This gritty topic is poignantly presented with understated acting by Banderas and Suarez and occasionally sensual camera work.
Those few stories that deal with incest usually have the nasty secret discovered by others with calamitous results. Here also, calamitous events transpire, but only indirectly the result of the incest; that problem is more subtly resolved. While a disturbing topic, sometimes graphically portrayed, the film does present a moral picture of how devastating the effects of domestic disharmony and incest can be, perverting Ana's sense of what familial love should be, and giving Juan great psychological distress as he struggles with his guilt.
spoiler alert:
Juan (Antonio Bandera) is working at a Spanish nuclear dump site located in the boondocks repackaging decaying drums which may be leaking and has struck up a friendship with a local girl Rosario. One evening returning from work to his lonely, broken down rented house he finds his stunning sister Ana (Emma Suarez) waiting for him, having arrived unexpected from their family home in Madrid. He seems pleased to see her, yet also disturbed. That evening the local town is having a fiesta and he takes both Ana and Rosario. He makes accommodations for Ana at a local inn, having asked Rosario to spend the night with him. Ana is angry at being packed off and hooks-up with an adviser to the nuclear site.
The next evening Ana is back at Juan's place. Apparently the couch is not appealing to her, because she matter of factly climbs into his double bed. When he settles down to sleep, she requests a good night kiss which quickly resolves into passionate, familiar sex revealing the cause of Juan previous unease.
It seems Juan and Ana have been engaged in incest through their teen years, perhaps partly a refuge from their parent's highly dysfunctional marriage. A few years older than she, he decides he can no longer stand the family situation and left without discussing the reasons. Unfortunately Ana's confused sibling love cannot stand the loss of him from her life, nor will she admit to herself the incest needs to end. She keeps asking him why he left home and her. He never can tell her straight out that incest is wrong, only that they can't be together any more, but she responds that relationships with other men leave her cold and now that they are away from home, that they can live their own life together as lovers.
Those few stories that deal with incest usually have the nasty secret discovered by others with calamitous results. Here also, calamitous events transpire, but only indirectly the result of the incest; that problem is more subtly resolved. While a disturbing topic, sometimes graphically portrayed, the film does present a moral picture of how devastating the effects of domestic disharmony and incest can be, perverting Ana's sense of what familial love should be, and giving Juan great psychological distress as he struggles with his guilt.
spoiler alert:
Juan (Antonio Bandera) is working at a Spanish nuclear dump site located in the boondocks repackaging decaying drums which may be leaking and has struck up a friendship with a local girl Rosario. One evening returning from work to his lonely, broken down rented house he finds his stunning sister Ana (Emma Suarez) waiting for him, having arrived unexpected from their family home in Madrid. He seems pleased to see her, yet also disturbed. That evening the local town is having a fiesta and he takes both Ana and Rosario. He makes accommodations for Ana at a local inn, having asked Rosario to spend the night with him. Ana is angry at being packed off and hooks-up with an adviser to the nuclear site.
The next evening Ana is back at Juan's place. Apparently the couch is not appealing to her, because she matter of factly climbs into his double bed. When he settles down to sleep, she requests a good night kiss which quickly resolves into passionate, familiar sex revealing the cause of Juan previous unease.
It seems Juan and Ana have been engaged in incest through their teen years, perhaps partly a refuge from their parent's highly dysfunctional marriage. A few years older than she, he decides he can no longer stand the family situation and left without discussing the reasons. Unfortunately Ana's confused sibling love cannot stand the loss of him from her life, nor will she admit to herself the incest needs to end. She keeps asking him why he left home and her. He never can tell her straight out that incest is wrong, only that they can't be together any more, but she responds that relationships with other men leave her cold and now that they are away from home, that they can live their own life together as lovers.