Review: Trash (2009)

Directed by: Carles Torras | 86 minutes | drama | Actors: Óscar Jaenada, Judit Uriach, David Selvas, Marta Solaz, Cornelia Anamaria Alexe, Rubén Arroyo, Radu Banzaru, Ludmila Blecu, Tony Corvillo, Natalia Corzo, Dorina Coslet, Victoria Coslet, Teodora Cristina Costache, Ioana Cristea, Francesc Ferrer, Isak Férriz

Sex, drugs and rock and roll. In short, that is what the Spanish independent film ‘Trash’ (2009) is about. In director Carles Torras’ hip Barcelona, ​​the women are willing victims of irresponsible men who give free rein to their primal urges on them. ‘Trash’ focuses on the two sisters Clara (Judit Uriach) and Susana (Marta Solaz), who at first glance have it well together. They are handsome, successful and have attractive men by their side. But their happiness turns out to be short-lived. When Clara catches her boyfriend, rocker David (Óscar Jaeneda), with her best friend (Carla Nieto), her perfect world rapidly collapses. If only she had said yes to that prestigious job in London … To forget her heartbreak, she picks up on the internet with the jovial Óscar (Izak Férriz), but he seems to be only after one thing. With colleague Nacho (Francesc Ferrer), stereotypically sad and desperate wallflower, she also doesn’t seem to be well off. David soon regrets his mistake and, as befits a real rock star, grabs the stimulants.

Clara’s sister Susana is heavily pregnant with her husband Christian (David Selvas), a celebrated businessman who sometimes travels abroad to secure lucrative contracts. An important Romanian customer invites him to Bucharest for a private party with willing ladies. Like all the men in ‘Trash’, Christian’s flesh is also weak and he decides to cheat on his pregnant wife with such a voluptuous Romanian. He may have thought it was a one-off, but when his Romanian business partner comes to Barcelona a few weeks later, he allows himself to be seduced again. Just when Susana’s water breaks … Carmen (veteran Assumpta Serna), the mother of the sisters, has her own troubles. She has just started treatment for breast cancer and in the hospital she met fellow sufferer Luz (Núria Prims) who tells her about the soothing effects of marijuana. While Susana is about to give birth and a sedated Clara in a disco is being lewdly touched by two men at the same time, Mother experiences a revealing love experience.

If you put the events in ‘Trash’ in a row, the film looks a lot like a soap opera, so much emotional and physical excitement the main characters in this film experience. Torras turns up the intensity considerably in the last half hour, so that it is just a moment of recovery when the end credits roll across the screen. Because what have we actually been looking at for the past hour and a half? A group of beautiful people who needlessly torment themselves and others for some physical pleasure. Figures that derail at the expense of those who love them. In fact, all the men in this movie are unsympathetic, self-centered bastards who are not worthy of the love of their wives. The most bizarre thing is that those same women seem to forgive them for those wrongdoing, which in fact makes them no better. The happiness they seem to have patent on at the start of the film turns out to be an empty shell. The only exception to this is mother Carmen, who, unlike her daughters, ends up in a positive spiral because of her new experiences from the miserable situation of her illness. Unfortunately, her storyline has a marginal share in the movie as a whole, creating a grim, misogynistic atmosphere. The fact that the acting is very decent and the raw, oppressive camerawork penetrating, makes ‘Trash’ still visible. But between all the sex, drugs and clichés, there is little to be found that really sticks. who, unlike her daughters, ends up in a positive spiral because of her new experiences from the miserable situation of her illness. Unfortunately, her storyline has a marginal share in the movie as a whole, creating a grim, misogynistic atmosphere. The fact that the acting is very decent and the raw, oppressive camerawork penetrating, makes ‘Trash’ still visible. But between all the sex, drugs and clichés, there is little to be found that really sticks. who, unlike her daughters, ends up in a positive spiral because of her new experiences from the miserable situation of her illness. Unfortunately, her storyline has a marginal share in the movie as a whole, creating a grim, misogynistic atmosphere. The fact that the acting is very decent and the raw, oppressive camerawork penetrating, makes ‘Trash’ still visible. But between all the sex, drugs and clichés, there is little to be found that really sticks.