Irish Film Institute -Modesty

Modesty

Director: David Ulloa & Tristan Ulloa

spain • 2007 • subtitled colour • anamorphic • dolby digtal stereo • 113 mins


The shameful secrets in the lives of an everyday middle-class family drive Pudor, an emotionally satisfying debut by sibling directors David and Tristan Ulloa. Gritty, sometimes gruelling, the film is nonetheless absorbing thanks to superb across-the-board performances and a script that slowly winds its emotional spring to a cathartic final scene. Every member of this family has secrets, but their inability to communicate leaves each isolated as they carefully face uncomfortable truths. Death, sex, infidelity, ghosts, sexual identity and love are just some of the obsessions that are hidden away, leaving an atmosphere thick with tension. The film’s message seems to be that secrets should only be shameful when they drive families apart. The film-makers also seem concerned to show that this is a representative, not a dysfunctional family, cross-cutting between their separate lives and only occasionally bringing them together for some embarrassing dinnertime discussions.

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