Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Genesis" is a half-hour, 1998 short film written and directed by Spaniard Nacho Cerdà. I watched his film "Aftermath" before this as, according to IMDb, these two belong together. I have to say, "Genesis" is certainly the better of the two, so the director has shown some progress. Sadly, this is only because "Aftermath" is really a very very weak excuse for a film and not because his work here is good. Anyway, I am not too sure if it is a sequel anyway. The only real parallel I can see is that the main character is played by the same actor. Oh yeah and both films don't have any spoken dialog either. But the main character is working in other professions, has a wife in one and a dog in the other and there are just not really that many similarities I believe.This film's biggest strength is probably that it's nicely atmospheric. However, 30 minutes is simply too long for the action depicted in here. 15 max would have been fine. It's a bit of style over substance. A widower mourns the death of his wife and tries to create her out of clay. As you can maybe guess from the title, he is successful in the end after initially there was nothing but a bleeding sculpture. Well. I guess he was already on the right track there. This film got quite some awards recognition, but I wonder why. Cerdà has not been too prolific since 2009, but he has some upcoming projects listed in his body of work, so it seems he is still in the industry. Hopefully these will show further improvement. About this one here, not recommended.

BA_Harrison Perhaps realising that the corpse-humping in Aftermath was going to be impossible to beat in the sickness stakes, or maybe because he just didn't want to risk repeating himself, director Nacho Cerdà's next project after his infamous necrophilia classic was Genesis, a poetic study of grief. With not a single frame of hot cadaver sex in its 30 minutes runtime, it might disappoint the extreme horror fans who loved Aftermath, but those who like their cinematic weirdness to have a distinct art-house flavour, it should be something of a treat. A distraught sculptor, whose wife has died in a car crash, lovingly carves her likeness out of stone. But as he puts the finishing touches to the statue, it begins to bleed. Gradually, the life-size figure of his beloved spouse becomes real flesh and blood, but, as it does so, the sculptor slowly turns to stone. In devoting himself to keeping her memory alive, and by eternally grieving, he ultimately destroys himself (at least that's how I understood it). Once again, Cerdà proves that he is an extremely adept and brave film-maker, who has great control over both his imagery and sound. The visuals are beautiful, the camera movements smooth, and his use of classical music to accompany the drama is brilliant. Genesis is surreal, hypnotic, and dreamlike effort that is open to interpretation, and how much you enjoy it will depend entirely on how well you cope with ambiguous story lines. I enjoyed this film, and applaud Cerdà's willingness to explore new territory, but, to be honest, I preferred his more prevocative and shocking Aftermath (I confess, it's the sick gore-hound in me!). However, I am looking forward to seeing The Abandoned, which he wrote with fellow art-house horror film-maker Karim Hussain, to see how well he handled his first full-length feature.

Coventry When discussing the older works of director Nacho Cerdà, people exclusively always refer to "Aftermath" and never mention "The Awakening" or "Genesis". Okay, admittedly "Aftermath" had the groundbreaking gore and dealt with genuinely shocking subject matter of necrophilia, but "Genesis" is a far superior film and easily one of the most haunting & visually impressive short films I ever saw. Nacho Cerdà here approaches an entirely different aspect of death, namely the difficult process of accepting the loss of a loved one and move on. Due to the melancholic and dramatic themes of this film, it naturally isn't as gross and repulsive as "Aftermath", but instead an intense, harrowing and unforgettable portrait of a man whose mourning process for his departed wife eventually turns against him. Pep Tosar, who also was in "Aftermath", plays a clearly heart-broken husband/artist trying to get over the death of his wife by creating a sculpture that looks exactly like her. Flashbacks and nightmarish sequences indicate, however, that the husband may have been responsible for the car accident his wife died in and the statue soon becomes of flesh and blood while the sculptor's own body turns to stone. The atmosphere of "Genesis" is uniquely grim & saddening, also because there's simply one (or maybe two) characters in the film, one filming location and absolutely no dialogs. Even though it's a terrific film, its playtime of 30 minutes is actually a good thing, because it's incredibly intense. Xavi Gimenez' camera-work is brilliant – there's no other way to put it – and sublimely tasteful and stylish despite the subject matter. Cerdà's direction is perfect, the music is enchanting and the overall ambiance of the film literally sent cold shivers down my spine. Undoubtedly the best project Nacho Cerdà ever achieved, and that includes "Aftermath" and "The Abandoned".

Muncher-2 This movie starts off with home movies of a guy and his family. It is hard to work out what happens afterward, but after about 2/3rds of the movie you begin to realise what is going on. Unlike Aftermath, this one contains no necrophilia which may or may not be a disappointment to some viewers. This one is very hard to follow, but strangely compelling where the guy sacrifices himself for the one he loves, in a less than voluntary way.