Isaki Lacuesta – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

SATURN RETURN – Review by Nadine Whitney

December 2, 2024December 8, 2024 Nadine Whitney Grenada, international oscars, Isaki Lacuesta, Los Planetas, Pol Rodríguez, Saturn Return, shoegaze band, Spanish films, Stéphanie Magnin, Takuro Takeuchi

Spain’s entry to the Academy Awards Saturn Return by Isaki Lacuesta is an imagined ‘biography’ of famed Grenadian indie and shoegaze band Los Planetas. The director is clear in his intention of fiction – using the lyrics of the band to construct the mood and feelings they might have experienced as they were recording their third album in the late 1990s. Few of the characters are given names. They are simply ‘The singer’ (Daniel Ibáñez) or ‘The guitarist’ (Cristalino) or ‘The drummer’ (Mafo): and although they stand in as obvious avatars for their real-life models, the director is crafting a concept film, not a factual one.

Reviews

SATURN RETURN (SEGUNDO PREMIO) – Review by Jennifer Green

September 23, 2024September 23, 2024 Jennifer Green Cristalino, Daniel Ibañez, Granada, International Oscar, Isaki Lacuesta, Los Planetas, Pol Rodríguez, Saturn Return, Segundo Premio, Spanish films, Stéphanie Magnin

Spain’s International Oscar nominee Saturn Return (Segundo Premio) picked up Best Film and Directing awards at the leading Spanish Film Festival of Málaga last May and has been widely praised by Spanish critics. It’s a film packed with local references and a dedication to its city of origin, Granada, and one that also pulls from a long tradition of on-screen representations of rock-n-rollers from well beyond Spain’s borders.