To be honest, a foreign-language feature set entirely in a single motel room with extensive hand-held camerawork isn't the most intriguing of propositions, but "In Bed" (En la cama) defies expectations.
A Chilean-German co-production that had its North American premiere at AFI Fest, this appropriately intimate, keenly observed two-hander plays like a naughtier version of Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise", achieving that rare feat of combining steamy sex with refreshingly realistic conversation, minus all the stagey self-consciousness that usually goes with the territory.
This sophomore effort by director Matias Bize, working from a script by Julio Rojas, should have no problem getting in bed with a domestic distributor and should score especially strongly with female audiences.
With its two leads already well into the throes of passion, the film introduces the viewer to Daniela (Blanca Lewin) and Bruno (Gonzalo Valenzuela), the young lovers who met at a party just hours earlier.
Between bouts of achieving their prime objective, they spend the fleeting nocturnal hours sharing jokes, dreams and aspirations, revealing darker secrets and hiding others.
Given the solitary set and limited technical opportunities, this is the kind of scenario that often paints itself into a restrictive theatrical corner, but Bize, Rojas and especially the game actors keep things fresh and involving.
Logging extensive credits working primarily in Latin American television, Lewin and Valenzuela are appealing without looking like models and convey an uncommon naturalness and vulnerability that heightens the scenario's high relatability factor.
Although a bit of intrusive dramatic license sneaks its way into the final minutes, ultimately robbing the film of the complete illusion of authenticity that was carried off so successfully in Linklater's companion films, "In Bed" still turns out to be a surprisingly agreeable way to pass the time.
A Chilean-German co-production that had its North American premiere at AFI Fest, this appropriately intimate, keenly observed two-hander plays like a naughtier version of Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise", achieving that rare feat of combining steamy sex with refreshingly realistic conversation, minus all the stagey self-consciousness that usually goes with the territory.
This sophomore effort by director Matias Bize, working from a script by Julio Rojas, should have no problem getting in bed with a domestic distributor and should score especially strongly with female audiences.
With its two leads already well into the throes of passion, the film introduces the viewer to Daniela (Blanca Lewin) and Bruno (Gonzalo Valenzuela), the young lovers who met at a party just hours earlier.
Between bouts of achieving their prime objective, they spend the fleeting nocturnal hours sharing jokes, dreams and aspirations, revealing darker secrets and hiding others.
Given the solitary set and limited technical opportunities, this is the kind of scenario that often paints itself into a restrictive theatrical corner, but Bize, Rojas and especially the game actors keep things fresh and involving.
Logging extensive credits working primarily in Latin American television, Lewin and Valenzuela are appealing without looking like models and convey an uncommon naturalness and vulnerability that heightens the scenario's high relatability factor.
Although a bit of intrusive dramatic license sneaks its way into the final minutes, ultimately robbing the film of the complete illusion of authenticity that was carried off so successfully in Linklater's companion films, "In Bed" still turns out to be a surprisingly agreeable way to pass the time.
- 11/8/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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