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mancanfan wrote on 11/30/2009:

Barry,

I wish to thank you for your recommendations of the other films which you mentioned in your review of, "Little Ashes", which I have not yet seen; nor, have I seen the additional film titles you recommended.

Barry wrote on 11/28/2009:

Wonderful words have already been written here about this stunning film, so I only wish to mention a couple of other films that I have which may interest those who are fascinated by the story and want to build their collection of gay interest cinema. The 1991 Spanish film 'Dali' which was filmed in English is an extraordinary film which also covers his relationship with Lorca and includes his trip to America More good news is that it has the bonus of some very artistic nudity. "The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca - Death in Granada' (1997) is another brilliant Spanish film starring Andy Garcia which covers the abduction and murder of the great gay poet, I can highly recommend both as adjuncts to this beautiful piece.

Amos Lassen wrote on 10/21/2009:

“Little Ashes”
Dali and Lorca
Amos Lassen
“Little Ashes”, a new film from Regent Releasing is the story of pre-Civil War Spain when eccentric and controversial artist Salvador Dali and famed poet, playwright and radical revolutionary Federico Garcia Lorca find both sexual and artistic freedom. Their strong ambitions, their friends and their struggle for love for each other and for Spain give them a bond.
In Madrid in 1922, Spain was teetering on the changes coming to traditional values when jazz, Freud and the avant-garde appeared on the scene. Salvador Dali enrolled at the University in Madrid and was determined to become a great artist His bizarre appearance became noticed by two members of the university’s upper echelon—Federico Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunuel and they took him into their decadent group. As time passed Dali became more and more attracted to Lorca and the three men became the harbingers of modernity. As Lorca grew as a poet, Bunuel left for Paris to find his own artistic success. At that time Dali and Lorca went on vacation to the town of Cadaques where the beautiful surroundings as the warmth of Dali won the poet over and as they shared their deepest and most spiritual thoughts, the two found a new kind of friendship which was more than a meeting of the minds but more of a meeting of the souls. A short while later it became physical and in the eyes of Spanish Catholics, an affront against G-d. When they returned to Madrid, they continued to maintain a secret relationship. When Bunuel comes for a visit, he is shocked and appalled at his friend Lorca and he leaves shocked and does not confront his friend. Dali went to Paris and visited with Bunuel and then returns to Spain with plans to leave both Lorca and Madrid but Lorca has become afraid to lose him but Dali leaves and goes to Paris where he begins work on a film with Bunuel as well as a love affair with a woman, Gala.
Ultimately Lorca is invited to dinner with Dali and Gala as Spain moves to civil war A week later, Lorca was assassinated at the outbreak of the war and Dali realizes all too late that Lorca was his one true love.
“Little Ashes” is a story of forbidden love that changes from a silent longing to a wonderful affair but it ends in rejection, death and disillusionment.
This is an actor’s movie and it is the performances that make it special but it is also a film about integrity and facing oneself. When Lorca finally accepts his own sexuality but it was too late for Dali who chose fame and success over love. The film has all the elements of a good show—humor, emotion and thought and it deals with a special moment in time—about a period of political upheaval and reaction at which time a person experiences personal change. Spain had been controlled by a kind of bourgeois conformism; one remained in the class to which he was born but which surrealism tried to circumvent and subvert. The movie looks at the movement to freedom and then the return to repression. In this, the film is not a conventional period drama because what the men deal with are ideas of modernity.
The film is sensual to watch and there is a kind of magic to the cinematography. The costumes are beautiful and the script is full of emotion, fun and tender beauty. Director Paul Morrison gives us quite a fine movie.

JANORM wrote on 09/18/2009:

I have seen and reviewed many films so far, but this film is one of the most emotional and visual that I have been a witness, about two(2) men's lives. You have all the arena of a love between Dali & Lorca as students. All of its most magnificent and fantastic pairings is portrayed in such a realistic manner. The audience is drawn into their world, in an incredible array of scenes. You have two(2) men which are a dichotomy in themselves yet love each other beyond this real world. Lorca remains true to his ideals for both friends and family, and thereby suffers the ultimate tragedy. Dali is lured by fame and money away from this arena. Dali survives, but spends the rest of his life, fighting an internal war with himself, over the loss of Lorca. Dali's painting and larger than life behaviors represent this turmoil of regret,sorrow, and loneliness. He endured this Hell and in the process gave this world some of its greatest modern abstract art. Lorca in his short life left us a tantalizing glimpse of what he was capable of. The forces that destroyed Lorca have been completely discredited and even reduced to the authoritarian quagmire that they really were.This one film that needs to be added to your collection. THE TRAGEDY OF TRUE LOVE IS ALWAYS WITH US!
NJMJr!