This bilingual (Spanish/English) film is based for the most part upon events from the life of its director, Fernando Colomo, when he was endeavouring to market, in New York City, a script that he had written. As with the case of Gustavo (Antonio Resines), a professional photographer and the protagonist of this picture, Colomo's principal difficulty came from his lack of knowledge with the English language as well as from the cultural and social disorder that naturally develops from such a deficiency. Gustavo must find means by which he may be able to vend his portfolio of New York City commercial architecture, while simultaneously achieving fluency in a difficult foreign language. Additionally, he seeks a steady female companion in Manhattan, not an easy proposition to solve for those men who have been born and raised there. One of the film's strengths comes from Colomo's ability to avoid creating a burlesque mode during those scenes wherein Gustavo attempts to establish romantic liaisons with several women. The possibility of any freelance photographer having his work reproduced in a major periodical such as "Life" or "Newsweek" is clearly slender indeed, yet Gustavo will not give up such an aspiration, in spite of damage to his psyche caused by repeated rejection. A comedy drama, the film has achieved increased substance through the frustrated photographer's having subleased a luxurious Village loft during his stay and, moreover, by his expansion of a social framework through renewed contact with long-time Spanish friends who have become permanent New York City residents. The director's embrace of a naturalistic style for the film's narrative technique results in a quasi-documentary tone for the piece, shot entirely in New York. During pages of Spanish dialogue, subtitles are employed in English, and turnabout, all being generally quite accurate. Appropriate pop flamenco scoring is heard during several scenes by Manzanita, an esteemed Spanish group. Talented American director Whit Stillman performs here in an important role and also serves as script doctor, largely responsible for the story's ironic climax. Although this film was well-received at the London Film Festival of 1984, Colomo encountered customary and expected resistance to his essay at marketing it. However, BBC2 purchased the picture and it has been telecast several times in the United Kingdom. While not available in DVD format, SKYLINE is worthy of one's search for still-to-be-found VHS versions. These provide more than adequate visual and audio reproduction.
