There is the saying: “You
are what you eat.” If that is the case,
then Carlos (Antonio de la Torre — Unit 7, I’m So Excited, etc.) is
just chock full of love … he consumes the women he desires, literally.
Award-winning Spanish
filmmaker Manuel Martín Cuenca’s film adaptation of the late Humberto Arenal’s award-winning
novel, Cannibal, will be making its way to the domestic DVD market
place on Oct. 21 courtesy of The Film Movement. It is a film that takes epicurean delights
to whole new levels.
Carlos is evil, there’s
no getting around that. He sees a
woman, desires that woman, he then kills and eats her. He’s more than just a little confused as to
what true love is.
Living in Granada, Spain,
Carlos has repeatedly carried out his ritual of “seduction” and murder … and no
one seems to notice. Accidents happen;
people disappear.
That is until Nina (Olimpia
Melinte — My Baby, Seven Acts of Mercy, Killing
Time) arrives in town looking for her twin sister Alexandra, who — you
may have already guessed — went under the knife (he has a cabin in the woods
that gives him the seclusion necessary to carefully prepared his “meals”). The irony being that Carlos wasn’t all that
interested in her, but “hunger pangs” are what they are with a serial killer.
There are twists and
turns and it is not beyond writer/director Manuel Martín Cuenca to dangle some
visuals here and there that get us to thinking. Visual and plot metaphors for bigger
societal ills are teased that are far more “consuming” than Carlos’ dietary
issues … this is a film that challenges the viewer to not be quite so quick in
judging the protagonist.
Still, with that said, Cannibal
is a horror tale (more stylish than graphic) that can be savored on that level
alone.
Presented in Spanish with
English subtitles, the DVD release of Cannibal arrives with
writer/director Jean-Charles Paugam’s short film, Orge, as a bonus goodie.
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