oscar@utcsrgv.UUCP (Oscar M. Nierstrasz) (05/10/84)
Demons in the Garden (Aragon, Manuel Gutierrez; Spain; 1982; 125m) Very pleasant, off-beat film with some nice surrealist touches. Two brothers in a comfortably-off Spanish family are constantly at odds. Although it is the older brother who marries Ana, a beautiful young woman, it is with the younger brother, Juan, that sparks evidently fly. Juan leaves at Ana's request, but not before impregnating Angela, another beauty the family has taken in. Juan mingles with the elite in Madrid and racks up huge bills, while Angela raises Juanito in a mountain cottage where the family's black-market goods are hidden. The story really starts when grandma wants to take Juanito back to the village to live with the family. A synopsis of the film reveals very little since the plot serves mostly as a vehicle for a lot of vignettes involving members of the family. The inevitable comparison to draw is with the films of Bunuel, though `Demons' is not nearly as off-the-wall as the best of Bunuel. Furthermore, Aragon has no real axes to grind, no icons to smash -- he pokes fun at people's hypocrisy and corruption, but does not (for example) skewer the Catholic church or the Spanish government (as Bunuel did). In fairness, though, `Demons' does not pretend to be more than what it is: a clever and entertaining piece about a family of oddballs who can't quite seem to get things together. Very enjoyable. Oscar Nierstrasz