The Night of the Sunflowers

2006 "Gripping and superb!"
7.1| 1h58m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 25 August 2006 Released
Producted By: ARTE France Cinéma
Country: Spain
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Two speleologists, Esteban and Pedro, travel to a mountainous area located in northern Spain, near a small village, to study a newly discovered cave and determine if it is of scientific interest, while Gabi, Esteban's wife, awaits their return on a lonely road at the foot of the mountain.

Genre

Drama, Thriller

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Director

Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo

Production Companies

ARTE France Cinéma

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The Night of the Sunflowers Audience Reviews

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
benjamin_lappin A hugely entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable experience, The Night Of The Sunflowers is a Spanish thriller which hallmarks the great traditions of European cinema, where a focus on characters and their interactions with each other is the prime driving force. Set in a secluded and seemingly serene Spanish village "Sunflowers" weaves a sinister tale of mistaken identity, love, hate and murder, which can only be described as compelling viewing. What the director Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo is immediately noted for is his character development within the context of a story. 'Sunflowers' shifts its pace half through way throughout the film from murder intrigue to an entangled web of deceit, but all of this is shown and felt via the superb usage of the varied acting talents at his disposal. Cabezudo knows precisely what he is trying to achieve and does so with an assurance of a director with plentiful more experience, suffice to say his debut is impressive. Shot in a partially non-linear fashion it manages to portray, through chapter-styled segments, how each particular protagonist, and/or antagonist comes to be involved in this situation, providing for a greater well rounded feel and sense of fulfilment come the films finale.What is striking, though, is the theme of fractured relationships which runs vividly and often poignantly throughout the course of the film. The archaeologist and his wife and the untold issues they have who are 'seemingly' brought closer together as the shocking ordeal continues, the police deputy and his wife as he struggles through what he perceives to be a turgid and boring existence, and how he is unable to escape the restrictions imposed by his superior, and father-in-law, in all regards. Not just these, but the dealings of the elderly gentlemen on the outskirts and their eternal war of attrition, and even the title itself carries connotations of opposites being juxtaposed, The "Night" of the "Sun"flowers. The key issue revolves back to a notion of people becoming so infused and becoming so embroiled with their own side-stories, that in turn the key moment of the film is entirely forgotten. What Cabezudo intelligently points out is how we all can become distracted from what is important, that something so explosive came out of initially something so small that it makes you query characters; 'if they had done that', 'if they had done this' it wouldn't have happened. The Night Of The Sunflowers is a frighteningly intelligent, bordering on complex piece of theatre which is cleverly constructed and undoubtedly absorbing upon viewing, that actually gives the audience credit as being somewhat able to put pieces together. It is a truly good Spanish thriller that tackles not only conspiracy and murder, but the people that put themselves into these positions, and allow them to only continue and fester, becoming embroiled in revenge over justice. Whether it be the Sunflowers, roses, tulips or poppies, this is one night worth staying up for.
so hyun cho This film is worth to watch. cause it contains a lot about people's emotions and their reactions when they had a trouble.But for the most of all I really like the elder men's characters such as the police man, and the 2 men who are living in the useless land. their action was really great, especially those two friends who are always arguing each other. They are so cute and wise even though they are lack of power and physical energy.this film consists of quite lots of different stories and the characters in one small place in Spain. Near the San martin station. I am not sure where is it but the scenery of this film's background seems so nice and gives you some pictures of sunshiny Spain. at first the story seems extends a lot from the first story to another story and it also gives you some wondering how those stories gonna be connected. But don't worry, escape from the audience's wondering this film's different stories are quite close and connected in a good logic.This film reminds me one south Korean film that calls as 'Memory of murderer' and one Spanish film that is 'Volver'. That is because of the same item of those films that is especially those film's essential item is girl/woman's sexual harassment. and the way of solution of those films is that they show the whole story in the ending part of the film. They don't show everything in the first part. so that is how they can hold the audiences till the end of the film. and one more thing of this film, that is about the title of this film. the meaning and the nuisance of the concept 'night' is quite 'suspicious'. you don't know what is happening at the night time cause of course it is because of the darkness. So many accidents happen at the night time. and the police man try to find the right answer at the day time when everything is bright. so that is why this film's title has the word, night. and the sunflower is the part of the film's background place. that is quite beautiful and I hope that I could see more of the sunflower but that was only for the just first scene of the film. and I also like the music that is quite part of Spanish culture. I don't know exactly what kind of genre it is. But that music is really fit to that film. what I am talking about is the tango music when the elder man drinking alcohol and reminds his family through the pictures and he turns on the LP music. and the ending scene there is one more music that also feels so good.
kaaber-2 what's with those sunflowers? Well, never mind; The Night of Whatever is a beautiful film despite a slightly uneven plot that permits an aging and brilliantly acted Spanish equivalent of Lieutenant Columbo, LAPD, to dominate the last third of a film otherwise promising to catch a multitude of balls thrown into the air at the outset. "Sunflowers" is related (and can hold a candle) to films like "Crash" and "Babel" by its non-linear narrative and its description of the fatal encounters of hitherto unrelated characters. It's the film's great forte is that we actually get involved with them. The central scene in which an innocent old man is killed by our protagonists who act in the belief that he has brutally raped a young woman is stunning. We are beyond language in this scene - the characters act blindly - an mutely - on the wrong assumptions; a horrible act committed by decent, mistaken people. It may be compared with the gruesome burial of Dan Hedaya in Coen's "Blood Simple". "The Night of the Sunflowers" is definitely worth watching, and a Spanish more-mainstream alternative to Almodóvar.
dylgates I really liked the film and disagree with some of the comments made earlier. Firstly, it's a Spanish movie so I can't see how it can be influenced by A Touch of Evil regarding location. Touch of Evil was set in Mexico. Secondly, I thought the 'silent' killing scene actually made a point about the two worlds that exist in Spain; the city and the countryside. The old farmer was a virtual hermit and barely existed in the modern world as represented by the Cavers. His near silence was mentioned by one of the characters who said that old Cecilio barely speaks.Regarding the ending, I would say that the strongest character was the old Police Officer. Despite his frail appearance, it is clear that his mind is still sharp and he still has a strong moral code - unlike his son-in-law. What I liked about the movie was how the moral conundrum forced the viewer to consider what they would do if placed in such a situation. I don't think the killing would ever be seen as an 'accidental'death. In his anger, the caver attempted to kill the farmer. They entered the house with this intention.Overall, I felt it was a really powerful movie and will surely be remade by Hollywood.