Nada + (aka Nothing More, 2001, Cuba)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: B-
Nada+ (2001) could have been a gimmicky disaster, a
comedy from Cuba shot in black and white (or something close enough to it) with
touches of color throughout. We have
seen this kind of thing in old Music Videos like that of Elton John’s Sad
Songs Say So Much (1984) which itself was a jeans ad at the same time. Instead, we get an amusing, if not outright
hilarious send up of Communist bureaucracy as postal worker Carla (Thais
Valdes) is simply trying to get a visa.
Of course, this is going to take a long time and she has
been getting bored to begin withy, so she starts tampering with private mail by
adding to various letters in her extensive spare time. That is not helping anyone, which is a bad
thing until what she writes starts making all those who get her special
“alterations” very happy. Craziness all
around ensues.
A part of First Run features releases in the Global Lens
series, discovering new cinema around the world, the choosings have been
interesting if not always phenomenally successful and had Nada+ been
American or French-made, it would have been a disaster. Instead, director Juan Carlos Cremata
Malberti (who co-wrote the screenplay with Manolito Rodriguez) shows great
restraint, which makes the comedy work better.
Running 88 minutes, it is just long enough and does not wear out its
welcome. It may not be a comedy for
everyone, but it is smart funny and you will have to see for yourself to see how
funny. For all the bad Hollywood
comedies that get made, why not give this one a chance?
The anamorphically enhanced 1.66 x 1 monochrome image was
shot by Raul Rodriguez Cabrera and looks decent, yet from digitizing to add
color has lost fine detail and is soft throughout. This was shot in 35mm film, so it looks better than if it were
all digital High Definition. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo has little in the way of surrounds, but was a Dolby SR
theatrical release, though only a lone Dolby logo with no specification was
included in the credits. Extras include
trailers for four other First Run titles, Global Lens 2005 trailer,
multi-section text on the Global Film Initiative & on ten titles that are a
part of it, director biography and a stills gallery.
- Nicholas Sheffo
