The battle of the sexes sits at the centre of the star-studded A Gun in Each Hand (Una pistola en cada mano), a light-hearted comedy concerned with the shifting role of masculinity. In six intertwined tales of romance and relationships, men line up the life of their dreams in their sights, only for an errant word or act to force them to stare down the barrel of failure. The source of their unravelling is intimated in the phallic weaponry of the film’s title.
Identified only by first initials by writer/director Cesc Gay (V.O.S.) and his co-scribe Tomàs Aragay (his collaborator on 2006’s Fiction), the hapless gents are bound by their bonds to women; their favoured femmes, in the position of power, earn the recognition of their full names. Accordingly, the feature is obvious in its posturing on shrinking manhood and dwindling male identity, with autonomy and authority decreasing in deference to the fairer sex.
Each story emphasizes the point, spanning the tragic and comic ends of the spectrum. Old pals E (Eduard Fernández, The Skin I Live In) and J (Leonardo Sbaraglia, Red Lights) reunite, only to relate tales of women troubles that have plagued their years apart. S (Javier Camara, I’m So Excited) wallows in amorous misery when he sees his ex-wife Elena (Clara Segura, Julia’s Eyes), her happiness outside their marriage at odds with his separation anxiety.
G (Ricardo Darin, Chinese Take-Away) finds L (Luis Tosar, Sleep Tight) more than a passing acquaintance in his efforts to uncover his wife’s adultery. P (Eduardo Noriega, Vantage Point) finally asks out his colleague Mamen (Candela Peña, The Island Inside), however his courage goes unrewarded. Friends M (Jordi Mollà, Colombiana) and A (Alberto San Juan, La montaña rusa) share marital disharmonies, unburdening their secrets upon each other’s spouses (If I Were You’s Leonor Watling and Amor idiota’s Cayetana Guillén Cuervo).
Given the anthology structure of the film, each chance-driven, real-time-set scenario is brief but biting in its statement on society. Gay and Aragay demonstrate wit in their dialogue as the men attempt to avoid their problems, and wisdom in the recognition of communal helplessness and uncertainty. Indeed, with conversation the key in each vignette, it is the feature’s perceptive way with words that shines. Each clever chat canvasses the gamut of emotions without feeling forced or inauthentic, aided by energetic and empathetic performances from the cast of well-known veterans.
Handsome imagery by Gay’s regular cinematographer Andreu Rebés adds cinematic sheen to the bittersweet skewering of contemporary couples, making the most of the single-setting scenarios. Though there’s minimalism to the technical production, it aptly mirrors the slightness of the content; the end product, though simple in design and execution, surprises in the thoughtfulness that mostly rises above its modest form.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
A Gun in Each Hand (Una pistola en cada mano)
Director: Cesc Gay
Spain, 2012, 95 mins
Spanish Film Festival
Melbourne: 12 – 26 June
Perth: 12 – 23 June
Brisbane: 13 – 23 June
Adelaide: 13 – 23 June
Canberra: 18 – 26 June
Sydney: 19 – 3 June
Byron Bay: 20 – 26 June
http://www.spanishfilmfestival.com/
Distributor: Palace
In general release: 4 July
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