DVD of the Week

Little Ashes.
Rated R.

Forbidden love is a heavy subject. It's an old one too. Shakespeare wrote about it. I write about it. The subject never tires. It lives and it breathes from generation to generation, sex to sex, and age to age. It reeks, it heals, it hurts, it comes and goes fast and slow. It's a messy thing.

Many years ago, the famous Spanish writer Federico García Lorca fell madly in love with surrealist painter extrodinaire Salvador Dalí. The two met in college and began a close-knit friendship that moved to admiration and finally adoration, but unfortunately the two never saw eye to eye. Federico was more aggressive. It was clear and obvious that he loved Salvador but Salvador moved with reservation. Was he gay? Was he bisexual? Was he curious? These questions plagued the two of them and as the story unfolds, we see what inspired the two to create magnificent pieces of art.

The arts became their life and love was a bona fide muse.

I've always known that heartbreak makes an artist. Some time ago, someone asked me: "what motivates you to write? what inspires you?" My answer? Pain. Love lost. Anguish. Simple sorrows that feel too big to handle but really aren't in the grand scheme of things. It is true. A person becomes quite boring when he is completely full and happy every second. He dies inside. We've got to struggle forever to be worth anything.

These men struggled. They fought, they loved, they tried so hard to create art. It's like watching magic move about. Who knows if the movie precisely parallels the lives of these two vibrant geniuses. What biopic is ever exact anyway? Still, it's a moving piece based on a very interesting story. I could go on about this film but I'm afraid of ruining anything for you. See it.

You'll be surprised to see how great an actor Robert Pattinson really is. He earns high praise. You forget about his Twilight role. He's moving as Salvador Dalí. Spanish hottie Javier Beltrán is heartbreaking as Federico García Lorca. Live and learn, people.

If you've ever loved -- from deep within the guts of you -- you'll like this film. If you're the anti-lover, you'll still find something interesting here as well. There's a great deal of political happenings going on throughout the film, political dealings which becomes a huge part of Federico's untimely demise. People perish for the most amazing causes, even when it isn't wholly on purpose.

- [click for trailer.]