Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

Zombie - It's kind of 70's style 80's. A 70's scenario, but everyone's hair is a little shorter and they are slightly more toned.

[zombie no.one]

I do feel like different eras can be visually ID'd more by the hairstyles than the clothes, even

[M.10rda]

LA OTRA aka THE OTHER aka THE OTHER ONE (1946):
Yeah, I'm a real healthy, functional guy w/ great judgment, so when I watch a movie that I really dislike (such as THE BOY AND THE FOG) and then realize I've already DL'd another film by the same director, naturally I don't cut my losses and delete the darn thing - instead I immediately double down and watch it. Well, THE OTHER has a better reputation than Roberto Gavaldon's TBATF, and - it is better, though I would classify it as Okay/Fine rather than Outstanding or something. The hand-drawn opening titles appear w/ eerie music and give one the impression they're in for some spooky, cosmic $#!t... though really THE OTHER is just an earthbound suspense-y melodrama w/ light undertones of fate or destiny or whatevs, not unlike a lot of Anglo noirs.

Something else about the opening credits that gave me pause - the name "Delores Del Rio", highly irritating star of THE BOY AND THE FOG. Delores is 7 years younger here, looks pretty good in some snazzy designer outfits, and is much less annoying to endure for the length of a feature.  Both her performance and Gavaldon's direction is (like in the later film) sometimes way off the meter into hysterical territory - which, in the case of this material, would probably be okay or even good, as THE OTHER keeps teasing that it will turn into a full-blown psycho-thriller. But, it doesn't, which is ultimately disappointing.

I was with this one for a good bit. Del Rio plays identical sisters - one a recently widowed wealthy dame, the other working class and anti-social though w/ a secret chip on her shoulder. "They" play several early scenes opposite "one another" - usually in cut-aways but in a couple of impressive instances, "both" onscreen in the same shot. I was getting pretty decent DEAD RINGERS vibes for half an hour, and then there's a twist that sends THE OTHER more into the terrain of SUTURE, the exceptional 1993 neo-noir by Scott McGehee and David Siegel. An even better twist about two-thirds of the way through THE OTHER amplifies the SUTURE tingles....... but then THE OTHER just kinda' lets out a blank fart in its final 20-25 minutes. 

3/5    Nice German expressionist photography in spots (which seems quite popular w/ Mexican filmmakers of the 30s-50s) and I didn't find it actively objectionable as I did the other Gavaldon flick. But if this is his best movie (as many suggest) and thus the foundation for him being Mexico's finest director....... nah, son.