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Little Ashes Review

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 29th, 2009

Littles AshesFor a film about renowned artists, Little Ashes lacks style and imagination, a cumbersome clutter of poorly constructed scenes and amateurish acting.

A bland tale of Salvador Dali’s relationship with Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán) attempts to explore a speculative sexual experimentation during the 20’s, a time for revolution and visionaries.  Their lavish, homoerotic exploits are meant to shed the era’s repressed nature, but are told with little passion or conviction in a wholly pedestrian plot.  The film is simply a paradox of stock storytelling for extraordinary figures.

The presence of Robert Pattinson from Twilight fame only gathers a wider audience for an undeserving work, and the portrait of a tortured artist will only be a torturous affair for his young fans.  Pattinson barely transforms from his vampiric role as a brooding romantic into a brooding painter, forcing a delivery in a fleeting accent and overreacting to his cohorts.  The only thing positive about Pattinson’s performance is the laugh he gets when emerging with Dali’s up-turned mustache.

The actors converse in English and speak in unnatural, lyrical stanzas, as if crafting spontaneous poetry to each rather than engaging in authentic dialogue.  It’s 112-minute run time drags like the clocks of Dali’s “Persistence of Memory” and the character arcs sag all the same.

Paul Morrison’s period drama is tedious and pretentious, a muddy canvas of stiff performances and melodramatic music that inspires nothing but unintentional laughter.  Little Ashes should be scattered over a dumpster.

1 out of 5.

  • tbear674
    I NEVER listen to what critics say about movies. If i had, I never would have seen any movies at all. I distinctly remember bad reviews for Titanic, Star Wars Return of the Jedi, Pretty Woman and reading horrible reviews on Gone With the Wind and Wizard of Oz in old Variety news archives. This movie, made independently was never meant as a blockbuster movie. However, I do believe that Javier Beltran and Robert Pattinson deserve kudos for performing such difficult roles in a limited recording time. Javier is a brilliant actor and Robert is at the beginning of his fame. He may have had some difficult with the accent of Salvador Dali, but without coaching and the fact that he was at the time of the film, just 21, I believe he did wonderfully with such a complicated role. As for some of the critics, go out there and see if YOU can act the parts of these two actors.
  • Zam
    I enjoyed this movie. I can see how some people criticized certain aspects of it, such as those who are actual historians of Dali or Lorca who wanted Lorca's personality and fight for homosexual freedom to be more historically accurate.

    I assumed Robert Pattinson's accent and awkward mannerisms might be an accurate portrayal of the Catalonian artist who was known to be initially shy and eccentric, and to at times employ various accents. A recent review by a Spanish-language film site had only glowing praise for Pattinson's portrayal. http://www.fantasymundo.com/articulos/2197/sin_...

    The cinematography in some scenes was quite beautiful; the movie may not be an artistic epiphany for everyone, but it was still visually appealing and emotionally moving.
  • jeffleins
    I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree, Zam :)
  • gabi54
    Little Ashes was made long before Twilight with no Budged . Get your Fact straight. You sound bias. Give Mr Pattinson a chance to proof himself. In a year he will still be almost every womens secret crush. Even Johnny Depp, Al Pacino ,Brad Pitt ect had Bad Movies. But its nice to see that a 23 year old one can cause so much trouble in the Mens world
  • jeffleins
    I never said anything about the order they were made in, just that Pattinson is of Twilight fame. I'm aware it was made before the series exploded and on a small "budged" (sic). At no point were my facts misaligned.

    Whether or not Pattinson is the "secret crush" of every woman is irrelevant. His performance in this film is what I was writing about and it was comical. Depp and Pitt may be desirable, but they're also solid, proven actors. There's no comparison.

    I'm not surprised by the familiar defense of Pattinson (in fact, I expected more), I just hoped for something a little more original than the same old jealousy comments.
  • Guest
    Sorry, but you do have your facts wrong. You say: "Pattinson barely transforms from his vampiric role as a brooding romantic into a brooding painter," Well, in order for him to transform from a vampire, he would have already had to have played one. Since L.A. was made before he was even cast in Twilight, that would be impossible.

    It's not our fault if you come across sounding petty and jealous. The cinematography for this film is beautiful, the music lush and moving, the accents exactly as the director wanted them (he's spoken about this), and the film looks much richer than the very low budget it had. I thought all the actors acquitted themselves admirably, and although the script may have been too tightly focused on only one aspect of their lives, it was entertaining and held my interest.
  • jeffleins
    "Sorry, but you do have your facts wrong."
    Which was released first: Twilight or Little Ashes? Exactly.

    "It's not our fault if you come across sounding petty and jealous."
    Hilarious.

    "the accents exactly as the director wanted them (he's spoken about this)"
    The director wanted the accents to sound fake and uneven? Perhaps he also WANTED the acting to look like high school drama auditions.
  • Vale
    I haven't read any reviews before watching this film, just because I knew there would be a variety of comments, as it is supposed to be since the subject is such a passage in the life of world known artists, and of course, star of the moment Pattinson is the protagonist (though I haven't seen Twilight yet, so his acting is new to my eyes.). I think the acting was made with sincere effort, but still, it seemed a bit amateur to me. There's really beautiful scenes though. Music was ok, not the best choices at times maybe. Well, i just don't think this movie should be scattered over a dumpster, but it is certainly not one of my favourites.
    (sorry about the bad english)
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