Customer Reviews

The Bottom of the Sea

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Quirky, and suspenseful, Damian Szifron's THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (Home Vision Entertainment) is also a darkly comic riff that follows soulful, handsome Ezequiel, an obsessively jealous aspiring architect as he stalks his pretty girlfriend Ana's older, secret lover during one fateful night.

The unease and sense of danger never let up as Ezequiel's sometimes funny but increasingly bizarre and violent behavior against his girlfriend's unsuspecting lover escalates.

It's never really clear just who to root for: Ezequiel, the unfaithful Ana or her very mysterious, secret lover. As clues mount regarding Ana's secret lover, you hope they are red herrings.

I wanted a surprise ending that it's all a misunderstanding and the young couple will get back together; or perhaps Ana and the older man are perfect for each other and crazy Ezequiel will be exposed as a dangerous nut case and arrested before he kills someone.

The tension is centered on what's what and who's who as our fears and hopes are pressed together with an unexpected climax that is weirdly satisfying.

This slick, clever thriller from Argentina is handsomely mounted with good-looking actors that are easy on the eye.

I enjoyed this film very much. There is a great deal of Argentine "soul" underneath the surface of this tightly-plotted thriller. The film is dark and deep (hence "The Bottom of the Sea") and so is Daniel Hendler's Ezequiel. His bumbling trip home immediately had me rooting for this underdog. There is rage and violence beneath the surface. Ezequiel's attempts to extract revenge against the man he discovered under his girlfriend's bed in the apartment they share together, come close to black comedy. The older lover, Anibal, is a man-you-love-to-hate type, but the unexpected violence of the avenger introduces complications.
The octopus motif, established near the beginning, continues throughout the film, but mainly by music associated with the creature when Ezequiel first sees him on TV. While our hero is pursuing his enemy, feelings and expectations we have learned from many film genres enrich the plot: the pursuing avenger, the dogged detective, the jilted lover, the love triangle, and the thriller.
Be sure to view the scene dropped from the film if you have it on your DVD. It underlines the doppelganger idea of pursuer/pursued that occurs in many detective stories. While quite funny, it's pretty clear that the film is better for its deletion.