beginning is actually strong and very dramatic, it's nicely-shot and has beautiful cinematography thanks to Alejandro Martínez, and, yet in the end, "Hierro" doesn't deliver on the premise. The acting is one of film's strongest points - Elena Anaya is pretty convincing as the desperate mother, but its uneven tone, alternating between surreal dreamy sequences and dramatic suspense, distracts us from her moving performance. Despite it's stunningly-photographed and very well-acted, "Hierro" is just another unsatisfying and unexciting psychological thriller with unintriguing story and predictable resolution.
- My Rating: 4.75/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
- IMDb: 5.8/10
2 comments:
The plot of Hierro does ultimately make sense but is never as suspenseful nor satisfying as one might hope.
Oh, I was sooo disappointed... It was pretty to look at, but so boring, it almost put me to sleep.
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