User Reviews

I don't like movies that make me work which means I'm not big on sub titles.

But movies are moving pictures. At its purest form cinema is visual. There are times, like the violins of Psycho's shower scene or the ostinato of bass notes that means imminent shark attack where music is a character in the film. But when a film uses imagery alone to tell a story it takes us back to the beginning of film history and the great silent films, "Dr. Cagliari's Cabinet" and "Of 'Things to Come". This is Emilano Romero's first film and it's as if he channeled Terry Gilliam ("Brazil") and created a main character who looks like an old silent film character and doesn't seem to recognize he's in a talking picture show.

This unique gem begins with a drum roll and a voice over that says three times, "the show is beginning." "Topos" (Moles) is a grotesque visual allegory in an apocalyptic world of those who live above ground and the rest who live below defines the military haves and the mole have nots. Our silent hero is a mole crawling his way through the earth with the rest of the moles who are, apparently, insurgents. Our hero has been spying on a dance studio and overhears that a new student, an orphan, will be arriving in the morning. When he arrives and rings the door bell at 7, our hero's family kidnaps Amadeo and our hero takes his place, dirty moldy feet and all. Because he's used to crawling through tunnels he cannot even stand erect and yet he joins the dance class pretending to be Amadeo.

What follows is a compelling nightmare of an entire population of depraved people living a nightmare punctuated by moments of sheer beauty. After the final credits roll there is an interesting reveal when the dance teacher takes off her wig and the camera pulls out to reveal the entire film crew reflected in the dance mirror. It's as if to visually say, "the show is over."

This is a Spanish spoken movie, with English subtitles. I read the summary from Amazon instant video, that this is about a post-apocalyptic universe where two worlds exist. One above, and one below. In the movie, people above ground do not seem aware or concerned about those living below. There is no reason given why the second group lives under the ground, cooped up in tunnels. and hunted by the police above ground The "moles" underground blow things up a lot, and spread messages, kidnap above grounders, have some unsanitary habits including eating the legs of above grounders (sometimes, for unknown reasons, unless it is allusion to anarchy and degradation.

the story is very beautiful, and even humorous despite the violence found in every character. there is some oddity to the head mistress and master of the dance school. there were a number of strange things about this movie. i am not sure if i missed it through culture or artistic ignorance of Spanish culture. it is about dancing, the beauty of human movement, and passion. visually stunning, the pace seems slow and many pieces irrelevant disassociation-yet it's more likely my own lack there. the storyline of the main character is lovely to watch. i wondered who was the real villain here? the state? the bully who was killed? the main character so determined to have his dream that he killed his own family? the dancing arts themselves, and the drive to success of the main character? these are questions i hoped IMDb would answer. as an independent film i highly recommend this food for thought, it will make you laugh a couple times, and scratch your head as well.