Words: Ash Pritchard

Fans of literature and art no doubt rejoiced when they heard that a full length feature movie was being made focusing on the relationship between famous surrealist Spanish artist Salvadore Dali and his compatriot, the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. Part of a group of creative types who studied at Madrid’s Residencia de Estudiantes in the 1920s and went on to achieve global recognition, Dali and Lorca were rumoured to have had an extremely close and tempestuous relationship, one which is the dramatic engine for the movie Little Ashes.

That such a low-budget art movie has garnered much interest is primarily due to its lead actor. Robert Pattison filmed this movie before Twilight catapulted him to world fame and made him pin up number one for a generation of bed-wetting emo teenagers and their elder single aunts. His first appearance in this film see’s him enter shot with a side-parted bowl haircut and ridiculously ornate lace sleeves. He plays Dali, the eccentric artist who was known as much for his in-your-face antics and dubious sartorial style as his paintings of melting clocks and alien landscapes. As Little Ashes starts however, he is still a young artist, arriving at university unsure of his self and his place in the world.

He is quickly befriended by Lorca (Javier Beltrán), already an acclaimed writer and poet. Much of the opening half hour focuses on the forging of their creative talents in the firmament of the Spanish capital in the turbulent 1920s when an authoritarian dictatorship censored artistic freedom and suppressed dissent with ruthless effecieincy. Their group of friends includes the director and early pioneer of cinema Luis Bernel (Matthew McNulty) and the beautiful Magdelena (Marina Gatell). As they carouse in the bars of Madrid, and upset high class dinners with their boisterous irreverence for the forms of politeness, it soon becomes clear that Lorca has more than mere feelings of friendship for the striking young Dali.

Of course, those aware of Lorca will know that his homosexuality was a hugely influential in his work, and caused him much anguish in the repressed environment of Spain in the first half of the 20th century. Little Ashes is an imagining of an affair with Dali, which ended when the artist moved to Paris and in 1929 met his muse and wife, a Russian women 8 years his senior called Gala (Arly Jover). The film then focuses on the fate of both Dali and Lorca, documenting their successes as they both make their mark in the arts.

Directed by British documentarian and dramatist Paul Morrisson, Little Ashes aims to be an ephemeral biopic that captures the brilliance of Spain’s ‘Silver Age’. However, the slow pace of the action, coupled with dry and uneventful scenes and unisnspired acting makes Little Ashes a chore to watch. The dialogue is not helped by the director insisting that his actors deliver their lines in thick Spanish accents, even native English speakers may need subtitles. The few times the movie does come alive is when Lorca’s poetry is put to use, spoken over a dinner table, or during a montage of countryside shots.

For those fascinated with the subject matter, or delirious at the thought of seeing Robert Pattison take off his clothes on camera, Little Ashes will be a worthwhile purchase. For the rest of us, we may be better off seeking out the latest Pedro Almodóvar movie for our dose of Spanish cinema

Little Ashes in now available on DVD.