November (2003)

I have zero interest in street theater, guerilla or otherwise, and so I found the movie to be unengaging, dull and uninspiring to no end. That's not to say the movie was very badly made however, it seemed basically okay in that department I guess. But it was a real slog to get through, and there was little in it to pique interest. There's not much to shout about other than the message. It is the kind of movie that documents events that happens, rather than tells a dramatic story. As such, it feels too linear, and it plods along at a stultifyingly slow pace. The plot isn't very interesting, not to me anyway.

I am interested in finding out where (online preferably. that ships internatioanlly as I am based in Manila, Philippines) I can purchase the DVD of this movie (Noviembre by Achero Manas). I have emailed the producers/distributors in Spaon and I haven't received any replies. Help! I am not particular whether the DVD has English subtitles or not (as I speak and understand Spanish). I would like to have a Spanish subtitled option though, as I plan to study the dialog of the movie. Any comments/suggestions or just pointers would greatly help. I donot believe in nor do I practice the downloading of movies via the net, so please, only legitimate suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.

I adored this movie.I saw it in Annecy,France in April 2004.It was a Spanish movie festival.Of course,i had already taken 6 or 7 years of Spanish at the time so I had a pretty broad comprehension of what the movie was about and what the actors were saying...We are now in 2006 and I still to this day have not seen a better movie than this one. "Noviembre" has caused many things to change in my brain and my way of thinking about art. Art should be something that people express freely and in any kind of form or way they want.I thought the scenes in the streets, when they were acting were incredible. The end of the movie is very rough and harsh. If you ever see it,be prepared to cry in the end or at least be very touched by the meaning of it. If you have not lived in European countries it is more difficult to understand it. In fact,all the bad comments that I have read about this movie were made by non Hispanic and/or non European people.So please all of you,just open your mind to new and different things.Make sure that you think twice about the true meaning of this movie before you say plenty of bad things about it.To me, everything was great,realistic for the way Spain was at the time and entertaining.

SpoilersNoviember is quite a unique piece of work that I caught in the 'Euro Vision' festival in town. Very much like Into the Void, in documentary form, the story is told by alternating between the main story line and the interview-type narration of the characters some years later (about a half dozen of them compared with 2 in Into the Void). But hang on for a second……..these character are not real! The story is entirely fictional, but made to look like a documentary.The story starts with young actor Alfredo arriving in Madrid for adventure in the late 90s (which makes the 'now' in the movie somewhere in the 2030s or 2040s, guessing from the age of the 'real' characters interviewed). There, he meets Lucia who soon becomes his wife. When discussing their initial motivation for acting, Alfred intimates that it's to a large extent out of love for his wheelchair-confined brother, from both physical handicap and mental disorder. Lucia, on the other hand, attributes it to sibling rivalry, kind of the 'Baby Jane' syndrome.Together with a group of friends who share the same passion for acting, the two embark on their venture. The unique thing is that in their vision to bring the theatre to the public, they shun any indoor performance venue which would imply an admission ticket. They do all their performances outdoors, right in the streets, and they steadfastly refuse to accept any money for their performances. The movie follows this group's performances which are presented in pseudo-documentary style, complete with fictitious dates, in the streets of Madrid, culminating in a unexpected and quite devastating ending. Between hilarity and poignancy, and everything in between, this movie has a great deal to offer. A fascinating movie, particularly if you love performing arts. It won the FIPRESCI prize in the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival.