Twilight News

Hello Twilighters,

I found my review of Little Ashes unpublished on the site.  I thought I had posted it, but better late than never, right?  Be aware of spoilers below!

I was lucky enough to see Little Ashes during the Raindance Film Festival here in London.  And I must say it is absolutely heartbreaking.  Spanish actor Javier Beltran plays the passionate and enamored Lorca beautifully and London born Robert Pattinson brings Dalí’s humour and eccentricity everything it deserves.

Titled after a Dalí painting, the film portrays the rumoured love affair between young Catalan surrealist painter Salvador Dalí (one of my all time favourite artists) and Federico García Lorca (the Spanish poet and dramatist).  

Set during the tumultuous time of Madrid in the 20s the film opens with the arrival of then 18 year old Dalí at the Residencia de Estudiantes.  Dalí’s cubist paintings and eccentricities catch the attention of the other artists and he soon grows close to Luis Buñuel and Federico García Lorca.  Despite the cultural and political stresses of the time, the Bohemian lifestyle is flourishing and the three friends are determined to break limits and barriers, essentially defining modernism.  

Throughout these artistic collaborations Dalí grows exceptionally close to Lorca in both the artistic and physical sense.  An outstanding scene for me was when their relationship finally crosses the platonic barrier during a midnight swim which takes place by moonlight.  The scene is shot in such a way as to add a divinely ‘Dalí-esque’ surrealism to the film.  There is an obvious mutual passion between Dalí and Lorca for both their art and for each other.  Dalí has trouble consummating the relationship and Pattinson portrays his suffering in a very raw and real way.

Watching the tormented lovers is painful and frustrating, as it should be.  You truly feel for both characters.  Lorca’s forbidden sexuality and Dalí’s hang-ups with physicality in general lead to a very emotional scene where the attraction is displaced to a third party, a woman hopelessly in love with homosexual Lorca.  Dalí is present as a voyeur.  The essence and power present in this scene are unforgettable left me feeling incredibly haunted.

When the artists go their separate ways you do feel a sense of betrayal and a melacholia that sticks with both of them as they carry on their pursuits.  When, in later life, Lorca visits Dalí, the mask that was forged by Dalí in the voyeur scene is still present and has grown grotesquely bizarre.  Dalí hides behind this mask, behind his outrageous successes and his indulgent wife but his need for Lorca and what they were together is visible and trembling just beneath the surface.  He is convinced Lorca has come back to him to collaborate once more and Lorca’s rejection is crushing.  You can feel the disillusionment, sorrow and regret.

The devastation of the end (we all know Lorca’s fate but I don’t want to give too much away) is incredibly well represented in Dalí’s studio through his impassioned painting and leaves the viewer undoubtedly affected by his madness and grief.  I found it to be an emotional and an overwhelmingly beautiful film.  I look forward to seeing it again and strongly urge you to keep an eye out for it.

Sanguina x