THE PEOPLE UPSTAIRS
****
Director: Cesc Gay
Screenplay: Cesc Gay
Principal cast:
Javier Cámara
Belén Cuesta
Alberto San Juan
Griselda Siciliani
Country: Spain
Classification: M
Runtime: 82 mins.
Australian release date: 11 February 2021.
The People Upstairs is an acerbic comedy about a couple going through a mid-marriage crisis, directed and written by Cesc Gay. Lovers of Spanish cinema will know Gay’s work from A Gun In Each Hand in 2013 and Truman a couple of years later. Here, he is mining similar ground to that covered in those titles, namely, people who have reached a crisis point in their middle-age. A tight four-hander, the setting is a lovely apartment in Barcelona and the film opens with a caustic (and sarcastic) conversation between a couple, Julio (Javier Cámara), and his wife Ana (Belén Cuesta). They have been together for over 15 years but, as often happens, their relationship has dissolved into one that conforms to the adage that ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ and they haven’t had sex for a year or so.
When Julio arrives home from work, he finds Ana preparing food for a drinks party that she has organised, without informing him, for the slightly younger, attractive couple who live upstairs, Salva (Alberto San Juan) and Laura (Griselda Siciliani). Julio threatens to tell the neighbours that he and Ana are regularly disturbed by the noise of their love-making in order to get Ana to cancel the soirée, but he is too late and the doorbell rings. It transpires that Salva and Laura broach the subject first, and they awkwardly apologise for the passionate noises emanating from their apartment. It turns out that they are ‘swingers’ and it is some of their partners who are responsible for the moanin’ and groanin’. The ensuing conversation gets more intense as the two couples begin to open up and, as the evening progresses, an unusual offer forces Julio and Ana’s different personalities to emerge. They argue frequently and the knowledge that people in close proximity to them are having joyous, guilt-free sex only exacerbates the lack of amor in their own relationship. As the evening continues, more wine is consumed and more truths are revealed.
At a lean 82 minutes, Gay’s script is nearly faultless and succeeds in presenting this unusual scenario in a witty and intelligent way. It is often very funny, too. The People Upstairs is surprisingly frank in its examination of the barriers that exist when discussing non-conventional approaches to sex and the ennui that affects some long-term unions. The performances from the foursome are pitch perfect. Javier Cámara will be a familiar face to many (he featured in both the above-mentioned Gay films) and he’s in excellent form here as a man whose disappointment with his life has made him bitter and angry; Cuesta, San Juan and Siciliani aren’t as well-known in this country but all three deliver precise, spot-on performances. The choreography of the four characters (and Andreu Rebés’ camera) as they move from room to room in the apartment must have been worked out to the nth degree; it’s like a ballet. The bourgeois setting is important as well, providing a beautiful backdrop to the action. The fact that Ana chooses not to have curtains at her windows becomes a pertinent talking point, as does her purchase of a new rug.
The People Upstairs is a refreshing exposé of middle-class, middle-age behaviour. Gay shows how, sometimes in married life, people need to be confronted with a shock in order to see what is happening under their noses. Just as actions have consequences, lack of action can also threaten a marriage.
Screenplay: Cesc Gay
Principal cast:
Javier Cámara
Belén Cuesta
Alberto San Juan
Griselda Siciliani
Country: Spain
Classification: M
Runtime: 82 mins.
Australian release date: 11 February 2021.
The People Upstairs is an acerbic comedy about a couple going through a mid-marriage crisis, directed and written by Cesc Gay. Lovers of Spanish cinema will know Gay’s work from A Gun In Each Hand in 2013 and Truman a couple of years later. Here, he is mining similar ground to that covered in those titles, namely, people who have reached a crisis point in their middle-age. A tight four-hander, the setting is a lovely apartment in Barcelona and the film opens with a caustic (and sarcastic) conversation between a couple, Julio (Javier Cámara), and his wife Ana (Belén Cuesta). They have been together for over 15 years but, as often happens, their relationship has dissolved into one that conforms to the adage that ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ and they haven’t had sex for a year or so.
When Julio arrives home from work, he finds Ana preparing food for a drinks party that she has organised, without informing him, for the slightly younger, attractive couple who live upstairs, Salva (Alberto San Juan) and Laura (Griselda Siciliani). Julio threatens to tell the neighbours that he and Ana are regularly disturbed by the noise of their love-making in order to get Ana to cancel the soirée, but he is too late and the doorbell rings. It transpires that Salva and Laura broach the subject first, and they awkwardly apologise for the passionate noises emanating from their apartment. It turns out that they are ‘swingers’ and it is some of their partners who are responsible for the moanin’ and groanin’. The ensuing conversation gets more intense as the two couples begin to open up and, as the evening progresses, an unusual offer forces Julio and Ana’s different personalities to emerge. They argue frequently and the knowledge that people in close proximity to them are having joyous, guilt-free sex only exacerbates the lack of amor in their own relationship. As the evening continues, more wine is consumed and more truths are revealed.
At a lean 82 minutes, Gay’s script is nearly faultless and succeeds in presenting this unusual scenario in a witty and intelligent way. It is often very funny, too. The People Upstairs is surprisingly frank in its examination of the barriers that exist when discussing non-conventional approaches to sex and the ennui that affects some long-term unions. The performances from the foursome are pitch perfect. Javier Cámara will be a familiar face to many (he featured in both the above-mentioned Gay films) and he’s in excellent form here as a man whose disappointment with his life has made him bitter and angry; Cuesta, San Juan and Siciliani aren’t as well-known in this country but all three deliver precise, spot-on performances. The choreography of the four characters (and Andreu Rebés’ camera) as they move from room to room in the apartment must have been worked out to the nth degree; it’s like a ballet. The bourgeois setting is important as well, providing a beautiful backdrop to the action. The fact that Ana chooses not to have curtains at her windows becomes a pertinent talking point, as does her purchase of a new rug.
The People Upstairs is a refreshing exposé of middle-class, middle-age behaviour. Gay shows how, sometimes in married life, people need to be confronted with a shock in order to see what is happening under their noses. Just as actions have consequences, lack of action can also threaten a marriage.