Archive for category Julia’s Eyes
Julia’s Eyes (Los Ojos De Julia)
Posted by thefilmdon in Julia's Eyes on May 30, 2011
A film with Guillermo del Toro’s name on it is like a car with a Ferrari badge, you know it is going to be good quality, and ‘Julia’s Eyes (or ‘Los ojos de Julia’ in Spanish) is no exception. Although there is a lack of Guillermo del Toro’s visual prowess and grandeur, director Guillem Morales creates a film that is probably more shocking and thrilling than ‘The Orphanage’.
The film makes the audience jump right from the start and doesn’t let up for the entire 112 minutes. Julia (played by Belén Rueda) is devastated after her blind twin sister Sara has committed suicide. Although both the police and her husband Issac (Lluís Homar) believe there was no foul play involved, Julia suspects otherwise, and goes off in search for the killer. She must shine light upon this mystery quickly as she is slowly losing her sight due to the same degenerative disorder that affected her sister. And as her sight gets worse she becomes the killer’s new target. This short synopsis does not do the tension the film creates any justice as this is a film that is all about successfully creating tension the likes of which most audiences never feel.
Julia’s failing vision is certainly the aspect of the film that is most terrifying and is what puts this film leagues ahead of many other thrillers. The idea of being unable to see who or where the killer is, of being constantly in the dark and not knowing who to trust, the concept is terrifying and the movie expertly plays off this primal fear. Morales uses the great cinematography and music to constantly build up the tension to unbearable levels that leave the audience craving for something to happen just to give them some relief. The soundtrack causes hearts to beat faster while the blacked out shots create real fear during the chase scenes.
A distinct part of the film that really helps heighten up the tension is Belén Rueda’s sympathetic and engaging portrayal of Julia. Unlike many other thrillers, such as Paranormal Activity or Scream 4, Belén Rueda manages to make the audience engage with her character so that in the end we want her to survive. When she hears someone in her room at night we hope she gets out of there quickly and as her sight starts to fade we feel sorry for her. These feelings comes about partly due to Rueda’s engaging portrayal of Julia, but also because Julia is a well written, interesting character, at least for a thriller movie. She has a job, relationships, dreams, fears and a personality, which instantly makes her more relatable and therefore easier to empathize with. When this is all put together means that Julia’s survival is important to us and this helps raise the tension beyond a normal slasher/thriller.
The ‘who dunnit’ aspect of the film potentially lets it down a little bit. Although there are plenty of twist and turns within the story the more experienced moviegoer will likely see outcomes of a lot of the twists. Saying that, however, Morales and co-writer Oriol Pualo, have included enough red herrings so that although you may have a good idea about what will happen next you never completely know. The tension does also drop a little about 2/3rd of the way through, but this comes as a godsend as up till then you are on the edge of your seat for almost every minute. This doesn’t mean the ending is a let down though, although the film never reaches the tension highs it did at the start it still manages to hook us up till the very last scene.
Overall this film is by far the scariest film on release at the moment, and possible up there with being one of the scariest ones of all time. It does all that a scary film should do and it does it well. There is tension, gore, mystery and surprises they stay with you till the next day. Don’t say you weren’t warned. See it for yourself.
The Film Don 