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Movie Review: Little Ashes

Ilan Mester — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:30:47 +0000

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“Twilight” fans beware: this is not your typical R-Pattz. He’s crazy, he’s odd and I like it.

“Little Ashes” takes place in 1920’s Spain (pre-Spanish Civil War) and focuses on the real-life friendship of eccentric artist Salvador Dalí (played by Robert Pattinson), famed poet and revolutionary Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán), and renowned Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel (Matthew McNulty). But most importantly, “Little Ashes” tells the untold love story of Dalí and García Lorca.

Most of the movie takes place at the university attended by the three Spanish artists. One of the very first scenes shows Pattinson as Dalí arriving at school dressed in God knows what and a bob cut, which I’m sure will shock many of you because it defiantly shocked the characters in the movie.

Then again, Madrid was at a turning point in the 1920’s as was most of the world. It’s no wonder why that decade was nicknamed the “roaring twenties.” Jazz was a new thing, Freud was sharing his controversial ideas and experimental art was beginning to explode. In a way, Dalí, García Lorca and Buñuel represent these changes in “Little Ashes,” just like they did in real life.

But the main focus of this movie is the relationship of García Lorca and Dalí. Anyone who has seen the trailers for this film knows Dalí and García Lorca have a fling. And in case you were wondering, there’s plenty of kissing scenes featuring Pattinson and Beltrán. However, that’s not all the movie is about. It’s about change, it’s about freedom, it’s about being unique and it’s very relevant today.

Yes this is a biopic, but it’s not a time-piece your grandmother would necessarily watch. All of the main actors are under thirty and all of them do an amazing job at making history accessible to a new generation (they get drunk and rebel).

Pattinson will blow you away with his portrayal of Dalí. First of all, the guy deserves a huge pat on the back for taking on one of the most complex roles. Dalí was known to be both a shy person and an attention-seeking exhibitionist. To blend this odd combination of character traits and pull it off is really hard and he does it. On top of that, he’s a British actor playing a Spanish icon and although his Spanish accent isn’t the best, it’s still impressive. Either way, his weird facial expressions make up for it.

Matthew McNulty (also a British actor) pulls off the Spanish accent as well, but it’s a good thing that the film’s other two stars, Beltrán (who makes his feature film debut in “Little Ashes”) and Marina Gatell are Spanish natives, which makes the movie authentic.

Beltrán and Pattinson definitely have chemistry together. I didn’t want to compare “Little Ashes” to “Twilight,” since the movies are completely different but the one thing they share is this idea of forbidden love. In “Twilight” one is scared the other might bite their head off for being a vampire and in “Little Ashes” they’re scared they’ll have their heads bitten off for loving each other.

You can tell this wasn’t a big budget movie, but you can also tell a lot of thought and effort went into it. Director Paul Morrison does a great job of capturing Spain through the eyes of a Spanish person as opposed to a tourist. This isn’t the type of movie that shows something for no reason, every scene made the cut for a reason, and so did every actor. “Little Ashes” is the kind of movie that also depends a lot on the actors and their performance. Another cast could have completely changed the outcome of the movie.

But the cool thing about this film is that it’s so focused and yet you can get a lot out of it. Whether you’re going into it to see Pattinson make out with another guy, or because you’re a fan of Dalí’s work or because you like Spain, you’ll definitely be satisfied.

Matthew McNulty Takes On A Film Icon In Little Ashes

Ilan Mester — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:26:30 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

“Little Ashes” is the indie movie that’s getting a lot of attention and andPop caught up with one of its stars, Matthew McNulty, to talk about the movie, his role and Robert Pattinson.

The film takes place in 1920’s Spain (pre-Spanish Civil War) and focuses on the real-life friendship of eccentric artist Salvador Dalí (played by Robert Pattinson), famed poet and revolutionary Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán), and renowned Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel. But most importantly, “Little Ashes” tells the untold love story of Dalí and García Lorca.

In the movie, McNulty plays Buñuel and he says co-starring in this production was almost a no brainer. “The fact that it’s Luis Buñuel first and foremost and I think when an opportunity like that comes along, I think it’s stupid to turn it away,” he says.

Still, McNulty admits doubting at first that he could pull off playing the film icon, partly because he was cast three weeks before the shoot and had limited time to research the part, but mostly because of the physical differences between Buñuel and himself. “He’s you know, the big athletic boxer type and I’m this skinny white English guy,” the Manchester-born actor shares. “So ya, I had big fears just cause of the fact that I was playing this iconic figure, but also the fact that I’m an English actor playing a Spanish icon.”

Having such little time to develop a complex character made McNulty turn to his best source: the script. “I didn’t really have time to research in a way that I usually would,” McNulty tells. “So I sort of went with the script really…I was so engrossed in it that I thought ‘I’ve got to be a part of this.’ ”

And when Mcnulty first met his co-stars, “Twilight’s” Pattinson and Spanish-native Beltrán, he was slightly intimidated and just hoped he wouldn’t be the “weakling” among the trio. “I met Rob and Javier and they seemed perfect,” he says. “Javier just looked exactly like Lorca and Rob was just I mean, he just looks amazing anyways in himself.”

But is Pattinson a good scene partner? McNulty reveals, “He’s great, the three of us had a massive level of focus and you know, I kind of got that from them, from Javier and Rob.”

The three historic artists were close friends in real life and McNulty says pulling off an authentic friendship on screen was quite simple. “We spent a lot of time together,” he says. “So you know, we had to build up a good relationship anyways and you know, personally…Rob and Javier are such nice guys anyways and we did click so it was easy to portray that for us.”

Filming in Spain also helped them get into character and see a whole different side of the country. “I’ve been to you know, like the typical British holiday resort,” McNulty says. “But I’ve never seen it from a Spanish point of view which is the great thing about being an actor, you get to do these things.”

The 26-year-old admits the film was also a learning experience for him. “The whole period was a massive change throughout Europe and people’s way of thinking was changing so ya I learned a hell of a lot…it kind of opened my eyes to a lot of stuff I didn’t really know about…These three guys, they started off so many different trains of thought and you know, with Buñuel, he created his own genre of film.”

McNulty also admits he had no idea there would be so much hype surrounding “Little Ashes.” “I knew it was a good film, so I hoped that it would be seen in the cinemas, that was the initial hope for the film,” he shares. “Just the fact that it would be seen on the big screen rather than just straight to DVD, so I think the fact that Rob was involved definitely opened up a lot of doors.”

His next big screen release is a starring role in a Cannes Film Festival Official Selection movie called “Looking For Eric,” which tells the story of a football fanatic postman. The British actor also hopes to make his American film debut very soon.

But in the meantime, why should people watch “Little Ashes?” McNulty explains. “For Rob Pattinson,” he jokes. “Just to broaden their horizons and learn a bit about something they don’t know, as well as being completely engrossed in a tragic story”.

“Little Ashes” opens in Toronto on May 22