Goyas Again, that’s it… thirty-eight editions, next to nothing. They are like that relative of yours who you are grateful to have seen after a while when you haven’t heard from him, but you want him to leave as soon as possible after sorting out the olives and reviewing the gossip in the town. Of the thirty-eight views, only a few were good television shows. It’s often been disorganized, slow, and far too long: It’s surprising that the people dedicated to creating shows don’t have the skills to make a compelling and entertaining two-hour program. But it is not possible to do such a thing with 28 categories and without any filtering in the thank you section (Sigourney Weaver It will scare you. I’m glad no one thanked my brothers-in-law on behalf of my mother: they are the worst). It looks like cupcakes this year are two affairs:
Snow. Everything has already been said about The Snow Society (13 nominations). The most expensive film in Spanish cinema (60 million euros), it is a brutal and daring film that will have you sinking into your seat as soon as it starts and not moving for almost three hours. The snow is coming at you and makes you tired. bayonne He’s already a world famous name in cinema, but he has a few problems: He doesn’t care about himself at all and is disgustingly normal. Under normal circumstances (and when it comes to film industry awards), the Goya premiere would need to be a winner to make a strong run at the Oscars, but…
Bees. Surprise of the year. 20,000 species of bees (15 candidates) is an indispensable guide for those who want to know what an eight-year-old boy who starts wanting to be a girl at age 8 is like. The film is free from doctrines, sectarianism, imposed and dogmatic versions, doubts and evils. The film, which sometimes resembles a documentary, is literally full of sensitivity and compassion, but at the same time it is far from drama and superficiality, revealing a very challenging situation for a reader. The mother desperate for answers. Who needs a lighthouse, a support to know that there is light somewhere (Patricia López Arnáiz This is extraordinary). The boy’s look is from another planet. From beginning to end it disarms you, looks at you and asks you.
Discussion. Can an almost experimental film (about bees) that grossed 900,000 euros at the box office win best picture from a film (about snow) that has been watched more than 50 million times on Netflix? Is it normal that only three Spanish films will exceed one million viewers in 2023? Are the directors aware that four of the five films competing for the best picture award did not reach 160,000 viewers? Does Spanish cinema want to remain an industry or does it want to become something else? Do we want snow, bees, or both?