Madrigal (2006)

Directed by: Fernando Perez | 112 minutes | drama | Actors: Carlos Enrique Almirante, Liety Chaviano, Luis Alberto Garcia, Carla Sánchez, Yailene Sierra

Never underestimate the importance of an opening scene. The Cuban film ‘Madrigal’ opens with a close-up of a nun praying in front of her in a small chapel. The nun has an indecently deep voice, but as a viewer you put it on the hard nun existence. Moments later, when the camera zooms out, you understand what you have actually seen: a male actor in the urinal of a theater, peeing and rehearsing his lines again.

‘Not everything is as it seems’ is the motto of ‘Madrigal’ and that first scene is an immediate illustration of this. The film deals with themes such as truth and lies, fact and fiction, appearance and reality. Difficult themes, although that does not mean that we are dealing with a purely philosophical work here. Director Fernando Pérez rather plays with these themes, as Tom Tykwer once played with slightly philosophical themes in ‘Lola Rennt’.

The first part of ‘Madrigal’ deals with the love of a playwright/writer for a very fat girl. We see how he first becomes aware of her when she is the only spectator to attend a play. The story that follows is somewhat like ‘Dangerous Liaisons’. Here too the seduction stems from insincere intentions. But once the boy has fallen for the girl’s purity, he finds himself ensnared in a web of lies.

The short second part is the film adaptation of a story by the actor/writer, and is closely related to the first part. It is a fanciful future story about a degenerate society where sex is obligatory and where purity is heavily suspected. This second part has a strong ending in which all kinds of previous events come together. The second part proves that truthfulness and fiction go well together.

The curious form in which the film is cast already shows that ‘Madrigal’ is an unorthodox work. A typical case of love it or hate it. Pérez expects his audience to think along about the images, dialogues and connections. If you put in a bit of effort, you will end up with a work that is so rich in meanings, associations and ideas that it still makes you dizzy an hour after it’s finished. If you don’t, you’re just bored.

The fact that ‘Madrigal’ has not become a masterpiece is because the head/heart ratio is somewhat out of balance. Although the first part still has its moving moments, the events and dialogues are largely in the service of the ideas. Thus, the film appeals a bit too much to the mind. On the other hand, ‘Madrigal’ is of the highest quality in all other respects, from acting to visuals. So a modest gem, but of the high-threshold kind.