FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

In 1937, right in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, an amateur magician and filmmaker came to the Sant Julia orphanage every Sunday to entertain the young kids. At first, he would perform tricks and show movies from his personal collection. Then they decided to make their own movie, “Imitating the Fakir,” with the entire cast made up of orphaned boys and girls. Now, nearly seventy years later, a few of the surviving cast members gather together at the school to reminisce about the movie and what life was like for them during this troubled time.

Or at least that’s the premise initially presented to us. After a while though, the movie, like a small child, wanders off in various directions forcing us to go places that we weren’t really looking to go. The only problem is that first time filmmakers Elisabet Cabeza and Esteve Riambau don’t discipline the child when it goes astray. Not even so much as a threat of turning the car around and heading right back to the orphanage. No, instead we get bounced around from the interesting stuff about the film and the octogenarians’ lives to the mildly interesting, yet not always fully appropriate history of the school and events of the civil war, to the wild tangent about Cabeza’s late father who was also a kid in the film and how she got to feel closure, etc.

It felt very strange that the filmmaker got an audible voice, especially since it came out of left field so late in the picture. She could have made it more personal and told the story about trying to learn about who her father was, since she never got to know him. Or at the very least allow some of the other children of the stars talk about their reactions and/or their relationships with these now grown up orphans. As for the civil war history, it was good to hear, but didn’t really fit in with the tone of the rest of the film. It certainly doesn’t fit with the overly childish and cartoony score. I’m sure the topic is more appealing and more understandable to history buffs and native Spaniards. Even though it was interesting to hear about the history of the school and certain details about the war itself, I couldn’t help but think that far too much time was spent away from what should have been the main focus – “Imitating the Fakir.”

When it is on track, the movie is still only average. They do a good job of not only using transitions, but they also use the original film’s footage to help reinforce what the men are saying in their interviews. The filmmakers also try to recreate a couple shots using both the old men and a new crop of students that are currently attending the school. Speaking of them, about two-thirds through the picture, they cut back to this new generation of students as they watch this little bit of history unfold before their eyes, and you can see the pained, bored expressions on their face. I wonder if subconsciously the filmmakers were telling us that they know how we feel.

It’s fun to hear the old men and women reminisce, but there could have been more to it. The movie needed a sharper focus and clear direction, instead of the disjointed dangling mess of a story it became. Hints of decent filmmaking and occasionally fun interviews aren’t enough to make up for trying to cram three documentaries into one. They should sit in the corner and think about what they did wrong.

respond to jon@filmbrats.com