Hidden Movie Gem: “Tras el Cristal”
Today’s Hidden Movie Gem guest post comes from shari14.
Movie Title: Tras el Cristal
Year: 1987
Writer: Agustí Villaronga
Lead Actors: Günter Meisner, David Sust, Marisa Paredes, Gisèle Echevarría
Director: Agustí Villaronga
Plot Summary: In Spain, the former Nazi doctor Klaus tries to commit suicide jumping off the roof of his manor. However, he survives with the entire body paralyzed and confined to an iron lung with glass sides. Not bearing the situation, his wife Griselda wants to hire a nurse. Unexpected, a mysterious young boy, shows up, claiming to be a nurse. Klaus insists that Griselda hires him, Angelo. Griselda doesn’t know that Angelo was a victim of Klaus who escaped and secretly witnessed the torture and murder of Klaus’ last victim. Angelo also possesses Klaus’ diary which details his wartime experiments and his subsequent descent into pedophilia and murder. Angelo befriends Klaus’ daughter Rena. Before long it’s shown that Angelo is an insane victim of Klaus’ experiments and intends to follow the insanities described in Klaus’ diary and incorporate his personality.
Why I Think This Movie Is A Hidden Gem: This is a freaking fantastic disturbing movie that explores fascism, pedophilia, torture, power, identity and transference. I was blown away when I saw it movie at the IFFR a few years ago. The director Villaronga and a few cast members were present for a public Q&A. The movie was Villaronga’s directorial debut and he also wrote the script himself. He was inspired by the history of the Nazis, Gilles de Rais (A French nobleman who fought alongside Joan of Arc and was a prolific serial killer of children around 1400) and other documents he found on medical experiments on children in Eastern Europe ages before both world wars in Europe took place. Villaronga said there was a child psychologist on the set during the making of the film, especially when the children had to perform the disturbing scenes.
The movie grabs you from the very first scene and permeates a high sense of unease and tension throughout the film. Klaus, Griselda, Rena and Ricardo Karselero play their role brilliantly. The natural sound of the lung machine and the eerie tones of the movie gradually pulls you in the darkness of the main character. The movie got me thinking about the themes and the victims of horrible abuse and sadistic experiments. What does it do with their mind and personality if they survive the horrible acts? What holds Griselda back, she knows of his experiments on innocent children, from turning off the lung machine and let her sadistic husband die?
My Favorite Moment In The Movie: The murder scene of Griselda. Griselda suspects that something is wrong with Angelo and he’s not the nurse nor the person he claims to be. Angelo locks Rena up in her room and then kills her mother in the hallway. Rena hears sounds and can only peek through the tiny keyhole opening but she doesn’t see what’s really going on.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: Angelo shows up uninvited, goes to the room of Klaus and locks himself up with him, locking the maid and his wife outside. The maid runs yelling to Griselda, his wife, who’s reading in her bedroom.
Housemaid: Ma’ am ! Ma’ am, come here!
Housemaid: Where are you going
Griselda: What is it?
Housemaid: Like the devil himself
Griselda: Who?
Housemaid: He went inside
Griselda: where?
Housemaid: In your husband’s room
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie
A few things to look for:
The horrible openings scene sets the tone for the movie. This scene also shows there’s an outsider witnessing the torture and murder. It seems to be young Angelo. Later Rena takes over the voyeuristic role in the house when Angelo shows up and sets things in motion in the house. The set-up and pay-off of the diary, how it plays a crucial role, resulting in the identity swap and murdering of young boys by Angelo.
The introduction of Klaus Nazi’s past with a photo slide show and a photo of him with a child. That child turns out to be Angelo.
The way the cinematography is used to tell the story. Most of the film is shot inside the house and has a somber tone. A few times the color red pops up in the red dress of Griselda, the red curtain in her murder scene, red blood drops from the victims.
The facial expression of Griselda, she never laughs, depicts her cold relationship with her husband, Rena and Angelo.
The contrast between Angelo’s beautiful face and angelic name versus his disturbing intense look and his growing insane personality.
How the theme of power is played out. Griselda holds power over Rena till Angelo arrives and he takes over. The deconstruction of Rena’s innocent childhood followed by a reconstruction of her as a victim and probably in some future time a follower of Angelo. At the end he says “I’m your father” and Rena has transformed into his son. Even when he’s paralyzed Klaus has control over Griselda as she reluctantly tolerates Angelo as nurse. Klaus had power over young Angelo and now the power game has switched between them.
Movie Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhA_Q5e3qL0
Thanks, shari14! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
Tomorrow: Another Hidden Movie Gem!
Note: We filled up the month of October, so I don’t need any more guest posts. Thanks to everyone who participated!
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