Tape in Chema Room
When Angela found out the camera in Chema room,There's a tape titled "Angela" and contain Angela touching Bosco pictures.
I don't understand this,please explain more thanks.
I believe that in the tape she is caressing and kissing Bosco's image on a TV screen in a videotape she made of him.
That scene makes Angela scared that maybe Chema is the killer because he obviously has been stalking her and spying on her. She is feeling more violated than ever and her paranoia grows.
Given the outcome of the film, the scene in retrospect serves to blur the line between "true love" and "obsessive love."
Also it is a mise-en-abyme: Angela watches Chema watching Angela watching Bosco. And then somebody walks in on her, right? So it is like an endless chain of watching and being watched, and a metafilmic commentary.
"The root of all unhappiness is unmet expectation." ô¿ô
Thanks a lot !!!
shareI don't care if that is what Amenabar originally and really meant by that, but anyways I love your commentary. VERY INTERESTING
shareThat is really interesting :) Though i always thought that the Angela tspe was Bosco's and that it had been in the camera when Chema found it?
Hence Bosco's "What colour are my eyes"? lines.
"I used to think the sun is evil, but now I know its not" Howie
Cherry, the reason I assumed the tape had been made by Chema is that it makes Angela afraid of Chema when she sees it. It is one of his many home-made "special tapes" and once she realizes she is part of his collection she fears he may be the killer.
She found it in Chema's closet or storage area, if I recall (I don't have a copy on hand). I don't think it was in the camera. Also, there was a handwritten label on it that was like Chema's other tapes. Maybe someone can check on this.
It serves to throw Angela and the viewer off the track, thinking that Chema is more dangerous than he really is. He may be a voyeur (and the larger theme is: aren't we all?), but that doesn't mean he is a violent sexual predator. It makes the outcome more of a surprise.
See i always assumed that Angela finding the tape at Chemas was to make him a red herring especialy as she was finding out he knew Bosco. I always just thought Chema had found the tape already in the camera.
Its such a good film that leaves you thinking for ages after it :)
"I used to think the sun is evil, but now I know its not" Howie
I absolutely agree that the Angela tape adds to the dimension of the suspense. Because she finds the tape in the specific camera they had learned was used by the killer. She sees he's got a camera hidden from her, he'd told her those cameras weren't around anymore and so it suddenly leads you to think he's involved, he might be the killer. And up until the end, when she finds Bosco in the kitchen on the floor and its Chema coming 'round, I was shocked for a minute thinking "Oh no, Why is it Chema! It was brilliant!
shareThe tape was in the camera ( she merely opens it to check there's a tape in it)she found a battery pack for the camera which is what she inserted. It's from the camera Chema found in the basement of the film library so I assume Bosco or Castro made the tape. So it was a red herring ( but a good one)
shareI totally agree with kirche. The tape was already in the camera.
shareYou're right. Chema is just in love with her. He stole a camera as we find out, and films her and also through the bedroom window because he's obsessed with her. He writes "Angela" on the tape because, well, you would wouldn't you! He's not going to kill her, he wants to know what's on the tape. He's not a serial stalker or anything, he just fancies her. And of course, it's a good red herring so that the viewer then thinks it must be him. Or at least, so that Angela thinks that. It's all very clever.
But no, that tape was not already in there, it was innocently filmed by Chema, because he was spying on her: nothing more sinister than that.
I disagree mainly because Bosco is the only character with a camera for most of the film; Chema only finds one when he first goes down to the editing rooms after he bribed his security guard friend to turn the security cameras off. If you remember correctly this happened very close to the end and climax of the film. I think Bosco was stalking Angela earlier on in the film and as someone mentioned in an earlier post he repeatedly asks Angela to tell him what color eyes he has. In the found tape she is clearly staring at his face and then kisses the screen. Bosco knows that Angela has been watching footage of his face and he could be referring to this incident...
shareAgree with your point except I do not think Chema's act was in any way innocent. I believe Angela'a getting along with Chema at the end was due to gratitude and in some part, desensitization. I think the director knew the audience also wouldn't loathe that character after everything is over in spite of his voyeurism, and hence we would think we are left with redeemable characters when we are actually not(even Angela'a appetite for violence is disturbing).
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