Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Christopher Culver Bigas Luna's 2001 film SON DE MAR is a tragic tale of sex and death on the southeast coast of Spain. The dashing Ulises (Jordi Mollà) moves to a seaside village to teach literature, and soon begins a relationship with the alluring Martina (Leonor Watling), the daughter of his landlord. After marriage and children, Ulises wants his freedom back, so he takes off into the unknown, and Martina remarries with Sierra (Eduard Fernández), the wealthy property investor who has pursued her the whole time. Ulises's return after several years creates a love triangle with sordid consequences.This is essentially a soap opera, and one that relies on sex scenes far too much in order to pass the time. How much sex is here? Well, by the end of the film (or even at the midpoint), a nude Leonor Watling will no longer seem especially enticing. That must be the very definition of overdoing it. Still, it has a few elements that elevate it above total vacuity. For one, Ulises seduces Martina by quoting from the Aeneid, and though his repeated use of the same quotation to do so becomes tiresome, it's rather novel that Virgil's dusty old text is exploited for erotic potential. Also, Bigas Luna has a knack for writing tragedy in the conventional sense (protagonists with a fatal flaw), and the ending is quite memorable.

ma-cortes Solid and tragic drama from acclaimed director Bigas Luna who brought Jamon , Jamon and The chambermaid on the Titanic , including an excellent trio , being completely filmed in Denia (Alicante) , surrounds and Comunidad Valenciana . The film contains human drama , passion , emotion , tragical events , character description in deep and complemented with a loving triangle . These elements provide the setting for this piece of dramatic deeds , giving it its own special quality and ambient . It deals with a new literature teacher called Ulises (Jordi Molla) arrives in a little town located on the Mediterranean coast , he comes to teach at a high school near the sea and falls in love with a gorgeous young woman named Martina (Leonor Watling) . This attractive girl is also loved by a wealthy businessman named Alberto (Eduard Fernández) but she chooses the poet Ulises . There Ulises discovers sensuality through beauty Martina , her chips and tasty food and splendorous Mediterranean sea . Soon after their marriage and the birth of their son , Ulises vanishes while fishing at sea . In the meanwhile Martina marries Alberto, but all is not what it seems and the events go wrong until a surprising ending . Many years later Ulises returns and recites : ¨I have crossed the seven seas to understand that I can't live without you¨. This stirring as well as intimate story is a passionate retelling and a touching triangular drama , full of visual poetry and Greek tragedy , but including strong sex scenes with loads of nudism as female as male . This Spanish picture is an enjoyable tale with a thought-provoking characterizing about a few characters , tragic drama and colorful outdoors . Based on a novel by Manuel Vicent who used his native Comunidad Valencia background to write an overblown tragic drama novel , being screen-written by the same novelist and by prestigious Rafael Azcona . Director Bigas Luna also writes the script along with Azcona and being filmed in his usual formal and stylistic scholarship , without leaving a trace the brooding issues , in terms of dramatic and narrative excitement . The storyline relies heavily on the continued relationship among them , including a lot of sexual scenes, almost softcore , but it doesn't make boring , however the film is slow moving . In spite of , the movie results to be better than average , being surprisingly good and compellingly realized . Bigas carries out a perfect imaginary , a willingness almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence, every space . Good acting by trio protagonist , all of them give fine performance , such as Jordi Mollà as Ulises , a sensitive teacher who recites poetry and reappears back from Sumatra , now as a beggar and unfortunate man ; a beautiful Leonor Watling as Martina , she overcome with sentimentality and takes Ulises under her protection , Leonor is marvelous and charming with her sweet and enjoyable countenance,; latterly Eduard Fernández as Sierra an ambitious as well as revengeful rich owner . Sensitive as well as evocative musical score by Piano Magic composed by means of synthesizer and piano . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine who was first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as "key" lightning and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameraman . Alcaine frequently works with Pedro Almodóvar , Bigas Luna and Vicente Aranda , as he has photographed ¨The skin I live in¨ , The bad education¨ , ¨Volver¨ , ¨Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown¨, among others . Here he shows splendidly the impressive landscapes from Denia & surroundings, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain . The motion picture was professionally directed by Bigas Luna . Bigas Luna was born on March 19, 1946 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain as Josep Joan Bigas Luna . He was a Bon Vivant who along with his wife, produced wine, ham, and organic products ; they are well shown in his films . He was a writer and director, known for ¨Jamón, Jamón¨ (1992), ¨Huevos de Oro¨ or ¨Golden eggs¨ (1993) "The Chambermaid on the Titanic" , ¨Angustia¨ or ¨Anguish¨ (1987) , ¨The tit and the moon¨ , ¨Volaverunt¨ , ¨Yo soy La Juani¨, ¨Di , Di Hollywwod¨ among others . He's also an expert on murky atmosphere such as proved in ¨Caniche¨ , ¨Tatuaje¨, ¨Bilbao¨ , ¨Anguish¨ and ¨Reborn¨. Luna discovered actors Ariadna Gil, Leonor Watling , Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz . He sadly died recently on April 6, 2013 in Tarragona, Catalonia . His film ¨Sound of the sea¨ is stylishly photographed and smartly designed and here Bigas Luna delivers the sensitive and erotic goods with nice sense of style . The picture will appeal to Leonor Watling , Jordi Molla fans and Bigas Luna buffs.

groggo If you've ever wanted to see a film that stresses style over substance, this is for you. To me, Son de Mar is beautiful to SEE, but there's precious little substance, unless mawkish, melodramatic, manipulative love yarns turn you on. This may be one of those famous 'chick flicks' you've heard so much about. We're about half-way through this film before anything really happens: Ulises (Jordi Molla) goes out to sea looking for tuna, and doesn't come back, leaving his wife Martina (Leonor Watling) and son to fend for themselves. Then, in a furious six minutes of screen time, they bury Ulises, Martina gets married again, and her son grows into mid-childhood. This rapid transposition is jarring, to say the least, and very sloppy: after 40 minutes of more or less hanging around, we're suddenly into a full-blown melodrama, all in six minutes. I think this is called wayward narrative pacing.Five years later, Ulises (as in the wandering superhero Ulysses; get it?), returns to his 'Penelope' (Watling) only to find she's married to Sierra (Eduard Fernandez), an inexplicably wealthy guy (what does he DO to earn all that dough?) who inexplicably keeps crocodiles as pets. When Martina, in great anger, questions Ulises about his absence, he tells her that he'll take her to the island of Sumatra someday and she'll understand EVERYTHING.And here's the thing: he DOESN'T take her to the island of Sumatra. The reference just dies somewhere in the script. He DOESN'T really explain where he was and why he ignored his wife and child for five years. He DOESN'T acquit himself as an honourable guy, and the movie DOESN'T fill in the plot holes that are staring at us for at least half of the film. I can only assume that director Bigas Luna wants us to fill in the story lines with the mystical clues (fish, reptiles, the sea) he offers through breathtaking cinematography and evasive dialogue. It just doesn't work. The narrative 'arc' on this film ends up looking more like a wobbly clothesline.I'm sure Jordi Molla is a good actor, but I just couldn't buy his Ulises as any kind of hero (which is what the original Ulysses was supposed to be). With moist sensuality, he spouts a short stanza of identical poetry from Virgil roughly 2,000 times and each and every time it excites Martina to explosive orgasm. This guy should be rented out to reinvigorate stale marriages. I'm sure Virgil would be impressed. He didn't get laid that often, as I understand it. This poetic 'device' figures prominently in the film, and I had no choice but to assume it was a gender reversal of Ulysses' famous 'siren song' (i.e. beautiful maidens singing seductively to far-off sailors, who were doomed if they answered the, well, siren call). If this is what Bigas Luna is up to, you can see the problem -- he's offering convoluted symbolism in a snatch-and-grab attempt at High Art. Once again, it just doesn't work, at least in my eyes.Watling is a beautiful and magnetic young actor, but she gives us a character here who doesn't seem to have much intellectual or even romantic depth. It's beyond me how she could desperately fall in love with a guy who sports a for-rent sign on his face (as in vacant), oily 1960s-style hair that looks more like seaweed, and one of those trendy 21st-century 'beards' (you know, four days' growth, no more, no less). He's SUPPOSED to be a dreamy kind of guy (I think), but those eyes of his suggest he might be suffering more from overexposure to a preposterous script. But, don't despair, this film is great to look at. Just don't try to connect the dots on the red herrings or think too much about what you're hearing in the way of dialogue. You can do a lost of fast-forwarding on this film (particularly in the first 40 minutes) and you really won't miss much.

LeRoyMarko Captivating cinematography. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about the script. It's romance at full speed. First thing you know, Ulises and Martina are getting married. But "from loving to not loving", the road is not as long as Ulises believes. Soon enough, Infidelity enters the room and does it's dirty job. We soon realize that Death is already in the room. But wait, she's feeling powerless today. One thing's for sure: it can take a long time to catch a tuna!Leonar Watling is sublime. She captures the screen every time she appears. But the rest of the cast is not as interesting. And there's some scenes where you really don't feel the emotion. After a while, I found myself looking at my watch every few minutes. A few times, I felt like shouting "I get the point!!! move on!" But I have to say that the last scene on the boat is quite surprising and captivating.Seen at home, in Toronto, on March 5th, 2006.71/100 (**)