Take My Eyes (2003)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: B- Film: B-
Domestic
abuse of women is a worldwide phenomenon that seems to be as bad and worse than
ever. The outright hatred of women
perpetuated by extremist and religious ideologies, plus the rollback of civil
rights is a crisis that seems to just get worse and worse. Icier Bollain’s Take My Eyes (2003) is one of the more mature narrative
examinations of the problems.
Unlike
the many Hollywood production which too accurately portrays the abusive man as
stalker-gone-nuts, we get the troubled Antonio (Luis Tosar) being such an angry
person that he drives his scared wife Pilar (Laia Marull) to leave in the night
with their young son and go to a relatives house. Instead of the usual formula, the
Bollain/Alicia Luna screenplay examines a less physically severe abuse in full
“otherwise” force with crosscutting flashbacks minus the phony diffusion and
tries to look at what was right for their to be a relationship before all went
wrong.
Of course,
he eventually gets violent despite seeking help, which is used as a situation
in the group moments where the men explain why they have issues with
women. The male dominance mentality,
lack of ability for these grown men to grow up and general negative attitude
where they scapegoat women (or anything else they can mark as “weak”) is a bold
look at masculinity gone wrong. Though
the film has some minor flaws, Take My
Eyes is an important look at the issue in a mature context. The acting is also exceptional, with Tosar in
a thankless role.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is a little soft in detail with slightly
muted color, but Carles Gusi’s cinematography is very good and without phony
close shot blocking makes you feel like you are in the thick of the locations
with all their tension. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo is very low in volume and despite being a Dolby Digital
theatrical release, has no surrounds either.
Extras include the trailer and A
Love That Kills featurette that promotes the film while dealing with the
issue of domestic abuse. Oh, and the
text on the back saying this opens like a Noir is preposterous, but typical of
the abuse of that N word.
- Nicholas Sheffo
