MovieChat Forums > Te doy mis ojos (2003) Discussion > This film puts Hollywood to shame!

This film puts Hollywood to shame!

posted 17 years ago by swayback80
8 replies | jump to latest

Absolutely one of the best films I have ever seen.
I'm flabbergasted by some postings I've read, where
people actually comment that the acting, story, etc.
are boring and nothing new.
Never has this subject, IMO, been handled so honestly
& forthrightly.
I can only assume that the stark reality of this movie
makes some posters uncomfortable.
Well, those folks are just perfect for Hollywood!
When H'wood handles the issue of domestic abuse, you get such
umitigated garbage like "Enough", or "Sleeping w/ The Enemy".
In those movies, the women had to become martial arts experts,
or fake their own deaths, in order to advance a story.
How ridiculous!!
I guess if Pilar had devised some totally unrealistic occurrence,
one that included explosions, car chases, and flying karate kicks-
then perhaps those posters could relate.
But a REAL film, with complexity and ambiguity, one that
can be related too by countless millions-
well, that's a little too complex.
This film holds a mirror to Hollywood, & the audience as well.
Unfortunately, as we all know: "There is none so blind, as he
who WILL not see".

[–] Firechiq 17 years ago

I agree with you 100% ~ this film was absolutely PHENOMENAL. It stayed with me for days. The acting was magnificent and I couldn't help but feel anger & sympathy for both main characters.

This movie is one of the many reasons why I adore foreign & independent films.

[–] SeisCinemaSeis 15 years ago

Couldn't agree more. While Hollywood flicks tends to trivialize these kind of subjects and to show unidimensional cartoonish characters: the baddies are 100% evil just because, while the goodies are only naive victims.
Te doy mis ojos, in the other hand, digs deeper in order to show us more complex characters. Here Antonio is not your typical monster but a complex man, a REAL man. Same case of Pilar who is also a multidimensional character.

Another movie that deals successfully with intrafamiliar violence is the New Zealander movie Once Were Warriors with Temuera Morrison and Rena Owen.

[–] nikaolaos 14 years ago

I am in full agreement. This is a phenomenal film, a true experience to view. I was glued to my seat and blown away by the story. It portrayed life as it really is for people who live in an abusive situation. I think the comparison to Once Were Warriors is great, another excellent movie, though I must admit I liked this one better perhaps because the ending was a bit more hopeful (and no one died). I totally "got" why Pilar returned to Antonio initially, and why especially the final humiliation was the straw that broke the camel's back. This was so real, nothing contrived here at all (I disagree with some commentators here who criticized the story, acting, etc) This movie absolutely deserved every award it received. One of the best films I have seen in a long time (and I see more than 1000 films a year).

[–] DannX68 14 years ago

Bump!!

GREAT movie!!

[–] NoelLiebtSie 15 years ago

yep, much too deep for the average brainwashed ignoramus

L'enfer, c'est les autres

[–] akrisluvskev 13 years ago

Hollywood of today could never make a movie like this. Hollywood makes movies for the average IQ of a 13 year old, foreign films are made for adults that's the difference.

[–] coprogirl 13 years ago

I have to agree with the O.P. I just saw this on Netflix, and I was totally blown away, completely immersed in the emotional power expressed by the story and the cast.

Having grown up under the fear of an emotional abuser, I could literally feel Pilar's fear every time Antonio began to lose control. I don't think people who have not been abused understand that is is not the slap or the kick that is most frightening...it is the fear of it. The film portrayed this incredibly well. Perhaps the lack of literal violence in this movie disappointed some of the viewers. Too bad.

"'Scuse me while I whip this out"
Blazing Saddles

[–] melinda2001 11 years ago

I hear you saying the movie was fantastic and that Hollywood can't match it. I agree that it was fantastic but I'm not so sure about Hollywood. That may or may not be true but I don't see what the two things have to do with each other. For example, Bollywood may not be able to match it either, but why pick on either of them? Hollywood doesn't try to make good movies, it tries to make good money, and nearly all that money comes from the pockets of teenagers. Once in a while Hollywood makes a great film for adults like the movie "Young Adult" but that's the exception.

This movie was beautifully done. It felt very real and with a ray of hope to keep us going. I especially liked the ending. It didn't take the easy ways out with a happy or tragic ending, plus it gave us a new and better ray of hope.

I like that I don't have to choose between good movies with subtlety and Hollywood glitz. Aren't we lucky?