En La Cama

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

This two-hander, taking place in an upscale, by-the-hour hotel room, is a thrillingly immediate experience, thanks to the writing, direction and performances of its good looking and very talented cast. It's a wonderful thing to be able to see a relationship develop from pure sex into something more intimate, and this one is handled expertly and in nearly real time (the edit appears to happen during nap-time, between bouts of talk and lovemaking). Already a hit in Hispanic territories, En La Cama, a Chilean/German co-production, garnered a dozen top nominations at various festivals and award ceremonies in the year or so after it was made, and it won ten of these--for acting, writing, directing and best film.

Directed by Matias Bize and written by Julio Rojas, the movie seems particularly cognizant of the woman's viewpoint, and with Blanca Lewin (who has won four Best Actress awards) as one of the leads, the distaff side is well represented. Lewin and her co-star, the very fine Gonzalo Valenzuela, handle the seemingly improvised dialog expertly; and their silences are as keen as their chatty times. Rojas knows how to lead conversation into intimate places without seeming to push. Consequently there is hardly a moment in the movie that even begins to ring false. When, once or twice, it does, director Bize and his cast quickly corral reality so that we are hanging once again on every word, every movement. We never learn more about this pair than we probably would, were we flies on the wall during their encounter. Yet, but the end of En la Cama, we care rather deeply for the two and maybe even have a little hope that they might continue. Most filmmakers would demand more closure in a film such as this, but Bize and Rojas refuse to insist--which is just fine. You'll find yourself, by films' end, more wrapped up in and moved by these people than you'll have imagined possible.

One could quibble with Bize's handling of the sex scenes. While "real" enough, they add little original or special to the canon of bump-and-grind. But what he's really interested in is verbal--and non-verbal/non-sexual--communication, which he has captured in spades. (Don't worry: There's enough full frontal, particularly of Ms Lewin, to satisfy oglers; as physical specimens, both actors are aces.) Cinematically, the only thing more difficult to pull off than a two-hander is a monologue, and this is one of the better examples of the former genre that I can recall. It is right up there with the delightful French treat from 2004, J'me sens pas belle--still sadly unseen on these shores, out side of festivals. Thankfully, with its current DVD release En la Cama has managed to avoid that fate.