French Release date: 27 March 2013
UK Release date: 3 May 2013
US Release date: 28 June 2013
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Clémence:
Funnily
absurd, or ingeniously allegorical?
Key words: fun,
absurdity, homosexuality, sex, politics, economics
The plot is fairly
easy to sum up: the crew and passengers of an airplane supposed to go to Mexico
are facing potential death because of a technical problem. The stewards spare
no effort to try and alleviate the tension, one of the passengers is
clairvoyant and desperately wants to lose her virginity, another one is
persuaded that her enemies are scheming against her (she indeed claims to be in
the possession of very compromising videos involving her and the six hundred
most influential men of the country), a newly-wed couple are going on their
honeymoon… The passengers of the second class have been drugged and are all
asleep in blissful oblivion.
Although I had a
really good time throughout the film and laughed quite a lot at some point,
i.e. during the epic dance of the stewards (no, I am not giving the game away,
as this scene appears in the trailer), I’mso excited will definitely not make a lasting impression on my memory. The
actors are good but the scenario is empty. I am usually very appreciative of
Almodovar’s films (especially of Los
abrazos rotos, Mujeres al borde de un
ataque de nervios, La mala educacion,
Tacones lejanos and Todo sobre mi madre) and I think that this
film is much below his usual standards. It could, therefore, be deemed disappointing
as an Almodovar film and yet, I enjoyed myself and had a good laugh.
The film is
funny and light (very light indeed!), but does not it claim to be something
else? Is not there more to it than meets the eye, no hidden message behind the
salacious jokes? I think that I’m so
excited could also be seen as a political allegory of the current crisis in
Spain, through the mention of a financial scandal, the corruption, the
unprofessionalism, egocentrism and superficiality of all the characters who are
supposed to held responsibilities (the crew of the airplane, the crew of the
airport (hi Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas!), the businessman), etc.
To cut a long
story short, if you fancy a light comedy and do not want to overwork your
brain, go for it!
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