Review of Asfalto

Asfalto (2000)
7/10
Acceptable thriller filled with surprises , drama , twists , pursuits and being efficiently realized
7 March 2016
Moving thriller filled with intense drama , nail-biting action , car crash , a love story and swiftly paced . This exciting movie contains thrills , noisy action , intrigue , spectacular final crashing and a triangular love story . Stirring movie results to be a nice yarn well set in a sun-drenched big city , Madrid . In fact , filmmaker Daniel Calparsoro dedicated this movie , ¨Asfalto¨ , to ¨Madrid¨ . It deals with three young and desperate inhabitants of this metropolis , Lucía (Najwa Nimri), a beautiful woman of longs legs torn between two lovers : Charly (Juan Diego Botto) and Chino (Gustavo Salmerón) . This trio must scramble a lot of twisted relations , risks , dangers and violence . They are a bunch of cunning delinquents as well as drug dealers . At the beginning Lucia and Chino are an offbeat couple . After that , Lucia and Charly fall in love and there takes place the classical loving triangle . But Lucia loves the two young men , then it occurs a particular and outlandish threesome . Meantime , they carry out swindles , dope selling and dealing with an entire corrupt underclass (Rubén Ochandiano , Roger Ibáñez , Javier Nogueiras) . They try to rise above their circumstances by any means available to them . As while Lucia seduces her victim the Francés (Bigot) ; Chino and his colleague enter his house , and they come in to steal from him . Chino has an abusive older brother , Antonio , who attempts to apart him from them . But things go wrong and their hasty schemes become derailed when there appear Lucia's demanding mother (Antonia San Juan) and Chino's brother (Alfredo Villa) and the happenings lead to unexpected consequences .

This is a thrilling narration of friendship , comradeship , love , delinquency , and drug dealers with exceptionally fine camera work , attractive sequences and ending crashes on the metropolitan streets , in Madrid's Gran Via . The picture mingles action-packed , drama , exciting pursuits , suspense , a little bit of sexual images and spectacular sequences though won't mean much on little screen TV . This peculiar as well as tight-knit trio , Salmeron-Najwa-Diego Botto , are the real stars of this movie . Pulse-quickening thriller movie but plenty of clichés and lots of violence , including punches , slaps , heavy blows , kick-ass and bloody shooting . Other chief excitements about the picture , will be in the intervention of a good plethora of Spanish actors who realize professionally competent interpretations such as Alfredo Villa as his cop brother Antonio , Antonia San Juan as authoritarian matriarch and Rubén Ochandiano as a druggie .

Colorful and appropriate cinematography by Joseph M. Civit . Josep M Civit is one of the best Spanish cameramen , as he has demonstrated in "The Hidden Face" , ¨Shiver¨, ¨Warriors¨ , ¨The Absent" ,¨Anguish¨ and many others . Exciting as well as pulsating musical score by Nacho Mastretta and Najwajean-Najwa Nimri . This is another superbly powerful thriller movie being compellingly directed Daniel Calparsoro , the filmmaking is competent though the story eventually run out of gas . It was well realized by Calparsoro in similar vein to his subsequent films as ¨Invasor¨ , another splendid thriller mostly set in Irak war . His best film was ¨Warriors¨ or ¨Guerreros¨ , another warlike film brilliantly made by Daniel and dealing with ¨Kosovo¨ war . Daniel was raised in Donostia , for that reason most films are set in Basque country . Daniel uses to work with his spouses , as his first wife , Najawa Nimri composes his scores and played in ¨Salto a Vacio¨ , ¨Pasajes¨ , ¨Asfalto¨ , ¨A Ciegas¨ ; and his second one , Patricia Vico , performed in ¨La Ira¨ . Calparsoro is an expert on action and violent dramas , such as : 2013 ¨Combustion¨ starred by Alex Gonzalez and Alberto Amman , 2012 ¨Invasor¨ also starred by Albert Ammann , 2005 ¨Ausentes¨ , 2000 ¨Asfalto¨ , 1997 ¨A Ciegas¨ , 1996 ¨Pasajes¨ , 1995 ¨Salto a Vacío¨ . Furthermore , he has realized TV series and episodes such as ¨Inocentes¨, ¨Apaches¨ , ¨La Ira¨, ¨El Castigo¨. His last one (2016) results to be ¨100 Años De Perdón¨ with all-star-cast as Luis Tosar , Jose Coronado , Raul Arevalo and his wife Patricia Vico . This flick , ¨Asphalt¨ , will appeal to adrenaline lovers and those young people looking for strong emotions . This is the kind of film in which the thriller enthusiasts will enjoy immensely , it's a must see .
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