“I don’t know my neighbors. There is a wall between us,” muses immigrant handyman Moha (Mohamed Mellali) in voiceover in Neus Ballús’ deceptively modest, gently ingenious third feature, “The Odd-Job Men.” “Water, electricity, gas, telephone. Our building is connected to all the others in the city and to all the other cities. And yet, we’re still alone.” It’s a nicely bittersweet summation of this crookedly charming film’s central preoccupation with connection — tentatively formed and easily broken — between people separated as much by biases, culture, language and ethnicity as they are by the walls of their apartments. And who better to observe, maintain and repair some of those connections than the plumbers, electricians and builders we invite into our homes to service our utilities, to tile our splashbacks and de-ice the AC.
The job of the traveling repairman is indeed an odd one in that it requires...
The job of the traveling repairman is indeed an odd one in that it requires...
- 10/15/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
It’s an important week for three handymen in Barcelona. Pep (Pep Sarrà) is retiring after decades on the job. Moha (Mohamed Mellali) is showing what he can do as his potential replacement. And Valero (Valero Escolar) is left to reconcile their swap’s extreme change to his routine with an empty stomach due to a last-minute attempt to lose weight before a family member’s wedding that weekend. There’s a bit of “old man yelling at clouds” with Pep’s last hurrah providing the opportunity to tell builders how bad they are at their craft, some nervousness as far as Moha learning to balance politeness and professionalism when clients interrupt his work, and a lot of griping thanks to Valero’s petulant desire to sabotage every effort to make this transition smooth.
The result is six days of a volatile dynamic made worse by customers met along the way.
The result is six days of a volatile dynamic made worse by customers met along the way.
- 9/9/2021
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Few phenomena in Spanish film have proved so striking in recent years as the emergence last decade of a new generation of Catalan filmmakers, very often women, making resonant movies grounded in highly specific local realities.
Think Clara Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a Berlin First Feature Award winner, or Pilar Palomero’s “Schoolgirls,” which walked off with best picture at this year’s Spanish Academy Goyas.
For years, prominent Catalan auteurs – José Luis Guerín, Marc Recha, Isaki Lacuesta – have made movies straddling documentary and fiction.
Sold by Beta Cinema, “The Off-Job Men,” directed by Pompeu Fabra U. alum Neus Ballús, drinks deep from both traditions.
Its stars, Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar and Pep Sarrá, are real life plumbers who, in a fiction-set up created by Ballús, play employees at Instalaciones Losilla, a small handyman firm on the outskirts of Barcelona. Over six days, Moha, a Moroccan new recruit on a one-week trial,...
Think Clara Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a Berlin First Feature Award winner, or Pilar Palomero’s “Schoolgirls,” which walked off with best picture at this year’s Spanish Academy Goyas.
For years, prominent Catalan auteurs – José Luis Guerín, Marc Recha, Isaki Lacuesta – have made movies straddling documentary and fiction.
Sold by Beta Cinema, “The Off-Job Men,” directed by Pompeu Fabra U. alum Neus Ballús, drinks deep from both traditions.
Its stars, Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar and Pep Sarrá, are real life plumbers who, in a fiction-set up created by Ballús, play employees at Instalaciones Losilla, a small handyman firm on the outskirts of Barcelona. Over six days, Moha, a Moroccan new recruit on a one-week trial,...
- 8/8/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
"Nowadays, people... they just don't do things right." ScreenDaily has revealed the first promo trailer for an indie comedy from Catalonia called The Odd-Job Men, at least that's the English version of the title. The original Catalan title is Sis Dies Corrents, which translates directly to Six Current Days. It's premiering at both the Locarno and Toronto Film Festivals this fall, which makes this a good discovery already. The story follows three handymen who spend a week going from door-to-door in Barcelona to fix whatever is broken. "A peculiar team of three handymen has to face a series of eccentric clients. Their everyday job becomes a surrealist and exhilarating experience." The indie film stars Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar, and Pep Sarrà. I had a good feeling this might be pretty good and honestly it looks fantastic so far. It's not often we ever see a film about handymen, but here...
- 7/30/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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