A PERFECT DAY ***1/2
The multi-awarded Spanish director Fernando Leon de Aranoa – of such socially-conscious yet personal films as “Les Lundi au Soleil” and “Princesas” – has come up with another winner. This time he’s gone international, taking a droll, almost sarcastic look at the consequences and absurdity of war, somewhere in the Balkans in the mid-1990s.
He takes us along with four aid workers on a routine day’s mission that turns chaotic, to put it mildly. There’s a war-weary character played by the immensely talented Benicio del Toro, his seen- it-all, jaded buddy portrayed by Tim Robbins, and two earnest female workers played by Olga Kurylenko and Mélanie Thierry, plus a bewildered interpreter. Trying to repair a well for the water supply of a village, they come upon an unfortunate obstruction, stubborn bureaucratic UN troops, some smart-assed kids and indignant villagers. Just another regular day…
Mixing tension, human foibles and gallows humor, Leon de Aranoa manages to keep us on the edge of our seats while delighting us with his eclectic cast.
Here’s an anti-war film that takes the lighter side of all the idiocy and hopelessness of these constant struggles.
Showing at the Grutli Cinemas next to Victoria Hall.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
Neptune at the 2015 Locarno film festival in Switzerland
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