Customer Reviews

Benditio Infierno

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie was an absolute delight. The dialogue between the angels and demons is witty and insightful. All the actors fit, and interact with punch, physically and emotionally -- girls with boxing gloves, yes! The sets and camera work are inspired fun, from tight views in a grocery store to expansive views of a heavenly night club, sexy torch singer and all. Even the movement from Spanish to English and back pushes the universality of the theme. What a wickedly comic view of good (and evil). I can't wait to share this visionary film. If you find it hard to follow, speed up your thinking, man.

I love this movie. I've watched it many times. It's complicated. It's probably not until the near end that the viewer figures out what the heck is going on, but it's an eye twitcher. I have watched it multiple times. For me, this is what lets me know it's a good movie. I don't like simple, predictable plots. I like to be challenged to think and this movie challenged me. That's not to mean it's "sketchy". I think it means that the characters have deminsion to them and are complicated. Equally complicated is how they interconnect with each other.

Victoria Abril, Penelope Cruz and Gael Garcia Bernal are excellent.

I have to confess that when this was first released on DVD in 2001 as Don't Tempt Me (a worse title than Bendito Infiermo, which in turn is not as good at the original Spanish title of Sin Noticias De Dios, Without News From God) I wrote a 5 star review for it. Having watched it multiple times in the intervening years and having just finished watching it again I have no ethical problem reviewing it again for the more recent edition. (In fact, when I popped it in the old multi-region player - I had gotten the DVD from Spain before the first US edition came out - I hadn't even known there was a still more recent DVD edition out here.)

This is a pretty dark dark comedy and a few scenes are quite serious. It's sexy, with great cinematography and wonderful acting. Victoria Abril is radiant. Penelope Cruz is particularly outstanding, especially if, for your first viewing, you haven't read the spoilers which abound in the reviews for this newer edition.

You can easily just watch it and enjoy it or engage with its ideas on good and evil. After all, it does have scenes set in heaven, hell, and Madrid; angels, demons, and humans; and heavenly and hellish bureaucrats but it isn't heavy-handed and doesn't in any way force you you work.

One of my favorite movies from the last decade.

This movie isn't bad. It's much better than an average 3 star rating but not a 5 star work of perfection either. Some things were a bit annoying to me. For example, I don't know why we had to switch from Spanish, to French to English and back again. It should have been completely in Spanish. So far I can't see the value of using three different languages, it's just an unnecessary complication.

I eventually understood that Heaven was a place for black and white 40's/50's glamor. However, for a moment I was a bit confused in the beginning. Things unfold as the movie carries along so if you're confused just stick with it and it starts to unfold and you'll understand as you go along.

Great item. The whole transaction was easy, fast and professional. Product even better than described. NO SCRATCHES, NO DINGS PERFECT!!!

The plot was good. The acting was not. Difficult to get through, took me three tries.