Film No. 61 (2015) Marshland 29th August.

Film No. 61 (2015) August 29th.  4.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge. 

"The night they disappeared, they were walking home" (the precursor to the mystery to be solved by detectives Juan and Pedro, detectives seconded to the marshlands). 

 

 

Nominated for 70 Awards, this atmospheric Spanish pot boiler was just the film I needed on the dreary Saturday afternoon I saw it. After the first season of True Detective there was much to compare when analyzing Marshland. Aerial shots which make the landscape below an elaborate art mosaic, detectives of contrasting styles and suspects with unnerving smiles and dodgy alibis.

 

Juan (Javier Gutierrez) and Pedro (Raul Arevaio) are seconded to the steamy Andalucian marshlands of Spain from Madrid to solve the puzzle of the disappearance of two teenage sisters. The first of the mysteries is why these two contrasting police bloodhounds and the second conundrum is how come they've never worked with one another before? As the mystery continues we realize the appointment is partially political and slightly convenient for a Warner Bros distributed brand of film.

 

My Warner Bros theory is not a criticism because sometimes when a tried and tested B Grade formula is executed with such dexterity, as Marshlands is, the result is an A grade film. 10 Goya Awards set new levels for the Spanish film industry in 2015. And while the pot boiling feature of this film is the bubbling chemistry of our true detectives Juan and Pedro, it's their varied techniques for extracting information from characters as diverse as a psychic fisherwoman and a sweet smelling businessman wearing a cowboy hat and with a handshake of soft vice like qualities.

 

The ending is not laden with the twists one first imagines but this is not a let down. Marshland is a hot, steamy journey which appeals to all our senses without over complicating characterization and story line. It has the odd visual of the squeamish variety but this is never over done. For those who still shy away from a sub-titled film this is the film to iron out your trepidation. The letters at the bottom of the screen never intrude; there is a slick rhythm to Marshland.  10GUMS.