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Review #330 of 365
Movie Review of 20 Centimeters (2006) [NR] 112 minutes
Spanish Title: 20 centímetros
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Where Viewed: Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 7 December 2006
Time: 5:20 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: 5 December 2006
Directed by: Ramón Salazar (Piedras)
Written by: Ramón Salazar (Amnèsia)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Mónica Cervera ("Con dos tacones") • Pablo Puyol ("Paso adelante, Un") • Miguel O'Dogherty (debut) • Concha Galán (Volver)
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DVD |
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Spanish writer / director Ramón Salazar's film 20 Centimeters resembles the lavish, comedic cousin of last year's trail blazing USA film, Transamerica. Here we have Adolfo Carpanta Orozco (Mónica Cervera) working tirelessly to acquire sufficient funds and the operation that will separate her from the 20 centimeters (7.87 inches) of her remaining manhood.
Mónica Cervera as Marieta/Adolfo Carpanta Orozco as she imagines herself in one of her lavish dream sequence, Broadway show style, musical numbers.
Her roommate and best friend, a very handsome dwarf named Tomás (Miguel O'Dogherty) tries to help her raise money by allowing her to invest in his opera ticket scalping operation. Their life is full of mild chaos due to the lives of their neighbors, one named Berta (Concha Galán) causes the most trouble as she participates in illegal activities trying to raise enough money of her own so that she and her son can leave Spain for a perceived better life in Brazil. On top of all of this, Marieta has the added problem in that she has narcolepsy. So, she falls asleep at the drop of a pin and wakes to find herself in any number of bizarre and unexpected locales. Her dreams, however, bring out her true feelings as her mind creates elaborate musical numbers in which she stars singing in English, Spanish, and French populated by glamorous dancers and occasionally her own best friends. Fate is kind but wicked to Marieta as she spies an unusually appealing fruit stocker named Raul (Pablo Puyol) at the local market and it's swoon at first sight for her. When she falls asleep on the floor the market hitting her head on a crate, she awakens in the hospital having been carried there by Raul.
Pablo Puyol as Raul the fruit stocker who falls for all of Marieta
Turns out Raul rather fancies her despite her still-sort-of-in-transition-between-genders appearance. She goes about her life full of the usual complications still dreaming and now dreaming of Raul, but she doesn't grasp the mutual affection until he semi-stalks her and finds her out on the street at one of her usual spots for picking up occasional tricks which she still does trying, again, to earn more money. The two engage in a night of passion back at her apartment eventually aggravating Tomás who complains that she shouldn't be bringing her tricks home. When he learns that Raul is not a trick, his jealousy gets the better of him revealing his feelings for Marieta may be more than he's let on. There's enough there, probably too, to give away a bit more of the twist in this plot, which I'll just leave for those to ponder / contemplate as they decide whether this gender-bending film about love coming in all shapes and sizes sprinkled with musical numbers and some tough choices is for you.
"…resembles the lavish, comedic cousin of last year's trail blazing USA film, Transamerica."
Ramón Salazar certainly demonstrated his worthiness in bringing his own vision to live and for assembling this cast and then bringing this highly entertaining, eye-candy galore, but very unusual film to the screen. Whether mainstream USA is ready for such a film will remain to be seen, and the theatrical release plan in the USA has been too spotty. Hence the film's near simultaneous limited release on the big screen and then widely on DVD. Mónica Cervera was as credible in her performance as the transgendered Marieta/Adolfo as was Felicity Huffman in Transamerica. Her singing and dancing skills were capitalized upon fully in the dynamic musical routines. It was funny, from a USAer's perspective, to think of Madonna's True Blue being used in a Spanish film's musical number. Meanwhile, both Pablo Puyol and Miguel O'Dogherty were perfect in their roles as the unbelievably perfect dream man and the sidekick best friend with a secret crush. The use of diverse actors and realistic characters (Raul's mother, for example is deaf) are things not often seen in USA-made films where characters are only physically or mentally challenged if it's part of the story line. Not so in this film. Once again, the Europeans have demonstrated they are light years ahead of the often still-puritanical approach to life and filmmaking exhibited in directors and writers in the USA.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
20 Centimeters (20 Centimetros) [DVD](2005) DVD
Other Projects Featuring 20 Centimeters (2006)
Cast Members
Mónica Cervera
• Pablo Puyol • Miguel O'DoghertyConcha Galán
Writer / Director
Ramón Salazar
20 Centimeters (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Spanish writer / director Ramón Salazar's film 20 Centimeters resembles the lavish, comedic cousin of last year's trail blazing film, Transamerica. Marieta/Adolfo Orozco (Mónica Cervera) works tirelessly to earn enough for the operation that will separate her from the 7.87 inches of her remaining manhood. Afflicted with narcolepsy, Marietta falls asleep, dreams up elaborate musical populated by glamorous dancers, and wakes to find herself in any number of bizarre and unexpected locales. Marieta's Fate is kind but wicked as she spies an unusually appealing stockboy named Raul (Pablo Puyol) at the market and it's swoon at first sight. When he falls for her too, she's as surprised as anyone. Unfortunately, he likes more of her than she does. Once again, the Europeans demonstrate they are light years ahead with their approach to life and filmmaking in this comedic tragedy about transgendered life with a twist.
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