User reviews

Set in 2017 Sevilla, Andalucia . A man called Alvaro , Javier Gutierrez, newly separated to his wife, Maria Leon, is obsessed with the idea of writing High Literature . He is really disturbing due to his lack of artistic inspiration, opposite his spouse who won Andalucian Literature award. That's why he moves to another block where he spies to the unfortunate neighbours to encounter stories to write down. As he has relationship with a mature, fatty block caretaker, a wealthy old man with Francoist ideas, and two Mexican inmmigrants whom he hears through the bathroom window about an imminent dismissal. But then things go wrong and happenings out of control.

A provoking and brooding film with dramatic events, a little bit of hilarious touches and snappy sentences. The interesting premise results to be starred by a clumsy Notary clerk who being fired becomes a failed and with not inspiration writer, discovering along the way a motley group of characters and taking advantage of them by manipulating and deceiving one by one . Javier Gutierrez gives a nice acting as a mature man, a wannabe writer who doesn't find the necessary inspiration and that is the razon for exploring other lives by messing with the personal existences at the apartment building in which he lives by renting, once he left his prior home. Javier Gutierrez is finely supported by nice secondaries such as Antonio de La Torre as the literature teacher who harasses insistently Alvaro to learn to write, Maria Leon as his sucessful wife who is unfaithful with another lover, Adelfa Calvo as the sexually unsatisfied caretaker and the immigrant marriage performed by Tenoch Huerta and Adriana Paz.

It packs a colorful and appropriate cinematography by Pau Esteve, as well as enjoyable musical score, including songs sung by the popular singer Jose Luis Perales. The motion picture was original and competently directed by Manuel Martin Cuenca, though it turns out to be slow moving and a bit boring. Manuel Martin Cuenca has established himself as one of Spain's most artistically astute directors, his works consist in thoughtful stories, evolving in skillness and style. Martin Cuenca was born in 1965 Almeria, Andalucia, region where he usually shoots his films. He is a good writer and director, especially known for La mitad de Oscar 2010, La flaqueza del Bolchevique 2003, Malas Temporadas 2005, 4 puntos cardinales and for TV: El Tesoro and 14 Abril La Republica. Being his best one : Cannibal or Canibal 2013. Rating : 6.5/10. Worthwhile watching. The picture will appeal to Spanish cinema fans.

The Motive (2017)

A great concept drives this relatively low key Spanish movie with a small time crime underpinning it. Original called the Author (El Autor), it's about a wannabe writer, Álvaro, who is increasingly desperate to write a really good novel. It doesn't help that his wife has meanwhile just written one, leaving him behind for another man. So Álvaro realizes he lives in a boring world with no inspiration and he has to contrive excitement. By messing with the personal lives of his neighbors in an apartment building. This gets fun and messy fast. All of this sounds great and it needs a better film to pull it off. Better direction, snappier dialog, and faster editing. There is also some obviousness to the way it is filmed that makes it kind of drab, in some cases, or contrived. (One example-when eavesdropping on his neighbors, we can see their shadows perfectly cast on a wall he is watching, something that is so fake and unlikely it undermines the general mundane feel of the rest of the film.) Still, I watched it all with a certain patient interest. Álvaro is played by Javier Gutierrez, a Spanish actor who is not quite a "leading man" type in the Hollywood sense, and he gives his character drive without making a caricature out of him.

The funny story of a man who wanted desperately to become a writer and writing "The Book" of his life, true and authentic literature. The lack of inspiration and self confidence combined with the fact that his wife (another writer who achieved success) cheats him with someone else, make him rent a flat and seek inspiration and a story for his book. At his teacher/ mentor's advice he starts seeking a story in real life, more exactly in the block he rented the apartment. Trying to write a good story he befriends with a few neighbors, sometimes overreacting or hiding the truth hoping he will have an effect for his book, a good story to write about. The film is interesting, funny but not very brilliant in some ways. I would say it's a good movie, but not a very complicated one. The actors are doing a great job, so it is a worth watching film, the watcher will not be bored.

"El Autor" (English title: "The Motive") is a Spanish film dealing with a subject that has been explored by cinema directors a number of times, artistic, and more specifically an author's, inspiration. Javier Gutiérrez ( "El Desconocido", "La Isla Minima") delivers a low-key, subtle performance as Alvaro, a middle-aged, recently separated from his wife aspiring author who is devoted to a seminar on creative writing, given by Juan, played by Antonio de la Torre ("Que Dios Nos Perdone", "El Reino"). Much to his frustration, Alvaro's cheating wife is already an acclaimed author and her books are published and well-sold in Spain. This fact makes our protagonist all the more eager to make a difference, find his own literary voice and write a novel that will prove to everybody, and above all his wife, that he is not a bigheaded loser. In order to do so, Alvaro rents an apartment in a block of flats and begins spying on his neighbors, learning things about them either by gossiping with the landlady or simply by eavesdropping through the walls. He intends to build the dialogues and the plot based on those real people and during that endeavor he will soon find out that he is able to do something more, to manipulate them so he can become a kind of puppet master.

There is a slow build-up to the story with a nice, though not unforeseen. twist in the ending that serves as the film's climax and it is effective as well as appropriate since it is aligned with the movie's overall style and atmosphere. "El Autor" is not a heavy, pompous crime/thriller like other recent Spanish productions, it is a rather light-hearted flick that will make you laugh in many parts and moreover a study on the lengths that a striving author can go in order to find inspiration. The director is Manuel Martín Cuenca ("Cannibal", "Half of Oscar"), a peculiar auteur who dares to experiment with a variety of subjects and narrative techniques, though this one is a rather straightforward attempt to a clever, lightweight crime/thriller.

Overall, I would recommend "El Autor" to anyone having a slow, long night ahead and wants to be entertained without being imposed with over-complicated stories and plotlines. Spanish cinema is still one of the best in Europe today and its productions are always a treat to all cinema-lovers.

NOTE: The movie is based on the titular novel by Javier Cercas ("Soldados de Salamina")

This entertaining drama will seem really funny for those who are also writing and procrastinates when there are no new ideas in mind. The concept - one house but different connected stories are nothing new, but it had its tensions and twists!

Altogether, failed intellectual, old puma, immigrants and grumpy chess player keeps the viewers clueless about the outcome.

This movie kept me engaged. Great performances, an intriguing story skillfully structured and plotted with a late twist. Recommend.

Good movie and nudity is generally ok for me but in this movie contains unnecessary nudity which is disturbing. But I always admire that Javier Gutierrez is an excellent actor.

This is a very slow moving film with numerous closeups of the lead actor's head, mouth, back of head, etc. Like many other Spanish movies, it does not shy away from full frontal nudity that adds absolutely nothing to the story, just included there gratuitously. There isn't a lot of dialog, and the movie tries too hard to be clever with the use of weird cinematography that falls flat. The ending is really very silly. It leaves the viewer grieving for the 2 hours lost that he/she will never get back after watching the film!

Idea was good, started off well but it just got lost somewhere and stupidity came in , maybe caused by the writer's block.

Great spanish movie, all the actors are amazing!!!

Surprisingly for me, this film makes me smile often as I watched. Probably the film itself is something similar to the wife's book - doesn't seem serious but fun and inspiring to watch.

Whereas the idea of the film is an interesting one, I found that the lengths that the main character went to achieve what he wanted were unbearable to watch. Couldn't even finish watching.

Typical Spanish movie that reveals the darkness of humanity. The twist in the end is a little rush but the whole idea of the story is still very intriguing to me. 7 stars for the story and 2 stars for Javier Gutiérrez's great acting.

Very interesting film with an original idea. It explores the feeling of envy and obsession with success, which ruins a man's life making him, in fact, a psychopath. The final twist certainly deserves the vision. The photography is very beautiful, and intrigues those who do not know the city of Seville in which the film is set.

Pena de Álvaro, the misunderstood, reminds those people in real life who cannot achieve success, after all "Success happens when preparation meets an opportunity". The scene where he literally "put his dick on the table" wow, I loved it, not only for the very beautiful frontal nude, but for the intensity of the character's anguish, and his tutor, a pain in the ass, demotivating, the nudes are all beautiful in this film, and Álvaro's character, we went from pity to disgust... What an outcome, great plot twist...

The movie Intertwins the stories of a writer and the lives of the people living in a building where he lives. Nicely told story of customs and people.

Javier Gutiérrez is one of the best Spanish actors and he shows it in this rare but engaging drama that mixes comedy and tragedy in a sly way. A really wonderful and extremely rare (and original) film. Truly refreshing!

Great! Javier Gutierrez is an awesome actor who has shown his qualities several times.

Wonderful in the movie. A very realistic story about life with a totally unexpected ending.