Angela begins to research her thesis on television violence and uncovers a tape containing a 'snuff' movie. With the help of her friend Chema she sets out to discover who is responsible for the tape... Spanish dialogue. Read more
| Starring | Ana Torrent, Fele Martinez, Eduardo Noriega, Nieves Herranz |
|---|---|
| Director | Alejandro Amenabar |
| Genres | Thriller, World Cinema |
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Angela begins to research her thesis on television violence and uncovers a tape containing a 'snuff' movie. With the help of her friend Chema she sets out to discover who is responsible for the tape... Spanish dialogue.
| Starring | Ana Torrent, Fele Martinez, Eduardo Noriega, Nieves Herranz |
|---|---|
| Director | Alejandro Amenabar |
| Studio | PALISADES TARTAN |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 59 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Thriller, World Cinema |
| Language | Spanish |
| Subtitles | English |
| Released | DVD: 26 Dec 2001 Production year: 1996 |
| Format | DVD |
How is it possible to condemn our morbid fascination with violence without delivering the very imagery under scrutiny? It's a problem that Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar fails to solve in this otherwise compelling thriller. Yet, he can't be faulted for the way in which the story twists and turns, as post-graduate student Ana Torrent teams up with geek Fele Martínez to trace the origins of a snuff movie in a university's film vault. There may be only a handful of suspects, but even the most acute armchair detective will remain baffled. The suspense in the tunnel sequence is taken to almost sadistic levels.
Torrent, a student researching violence in audiovisual media, gets more than she bargained for after asking a... read more on Time Out
Not dissimilar to an overreaching Hollywood B-movie, Tesis serves as a reminder that not all foreign films are clever and skilfully made.
It's not that bad really, it passes a couple of hours and it's a great deal better than 8mm, it's just too riddled with plot holes and improbable behaviour to become absorbed in.
It's as if Amenabar has focussed too hard on trying to say something about the voyeuristic human response to violence and in the process, missed the opportunity to make a plausible film as a vehicle for his ideas. It's not clear what he is trying to say, perhaps even to him.
Debut feature from Spanish director Amenabar sees film student Torrent getting into sticky situations when she investigates whether a snuff movie she has encountered was actually filmed on her campus. Not for one moment is it plausible, despite the unpleasantness of the subject matter, but it does have some effectively tense setpieces, marking Amenabar out as a talent to watch.