Official Competition
Penélope Cruz is at the top of her game as a filmmaker hired to direct a big-budget Masterpiece.
A rock and a hard place: Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, and Oscar Martínez rehearse their lines
If viewed with a critical eye, this film by the Argentinian team of Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat is far from being a total success. But that doesn't prevent it from offering a great deal of enjoyment. Those who will appreciate it most of all are likely to be film buffs and that's because at heart Official Competition is a satire about the world of cinema. There is also appeal a-plenty in the leading performances since the three star roles are excellently played by talented performers who appreciate that this kind of comedy is all the funnier if it is portrayed straight and without any knowing winks or gestures.
The central idea behind the film is this: an eighty-year-old millionaire (José Luis Gómez) wants to be remembered with respect after his death and plans accordingly. Having first considered the possibility of having a bridge built and named after him, he decides that it would be better still to become known for producing a great film. To that end he requires the film rights to a novel that has won the Nobel Prize, hires an arty award-winning director, Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz), and supports the casting of Felix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) a major movie star and Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez), a revered thespian known for his theatre work. Once this project has been set up, Official Competition follows up with the initial preparations between the director and the actors, the subsequent rehearsals and the ultimate response to the finished film. In the process of sharing all this, Cohn and Duprat have fun at the expense of dominating directors who regard themselves as artists and of actors with notably different approaches to their craft. This leads to observing the vanity of performers and to revelations of just how much further this will go when rivalry manifests itself in unexpected ways.
The satirical tone extends to the plot of the novel being filmed and even to the description by Ivan's wife, Violeta (Pilar Castro), of the popular book that she herself has written. There is a sure touch in much of the detail here: we are invited to believe that Lola was acclaimed for her first film, The Inverted Rain, which was followed by a flop but then by the award-winning Haze (these are perfect titles!). Unexpectedly but enjoyably, Lola is also allowed at least one speech about films which raises genuinely interesting questions. But, for all the potential here, the material is episodic (several individual scenes could stand on their own as sketches) and the lack of a strong plot makes it all the more obvious that the film’s running length of almost two hours is decidedly self-indulgent. Furthermore, when very late on we do get what could be described as a more developed storyline the film oddly changes tone: what had been satire becomes closer to black comedy.
Indeed, there is a sense from time to time (including that final switch of tone) that the filmmakers are dealing with material over which they have slightly lost control. But, whatever the weaknesses, there are plenty of scenes in Official Competition that are delightfully comic and admirers of the leading players (Cruz especially) will find much to enjoy.
Original title: Competencia oficial.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Martínez, José Luis Gómez, Pilar Castro, Manolo Solo, Nagore Aranburu, Irene Escolar, Koldo Olabarri, Juan Grandinetti, Jean Dominikowski.
Dir Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, Pro Jaume Roures, Screenplay Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat and Andrés Duprat, Ph Arnau Valis Colomber, Pro Des Alain Bainée, Ed Alberto del Campo, Music Eduardo Cruz, Costumes Wanda Morales.
The MediaPro Studio-Curzon.
115 mins. Spain/Argentina. 2021. US Rel: 17 June 2022. UK Rel: 26 August 2022. Cert. 15.