El Callajon/Blind Alley/サイレントウエイA slew of new movies at the video store, and the cover art and back-of-box text for this one looked intriguing. Empty alleyway, woman making her way out of the darkness; something about being trapped in a laundromat.
Aside from a brief establishing sequence at the hotel where the heroine, Rosa, works as a maid, the whole movie is shot on a smallish set, comprising the launderette and the dead-end alley in which it sits. This movie could work pretty well as a stage play. The movie does an excellent job of conveying the importance of relevant distances. Rosa is nearly home when she receives a call that she'll need to wash and return her uniform. With a longing look at the foyer door she'd already opened, and a glance down the alley at the launderette, we're off on a tour of just how little distance can become critical.
The first half of the film is a cute romantic drama between Rosa and Gabrielle, a handsome and charismatic man who also needs to do his laundry at 3AM. He and Rosa seem to be hitting it off, until he runs off to use the toilet, and Rosa accidentally finds that Gabrielle was washing a bunch of bloodied women's clothing. Rosa realizes Gabrielle might not be a nice guy, and a cat-and-mouse game begins between them.
Ana de Armas (Rosa) is a talented young actress; she's probably more lovely than talented, but
she's -so- lovely (.gif) that it'd be hard to be -that- talented. Seriously, is this what Cuba is exporting these days? Wow. There is, however, no gratuitous sex or nudity in the film.
There are several red herrings thrown in for good measure, as well as a few "see how clever I am!" writer moments which are pretty good. The lighting is good, camera work is competent, but the whole piece would have benefited from more consistent and interesting sound design. There are a couple of CG sequences which are only mildly out of place; it is difficult to believe that this production had budget to burn on them, and the overall story doesn't particularly benefit from them. There are a few spots where physical effects are used, and they are much more welcome than the digital ones.
