In the modern film industry, the phrase "Spanish thriller" is an analogue of the quality mark of a really good movie. This fact can be confirmed by the projects “Bunker”, “Shelter”, “Good Dream” and “Insight”. The film "Body" (2012) reviews of critics tend to be included in the list. This is a quality-written, well-posed and professionally played detective thriller. Its IMDb rating is 7.60.
Hitchcock's invisible presence
During the debut work of the director of the film "Body" Oriola Paolo, who also acted as a co-author of the script, the ghost of the legendary Alfred Hitchcock constantly looms. Especially its invisible presence is felt in the first half of the tape, where a dramatic line slowly develops. The maestro of suspense often used a similar plot structure so that the contrasting ending shocked and forced a different look at the unfolding events. But when motivating the actions of key characters, one can feel the influence of later movements and directors who create in the thriller genre.
Creative tandem of like-minded people
Oriol Paolo, owning at once two remarkable talents of the storyteller: director and playwright, screenwriter, successfully appeals to eternally relevant topics. He places initially simple ideas in an archy complex maze of many plot development options. The success of the detective thriller largely depends on the author’s ability to develop paranoia in the minds of the audience while watching. Ideally, the beholder begins to desperately suspect each of the characters.
According to critics' assessments expressed in reviews of the film The Body (2012), Paolo surpassed many more experienced colleagues in this regard. Having perfectly felt the audience’s expectations, he deliberately leads the audience on a false trail, now and then including fake storyline branches in the story, destroys all assumptions, leads the viewer by the nose. He is echoed by the rest of the crew. The composer Sergio Moure and cameraman Oscar Faura had a hand in creating a sticky, disturbing atmosphere of the painting, and the creative group of artists managed to bring mystery elements into the scenery and decoration.
Short storyline
The plot of the film "Body" introduces the viewer to a young professor Alex Ulloa, mourning the untimely departed wife of Mikey Villaverde. The circumstances are complicated by the news of the disappearance from the morgue of her body. Police are starting investigations into this fact, but the morgue’s night watchman, the only witness who could shed light on what was happening, was hit by a car when he left the building in a panic. Now he is in a coma, so investigator Jaime Peña has to independently try to figure out what happened. Naturally, his suspicions fall on the poor husband. Alex is invited for interrogation to the police station, meanwhile his mistress Carla begins her own investigation.
Genre movie
Filmmakers in their reviews of the film “The Body” (2012) are inclined to consider the picture as a synthesis of the two most popular subgenres of “reverse detective”, when it is immediately known who the criminal is, and then the investigation process is shown in detail, and an outrageous psychological thriller with an almost invisible touch of mysticism. Watching a detective on the contrary is quite exciting. On the one hand, all respectable citizens want the criminal to suffer a well-deserved punishment, while, on the other hand, it is extremely interesting to watch the sequence of events through the eyes of a murderer who is trying hard to evade justice.
In the Oriola Paolo project, it is absolutely impossible to unambiguously perceive what is happening. Sometimes it’s completely incomprehensible what is happening: either it's someone’s evil joke, or the corpse came to life and escaped, or the key character is a natural schizophrenic. Each version sometimes seems to be the only true one, after they change, as if in a kaleidoscope, in the end it begins to seem that it is impossible to connect together and come to a logical conclusion. But in the final, the gun still shoots, the storylines turn out to be straight and stretched like strings in a guitar. Despite the fact that Paolo previously worked on TV, and “Body” is his debut feature film, he copes brilliantly with his task. The picture is an excellent example of how to shoot genre movies.
Leading actors
Over the past decades, Spanish actors have become recognizable around the world. The film was played by Belen Rueda, previously shining in “Shelter”, “Gift”, “Epiphany” and in “Sea Inside”. Her heroine, Mike Villaverde, appears in flashbacks. This is a strong and effective woman, sometimes prone to hysteria, because of which she commits acts that bring the young spouse to trembling. The dramatic talent of Belen Rueda allowed impeccably to reveal the image of his heroine, the actress did not accidentally receive the Goya award.
A difficult image of the key character Alex Ulloa embodied on the screen Hugo Silva ("Man of the Sand", "Sex, Parties and Lies", "People of Paco"). Cramped in finances, a chemistry professor who married a wealthy lady to improve her material condition and career growth, is on a short leash with her missus. At the same time manages to have a lover. The actor plays so inspiredly that it becomes clear that the widower does not regret what she has done.
Police investigator and the protagonist's mistress
Jose Coronado, who embodied on the screen the image of police inspector Jaime Pena, is not inferior to his colleagues in professionalism. The hero in the past survived a terrible tragedy, his beloved wife died in a car accident. For a long time, Jaime abused alcohol, unable to cope with the loss. However, after he pulled himself together, so now he is completely devoted to work. Revealing this crime for him is a matter of honor. Jose Coronado won the Goya Award for Best Actor in a Thriller.
The role of Carla, a former student, and now the mistress of the professor-widower, was played by Aura Garrido, known for the series “Angel or Demon” and the film “Plans for Tomorrow”.
All the actors of the film “Body” were praised by critics and the audience, they are all worthy of fame and recognition far beyond Spain.
Stressful, atmospheric and unpredictable
In terms of passions and emotional component, the offspring of Oriola Paolo resembles Matthew Parkhill's masterpiece “Points over I”. According to the verdict handed down by reviewers in reviews of the film “The Body” (2012), the director managed to create an interesting psychological thriller that ideally balances between the reality and the fantasticness of what is happening. Not all the events shown on the screen add up to a single logical chain proposed by the director. But in general, the thriller turned out to be a solid and concise product. This is an exclusively psychological detective story, covering a lot of sensitive issues, including human vices. And the best part is that the author does not try to give an unambiguous answer, to determine which of the heroes is bad and who is good. For we are all sinners.