La educación de las hadas (2006) Reviews

• This intimate story is a passionate retelling about a few roles interwoven with love and family relationship

  ma-cortes2014-04-13

  This drama is an enjoyable tale with an interesting characterizing about a few characters dealing with brooding and engaging issues . Nicolas (Ricardo Darin) believes to have met the family he has always wished when during a flight between from Alicante to Barcelona he meets a beautiful woman (Irena Jacob) named Ingrid and her child named Raul (Valdivia) . They get married and have a perfect relationship , but a bit later on , all changes suddenly .Then Nicolas meets a mistreated supermarket cashier called Sezar (Bebe) and establishes a peculiar relationship with her . This is an intense drama proceeded in slow-moving plenty of sentimentalism , emotion and a few surprises . The flick also contains some sex scenes and nudism in charge of Irene Jacob and Bebe . Interesting as well as thought-provoking screenplay by Jose Luis Cuerda , based in a novel from French writer Didier van Cawuelaert . Very good acting by Ricardo Darín as Nicolás ; Darin is an excellent leading figure of the most important Argentinian movies such as : "El Faro" (1998), "El Mismo Amor La Misma Lluvia" (1999), "Nueve Reinas" (2000), "La Fuga" (2001) and especially known for ¨The secret in your eyes¨ and ¨El Hijo De La Novia¨ . His partenaire is the French Irène Jacob as conflicted Ingrid , a strange woman who hides a dark secret and a nuanced interpretation by singer Bebe as Sezar who delivers a very natural presence . In addition, a brief cameo by the same director Jose Luis Cuerda as a judge who marries the couple . The main problem has to face , beyond not being able to avoid falling into a little interesting intrigue , it is derived from the coldness of its staging , some slow-moving scenes and some roles are poorly developed . Because the story needs a vibration more real than the one offered in this sometimes dull as well as sad flick , though also develops enjoyable moments as when takes place the lovely relationship between Ricardo and the child and enjoy themselves . However , the spotlights images which are in the second half of the film allow me to forget the gaps of the first half . Anyway, it's is compensated with a gorgeous cinematography by Hans Burmann who has photographed great hits such as ¨Open your eyes¨, ¨Tesis¨, ¨Amnesia¨, ¨Guantanamera¨ ; including spotless pictorial images and a willingness , almost perfect of the elements of each shot , every sequence , every space . Shot on Catalonia , where have been filmed the gorgeous landscapes , marvelously reflected on location in Montseny, Barcelona, Spain . Furthermore , sensitive and appropriate musical score by excellent composer Lucio Godoy . ¨La Educacion de Hadas¨or "The Education of Fairies" , International title , is a little successful flick by Jose Luis Cuerda , being efficiently produced by Frales Felices and Sarah Halioua and resulted to get a minimum hit at Spanish Box office . Cuerda is a veteran professional , being his film debut ¨Pares and Nones¨ a typical Madrid comedy . He subsequently directed ¨El Bosque Animado¨ also with script by notorious Rafael Azcona and based on Wenceslao Fernandez Florez's novel . He followed directing failures as a drama titled ¨Viuda De Capitan Contreras¨ and more comedies as ¨La Marrana¨ and ¨Tocando Fondo¨ . His greatest success corresponds as producer , as he produced hits for Alejandro Amenabar as ¨Tesis¨ and ¨Abre Los Ojos¨, among others . His highly-acclaimed and successful movie was ¨Lengua De Mariposas¨ , it has a rating as better than average and is a beautiful and powerful film . His most personal movies were two comedies with a peculiar and surrealist sense of humor , this ¨Amanece Que no Es Poco¨ and the following titled ¨Asi en el Cielo Como en Tierra¨ but in anti-religion tendency .

• Beautiful tale

  pepeto2006-07-03

  Beautiful tale, excellent cast, wonderful locations from Girona, Catalunya (but it seams Galicia) with all the deep, magic forest. I think it's Montseny. You will believe in Fairies! Bebe, Ricardo Darín and Irene Jacob do a great job and the child is brilliant. As Sezar says: "Since I've met your child, I haven't had the will of having a child". It's all about love between man and woman and adult and child, but real love, not the kind of love they sell us from Hollywood, but real, natural love. If you like stories about relationship between people, you will enjoy this film. I know they have had problems finding the boy, since it should be the history's keystone. It's amazing how well and natural the boy acts. An interesting promise!

• The Fairies Await...

  Chrysanthepop2010-06-27

  José Luis Cuerda's 'La Educación de las Hadas' starts off a little awkward and messy. The encounter between Nico, Ingrid and her son is portrayed very strangely. At this point the story rushes into Nico and Ingrid getting married and moving into his house. And from there he jumps to the sequence where Ingrid asks for a separation. While the initial sequences are heavily rushed, the scenes thereafter move at a very slow pace. The backstory of the characters are poorly developed and one may feel the requirement of an explanation for the character's actions but once Sezar and Nico go out on a date, the story quickly picks up. Cuerda also provides a surprising explanation of the characters' motivation and leads to a beautiful ending. The highlight sequences that are in the second half of the movie allow me to forgive the flaws of the first half. 'La Educación de las Hadas' is beautifully shot. The natural locations and Nico's house are breathtaking to look at. The background score is soothing to the viewer. Ricardo Darin is superb as Nicolás. He delivers a very natural performance. Irène Jacob is brilliant as the conflicted Ingrid. Bebe, who is known for her singing talents, is terrific as Sezar. Víctor Valdivia holds his own as little Raúl. Even though 'La Educación de las Hadas' does not start off on a great note, I suggest one have a little patience because the latter portion really makes it worth the watch. The film could have used a little more 'fairy magic' imagination but even otherwise it's far from a bad watch.

• A solid little film

  Argemaluco2008-07-20

  I started watching this film with zero expectations.And,without being great,La Educación de las Hadas resulted to be a good little movie.Let's start with the positive elements.The performances are excellent.I think the best performances from this movie are made by Ricardo Darín and from the singer Bebe.Darín is an excellent actor but Bebe really surprised me with her performance.She showed being a very capable actress and I hope to see her on more movies.The screenplay is solid and the story it tells keeps the interest.Director José Luis Cuerda found a good tone for telling the story.An element which irritated me pretty much from this movie was the excessive cheap sentimentalism from some scenes.I think that moments took out some points to the movie.Another negative point is that some scenes feel a little bit boring.In spite of that,La Educación de las Hadas is a good film and I recommend it.

• Change of genre

  chiaviah2008-04-12

  This film has undoubtedly some qualities in it, but it's a big disappointment for any reader of Didier Van Cauwelaert's magical novel "L'éducation d'une fée", which I really can recommend heartily to anyone. The tone of the novel and the film are completely different. JL Cuerda has decided to make a sentimental movie out of a surprisingly original and witty written material. I don't know what has led JL Cuerda to change some items in the script that to me seem a loss compared to the book (the nature and possible evolution of Ingrid's problem, the nationality and past life of Zesar, among others). And the biggest loss of all is not allowing more place in the film for Nicolas' job as the (now idle) creator of such wonderful and unusual games as "Je crée le monde" ("I create the world"), which we glimpse as childish pictures in the introducing credits and which explains much of his inclination towards the creation of an ideal life for his step-son, fairies included. The whole character of Nicolas is difficult to understand if his attraction towards dabbling with imaginary worlds is suppressed. If you just watched the movie, have a try at the novel (translated- at least- into Spanish, Italian, German ("Solange du mich liebst")). You'll be delighted and you'll find yourselves transported into a completely different universe. Much of the originality and the mystery of Ingrid's decision to quit Nicolas is also missing and leading to an excess of gooey, tearful scenes that are also a betrayal to the much wittier, drier tone of the novel. I see in the credits that Mr Cauwelaert co-writed the script with Cuerda, but I wonder if there wasn't some linguistic misunderstanding in this cooperation. On the other hand, the character of Zesar is in my opinion the only improvement compared to the novel, as the chapters that revolve about her were for me the novel's main flaw. Bebe's playing was surprising and nuanced, and I enjoyed it very much. I could visualize her drama much better in the movie. The beautiful landscape of Cataluña is a new element that, as a lover of that area, I enjoyed very much. The novel is set in France. A good subject for any compared literature student dealing with screen adaptations of novels: how to radically change the genre, while keeping the same tale.