Another love triangle In the seventies, Eloy de la Iglesia shot a movie extremely non-conformist and counter-conformist, managing even in quite seemingly genre thrillers, such as “Murder in a Blue World” or “Glass Ceiling”, hyperbole and allegory to unfold the plot 180 degrees and tell a completely different story through one story. But it was at a time when the Franco regime was shaking, but still functioning. In the second half of the 70s, Senor Iglesia already provoked public opinion with all his might: nothing else can be called paintings like El Sacerdote and La Criatura.
And let love triangles the history of world cinema has more than one thousand, like the one told by the sly Spaniard, you can rarely meet. And accidentally stumbled upon him for a short time and to get to a psychiatrist... Or to the police station - with a complaint about another destruction of moral foundations and propaganda of unknown.
After all, what else to do if the corners of the same equilateral triangle are a man, a woman and a huge handsome dog? And everything is serious, without the ironic banter of Nagisa Oshima in Max, My Love and without the outright provocation of Valerian Borovchik in The Beast. The Spaniard plays among his characters a classic melodrama with love and jealousy, throwing, breakups, rivals-separators, poisoning, tantrums and a big, big feeling. And it does it emphatically theatrically, with all the attributes of a good performance, with an actress-star in the title role, verified mise-en-scene, intense action, thoughtful dialogues ... It is a pleasure to watch, if not the inconvenience of the fact that one of the main characters pronounces his lines exclusively bass barking. However, the diction of Mickey III, the performer of the role of furry Bruno, is set well, he barks extremely expressively and generally copes with the role of the hero-lover perfectly. So did Ana Belén, for whom the role of Christine was perhaps the most unusual of her glorious career. What can not be said about the cuckold husband Juan Diego, who looks somewhat confused in the film. However, perhaps this is also part of the image: who would not be confused to find that his place was taken by such an opponent?
Moreover, from a psychological point of view, the story told in the “Creation” looks very authentic and quickly ceases to shock. A woman who struggled to get pregnant after long and unsuccessful attempts loses her baby, frightened by a huge dog. Being in deep depression, she encounters exactly the same dog, only showing much more friendly feelings. Obeying a momentary impulse, Christine takes the dog into the house and names the unborn son, transferring all her unspent motherly love to him. But the huge disappointment from the inability to have children and apathy lead to the fact that the vector of this love gradually changes, and so much so that it becomes obvious to others. Ana Belén is so convincing in the image of a woman who is brought back to life by a new love (albeit very unusual) and so confidently dots all the “i” that it is not difficult for her feelings to begin to empathize (oh!). In the end, the comparison between Bruno and her legal spouse is not in her favor. My husband is trying to cope with the strange situation he is in. Like bringing a beautiful bitch to Bruno's house. But the insidious Christina poisons an innocent dog, and Bruno immediately forgets about his short-lived girlfriend. Her husband is trying to console himself in the arms of a colleague at work, but what consolation is there when male pride is dealt such a blow!
The story is full of unexpected twists and melodramatic collisions: Eloy de la Iglesia strictly observes all genre conventions. Relationships within a love triangle develop intensely and dramatically, just as they could develop in any story with a similar plot, up to a fight between two contenders for the heart of a beauty. The fact that the situation itself looks surreal, imperceptibly, but surely fades into the background. In the end, the love of evil - you will fall in love with a goat, and the trait of a bald man, and a beautiful dog. Another thing is that it is easy to imagine the authors of the film happily rubbing their hands in anticipation of the upcoming scandal and heated discussions. But do not pay tribute to the skill of Señor de la Iglesia, the dog who ate (I hope, however, not the same Mickey III) at the film provocations, and Ana Belén, who brilliantly carried out his provocation, is simply impossible. It is a pity, however, that her heroine sings in the course of the action only in the bathroom (Belen is one of the brightest stars of the Spanish pop of the 70s - 80s), but there is nothing you can do.