Little Ashes

Robert Pattinson, the brooding young vampire in the Twilight franchise, plays flamboyant Spanish artist Salvador Dalí in director Paul Morrison's speculative biographical film about the young painter's supposedly fiery relationship with poet Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán), who was executed during the Spanish Civil War. When 18-year-old Dalí arrives at a Madrid boarding school, he immediately catches the eye of García Lorca, becoming a member of a circle that includes avant-garde filmmaker Luis Buñuel (Matthew McNulty), a rabid homophobe who fumes as his friends move into forbidden sexual territory. At first, Little Ashes feels like one of those stilted gay coming-of-age stories, replete with sideways glances, sunlit bike rides, and gambols on the beach. But the focus shifts when Dalí decamps to France and becomes a self-aggrandizing darling of the art world, while García Lorca emerges as a champion of the socialist republic. Unfortunately, this later period finds the film veering completely out of control—largely because of Pattinson's embarrassing turn as the older Dalí: he never seems more than an uncomfortable young man trying to hide behind a fake moustache and a striped suit too large for him. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras include interviews with director Paul Morrison (16 min.), writer Philippa Goslett (9 min.), and costars Matthew McNulty (14 min.) and Marina Gatell (8 min.), as well as trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)