Fantastic Fest ’10 – Agnosia Review

Film, Reviews

Director Eugenio Mira is a longtime friend of Fantastic Fest and the Alamo Drafthouse. His first film The Birthday premiered at the very first Fantastic Fest, and it was his actual birthday on opening night of this year’s fest. His latest film Agnosia is being touted as having one of the best screenplays that director Guillermo del Toro has ever read. Mira even introduced the film himself with fest founder Tim League, where he talked enthusiastically about how much he loves Austin and festival week. It was all these things that built Agnosia up to be the film I was most looking forward to.

It’s turn of the century Spain and the Prats family has invented an intricate telescope for use on rifles. During a demonstration, their young daughter Joana falls and hits her head, ultimately causing agnosia. In the commotion, the highly advanced telescope is broken and is never used again.

Years later, Joana is still struggling to perform daily tasks with her condition. She is attended to by a slew of servants, all who have her best interest at heart. But there is one man in Joana’s life determined to use her condition against her, so he can obtain the plans to make the telescope against Joana’s father’s wishes. The other man in Joana’s life is trying to protect her, but is he?

According to Wikipedia (the most obvious place to look for a definition), agnosia is the loss of ability to recognize sounds, shapes, objects, persons. Joana’s is visual in nature, and she sees mostly light fragments. Nothing she sees is certain, and that include the two men in her life.

The film is beautifully shot, when it takes place outside. Unfortunately the bulk of the film takes place among the corridors inside the castle where Joana resides. The actors are great, but when the two men in Joana’s life are dressed the same, with the same haircuts and the same facial hair. Perhaps this was intentional on Mira’s part, for the audience to be just as confused as Joana. We experience our own form of agnosia while we try to decipher every visual that is thrown at us.

The pacing also suffers, as the film tries to be a romance and a thriller. There are scenes that go on for far too long, and there are also several false endings. The run time is only about an hour and a half, but it feels like it could be twice as long. With a screenplay by Antonio Trashorras (who gave us The Devil’s Backbone) and such a strong endorsement by Guillermo del Toro, you might expect more from Agnosia. The film is ambitious, I have to give Mira credit for that, but it’s not very entertaining.


Director: Eugenio Mira
Notable Cast: Eduardo Noriega, Barbara Goenaga, Felix Gomez
Writer(s): Antonio Trashorras

Jenny is proud to be the First Lady of Inside Pulse Movies. She gives female and mommy perspective, and has two kids who help with rating family movies. (If they don't like 'em, what's the point?) She prefers horror movies to chick flicks, and she can easily hang with the guys as long as there are several frou-frou girlie drinks to be had.