VIDEO: The trailer for Little Ashes
Paul Morrison's cross between School Ties and Brokeback Mountain is a captivating effort with a confused focus, unexplained moments, and a hurried second half. Billed as an exploration of the lives and loves of Salvador Dalí (Robert Pattinson of Twilight), Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán), and Luis Buñuel (Matthew McNulty), the film concentrates on García Lorca — a good choice, since Beltrán's performance is the most passionate of the three.
In the first half, Morrison peers through his unconventional lens and produces breathtaking scenes with palpable (homo)sexual tension. The second half, however, plays out in a rush, as if the film were on deadline. Unexplained moments like Dalí's hearing disembodied laughter and voices fly by.
Even so, that first half is so lifelike and raw, it's worth a visit.
