Akademik

(1967- )

   Catalan filmmaker Cesc Gay's short career as writer-director shows evidence of an independent outlook with a keen eye for human behavior. His film debut Hotel Room (1998) was a fragmented narrative, consisting of five off-beat situations. It was co-directed with Daniel Bimelberg. Krámpack (Nico and Dani, 2000), about two boys who spend a few days together in a Catalan holiday town, was a dead-pan coming-of-age story that combined observation with humor. While Nico explores heterosexuality and falls in love, Dani is surprised to find that his feelings for his best friend go deeper than camaraderie. Gay took inspiration (in tone and a couple of situations) from a successful stage play, but completely transformed it into an engaging narrative brimming with witty dialogues.

   Gay's next effort was more ambitious and even more substantial. En la ciutat (In the City, 2003) was a wry network narrative about a group of friends who live in Barcelona. The director keeps his distance as he shows them lying, falling in love, cheating, and repressing emotions, and the result was a complex look at the ways in which people stay together. Eduard Fernández, who gave a superb performance as a man unable to express his emotions, led a very strong cast which included Leonor Watling, Mónica López, María Pujalte, and Vicenta N'Dongo. Less successful, Ficció (Fiction, 2006) took some of the characters of En la ciutat to a remote village in the mountains where a film director and a young violinist consider having an affair. Eduard Fernández starred in a similar part as an emotionally blocked man. Featuring a vague narrative in which almost nothing happens, the film divided audiences.

   Historical Dictionary of Spanish Cinema by Alberto Mira