Spanish Cinema Now. 6.

A quiet little fairy tale that might easily get lost in the shuffle of bigger, bolder films at Spanish Cinema Now, The Education of Fairies (La educatión de las hadas) plays only twice more (tomorrow, Thursday, at 2 and 6:15 pm), so I'm giving a quick shout-out to a movie that doesn't shout at all. Instead, it sneaks up, lays out its odd plan and gently sets it in motion. Expect no "real" fairies here, nor any special effects.

From its first frame to its last, director José Luis Cuerda, adapting a novel by Frenchman Didier Van Cauwelaert, offers up a storybook look. His characters: a King, a Queen, their little Prince, and a very unusual immigrant fairy. Immigration is all over the place at this festival; here, it's both as benign as you might want and exceedingly rough, too. There is coincidence aplenty (as in most fairy tales), secrets withheld and bared, and a lovely "bird" motif that doubles as one of the principal's occupations and a metaphor for flight and freedom.

Interestingly, this bird motif plays an important role in one of the films covered yesterday, Chaotic Ana, as does one of its leading actresses. Using the single name Bebe, this striking woman looks a bit like the pre-surgery Cher. She's a chanteuse, too (that's her voice over the end credits, singing last year's Goya-winning song "Tiempo Pequeño"). Bebe herself was nominated for a Goya for her role in Fairies as an Algerian supermarket cashier who's short-listed for a place at the Sorbonne. (In Chaotic Ana, she's part of a small ensemble, in a much gruffer role as a man-hating, daddy-damaged video artist.)  We'll probably be seeing more of her in future SCN fests.

In the role of the daddy/King, Argentine actor Ricardo Darín gives another of his effortlessly glamorous, utterly sexy incarnations. At 50, Darín (The Aura, Kamchatka, Son of the Bride, Nine Queens) may be one of the most comfortable-in-his-body actors currently visible, and he easily brings this quiet, hesitant character to life. Irene Jacob (The Double Life of Veronique, Three Colors: Red, and the shamefully under-seen but tremendously fun Incognito) plays the Queen with gentle class and usual beauty. Most pivotal of all is the Prince-ling, played by Víctor Valdivia (he's also in the upcoming Seven Billiard Tables). If his character does not convince us that he buys into his stepfather's "fairy" tales, we'll never buy into them, either. The young actor comes through beautifully: he's smart, suspicious, needy and hopeful, and he, as much as anyone, brings the movie home. A sweet film about sweet characters, The Education of Fairies is a film for which it might be best to check your excess cynicism at the door.

Posted by dwhudson at December 19, 2007 12:56 AM