Falling Star

This self-consciously off-kilter Spanish film blends a gaudy historical costume drama sensibility with erotic postmodern fantasy, straddling the line between adventurously risqué and simply crass and pretentious. The history part is straightforward enough: in the mid-19th century, newly-crowned Spanish king Amadeo (Àlex Brendemühl) arrives at his castle, only to be greeted with indifference by his staff and ministers, who soon tell him that he is unpopular with the Spanish people (read: ripe for assassination), and that he must keep a low profile, which basically amounts to staying indoors. It soon becomes apparent that this is not BBC Masterpiece territory: one of the king's aides is inexplicably shown having intercourse with a piece of fruit; another servant obsessively shaves his pubic hair. Falling Star then increasingly becomes a tedious answer to the question: what does a king and his court do when they're forced to live the lives of perpetual homebodies? Before long, the king's aides are sleeping with one another, and the king is bonking his illiterate and lusty maid, among other sexual escapades (all depicted with a fair amount of art-house nudity). To his credit, director Luis Miñarro has crafted a gorgeous-looking film, with strikingly colorful mise en scene displayed throughout, but there is little narrative substance (or historical interest) to match his über-sophisticated visual tastes. Optional. (M. Sandlin)