Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Unconscious (2004)
Director: Joaquín Oristrell
Movie review
From Time Out London
A slapstick comedy revolving around a wife’s search for her missing psychoanalyst husband set in 1913 Barcelona, ‘Unconscious’ probably inaugurates a new genre: the period Freudian farce. It might be some time before another entry in the cycle, so we should be thankful for the wit and style of Joaquín Oristrell’s film. When pioneering head doctor, and Freud disciple, Leon goes missing, his young wife Alma joins forces with Leon’s reluctant colleague Salvador to hunt him down. Cue a detective trail through the Gaudi splendour of turn-of-the-last-century Barcelona that involves a painful encounter with a silent porn star, family scandal and a cameo from Dr Freud himself (who delivers the film’s best punchline). The film is too lightweight to reveal any hidden depths under sustained analysis and some of the humour is obvious, like the Alzheimer’s specialist who keeps forgetting things. But there’s plenty to enjoy, including Oristrell’s droll, knowing script and the fast-paced patter of Leonar Watling as Alma and Luis Tosar as Salvador, whose many pratfalls might be considered another variation on the Freudian slip.Author: Edward Lawrenson
Time Out London Issue 1882: September 13-20 2006
Cast & crew
Director: Joaquín Oristrell
Cast: Leonor Watling, Luis Tosar, Alex Brendemühl, Mercedes Sampietro, Núria Prims, Ana Rayo, Juanjo Puigcorbé, Marieta Orozco, Cristina Solano full cast
Duration: 100 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now