Two young lovers embark on a relationship while a rumor of sharks at the beach has everyone talking.
How similar are the sharks threatening the livelihood of a small Ecuadorian coastal resort and the fourteen-year-old girl just discovering the first sexual stirrings of puberty? Land Shark or Jaws? Which is most troubling?
Lucia Garibaldi both wrote the screenplay and directed “The Sharks.” Her efforts were rewarded with the Sundance Film Festival International Director’s Award as well as similar recognitions from various other film festivals. The accolades are well earned.
“The Sharks” centers around the sexual awakening of a young girl, Rosina (Romina Bentancur), who lives with her family in semi poverty in a small resort village on the coast of Ecuador. Ms. Bentancur, in her first film appearance, is perfect in her portrayal of a girl who has little to say in words but conveys much with her looks and behavior. Her emerging interest in the opposite sex centers on Joselo, a young boy who works for her father. Federico Morosini captures the essence of a boy/man whose main understanding of a relationship is sex, period.
While Rosina circles her prey in the only ways she knows how, her attempts to catch his attention are embarrassingly childish. Her knowledge of sex comes offhandedly from older girls whose conversations she catches only sitting on the fringe of their group while waiting for her sister. And I hate to admit it but watching her futile attempts to “flirt” made me uncomfortable, recalling my own experiences trying to catch the eye of The One. Make way for “Land Shark.”
“Jaws,” on the other hand, makes a debut in the first scenes of the film as Rosina comes out of the ocean with the definite feeling there was a shark nearby. And, actually, that fact is confirmed at that point to the audience. Like in the film “Jaws,” when the residents of the village find evidence of sharks in their waters, they fear the predators will keep tourists away in the coming summer season and businesses will suffer greatly. There Garibaldi sets the hook. Sharks are natural creatures whose home is in the ocean and they feed where there is food. But what is “natural” can also damage, just as male/female sexual attraction is natural, it can also hurt.
The film uses the openness of the seashore and contrasts it with the confinement felt in the interior house scenes. The action is purposefully drawn out, reminding the audience of the slow circling of a shark in the ocean. And dialogue is scant. The “story” unfolds slowly and sparsely. There are lots of close-ups of faces, backs, necks, etc. where no dialogue unfolds. Looks and camera shots slide the action out slowly but purposefully, with nothing unnecessary in the way.
The film is never tedious but scenes are often too drawn out to keep interest going. There are incidents with no explanations that beg elucidation. It is in Spanish with English subtitles. And there is little real “action.” It is a very quiet film about a girl and her village and sharks.
Now available on VOD and on DVD April 28th
