By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ben Sharrock
Starring: Bárbara Goenaga | Joseba Usabiaga | Lander Otaola | Ylenia Baglietto | Zorion Eguileor
Country: spain, united_kingdom
Year: 2015
Running time: 98
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3867816/reference
Michael says: “Sharrock is the Scottish director who recently scored big with Chlotrudis viewers for his second film, LIMBO. PIKADERO is his debut film released in 2015. It revolves around a young couple living in the Basque Country of Spain during an economic downturn, and growing increasingly frustrated at their inability to find a place to consummate their burgeoning relationship. Gorka is going through the training factory at the local factory, hoping it will result in him getting a job. He still lives with his parents and feels lost as a young man trying to chart a course to a future that seems to yield very few prospects. Ane lives a few towns away and comes to visit Gorka by train after the two met and discovered a mutual attraction. She also still lives with her parents and dreams of leaving Spain to go to Scotland to start her new life. As they relationship develops, and their attempts to share some intimacy continue to be foiled, Gorka decides they should wait, rather than do something out of desperation that doesn’t satisfy either of them. Instead, they spend the time enjoying each others’ company and getting to know each other. Yet as life progresses, each of their chosen paths threaten to pull them apart, and suddenly their future is uncertain for different reasons.
“Ben Sharrock has a unique visual and comedic style as witnessed in both of his films. He has an admiration with interesting looking faces, and has said in an interview about the casting of Pikadero, ‘Faces and authenticity were important. I wanted distinctive features and faces that look great on camera. The kinds of faces that draw audiences in through their eyes and expressions, especially when using wide-angle lenses on close-ups. A lot of the tone of the film comes from how the camera interacts with the characters, so the faces were really important. There is a lot of stillness and silence in the film, so the faces alone had to be interesting enough for people to stare at for an hour and a half.’ He also employs a lot of still shots, where characters move in and out of the frame. His work with cinematographer Nick Cooke, with whom he also worked with on LIMBO, is exemplary. PIKADERO has an even more deliberate pacing than LIMBO, and the humor is even more deadpan and subtle, but if you enjoyed his second feature, his first is more than worthy of checking out as well. 4 cats“