Sud Express

A portmanteau picture about the new Europe pegged to the express train running between Paris and Lisbon, Velázquez and de la Peña’s film traverses geographical and linguistic borders with ease but offers glimpses of lives characterised by regret or destined for disillusionment. The strands are of varying interest with the strongest revolving around Mili, a big-mouthed young Lisbon chancer who casts the Futuroscope theme park as Utopia, and middle-agedTino, who bickers with his brother while pining for a long-lost sweetheart. Pretty natural light contrasts with choppy, handheld compositions and jump-cuts that offer a plausible sense of time passing.