Dark Blue Almost Black
Azuloscurocasinegro (English: Dark Blue Almost Black) is a 2006 Spanish drama film written and directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo. It was Arévalo's first film. He developed the story from his award-winning short film Física II made in 2004.
| Azuloscurocasinegro | |
|---|---|
 Spanish theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Daniel Sánchez Arévalo |
| Written by | Daniel Sánchez Arévalo |
| Starring | Quim Gutiérrez Marta Etura Raúl Arévalo Héctor Colomé Antonio de la Torre |
| Music by | Pascal Gaigne |
| Cinematography | Juan Carlos Gómez |
| Edited by | Julio Peña |
Release date | 31 March 2006 |
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Spain |
| Language | Spanish |
Plot
Jorge is a young man whose plans for the future are put on hold when his father has a stroke. For seven years, he diligently nurses his father and works as a janitor while studying part-time to get a business degree.
When Natalia, his childhood crush, returns from a stint studying abroad, Jorge begins to yearn for something better. He is desperate to find a new and better job, but finds that no one will hire him because he has experience only as a janitor.
Antonio, Jorge's older brother, soon to be released from jail, is an opportunist who has never gotten along with their father. In prison, at a theater workshop, Antonio meets Paula, a beautiful young woman in jail on drug charges. Paula has a problem because she flirted with another inmate's boyfriend. Violently harassed in jail, she wants to get pregnant in order to be moved out of harm's way into the jail's maternity ward. Antonio initially just wants to have sex with her, but soon he falls in love with Paula. He wants to help her to get pregnant, but he discovers that he is sterile.
Everything changes when Antonio gets out of prison. He plays on Jorge's good nature to get him to step in during conjugal visits and help impregnate his jailbird girlfriend, Paula. Jorge reluctantly agrees, even though it might get in the way of his long-term on-off relationship with Natalia. Meanwhile, Jorge's best friend Israel secretly photographs men visiting an erotic masseur. He finds out that his father is one of the clients and thinks that he is gay. Irritated with his father's hypocrisy, Israel initially starts anonymously blackmailing him. However, he later begins to question his own sexuality when he dares to visit the erotic masseur, following in his father's footsteps.
Jorge's relationship with Natalia becomes difficult after she tries to get him a job where she works but he is only offered a position as a janitor. Then Antonio finds out that their father has an undisclosed bank account full of money.
Jorge makes regular "face-to-face" visits to the women's prison to carry out his brother's wishes and, inevitably, begins to fall for Paula. Gradually, they develop an unusual relationship. She gets pregnant and through her, Jorge learns to stop feeling responsible for everything and finally confront his own wishes, ignoring what the world expects of him. He breaks his relationship with Natalia and decides to wait for Paula's release. The relationship of the two brothers survives Jorge's emotional involvement. Antonio fails to retrieve the money his father had in a secret bank account.
Israel confronts both of his parents and his own sexual identity, finally achieving some degree of peace. Jorge and Paula have a baby daughter. He moves from the building where he has worked and lived for so many years, finding a new job as a janitor. When Jorge thinks of escaping his dead-end life, he dreams of a suit, which is dark blue, almost black. At the end, he takes Israel's car, breaks the store window and grabs the dark blue suit.
Cast
- Quim Gutiérrez - Jorge
- Marta Etura - Paula
- Antonio de la Torre - Antonio
- Héctor Colomé - Andrés, the father
- Raúl Arévalo - Israel
- Eva Pallares - Natalia
- Manuel Morón - Fernando
- Ana Wagener - Ana
Awards
- 3 Goya Awards: Best New Director, Best Supporting Actor (De la Torre), Best New Actor (Quim Gutiérrez)
- Venice Film Festival: Label Europa Cinemas Award, UAAR Award
- Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival: EurAsia Grand Prix
- Brian Prize at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival.[1]
DVD release
The film was released on DVD January 8, 2008 in the U.S.. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. The extras include interviews with director Daniel Sánchez Arévalo and the lead actors.