El Bola ( 2000 ) ( Pellet ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Spain ]

Brilliant, Heartbreaking, superb acting of the 2 kids and all the other members of the cast, Stunning, touching story and wonderful actors,this movie should be an Oscar awards winner. its very well made, each and every character shows the psychological complexity of the human being, the kids think and act somethimes like adults and the adults like kids or animals, it lets you feel what a real family and a loving father is, but also lets you perceive and understand what Domestic violence,child abuse and sickness means in many countries and places around the world or in your own next doors neighbors. Beautifully draws the real meaning of friendship, love and family values but also keeps you at the edge of the seat in pain and tears by seeing that abusive cruel sick father. Superb!

Although most people speak mainly, if not only, of the child abuse in this movie the true theme of the movie the friendship between Pablo and Alfredo. The director verifies this in the Making of El Bola which is included on the DVD. (ASIN: B0006OJH0E in case this review is included on move than one version of El Bola.) As I see it Pablo is drawn to danger, that is what he likes about his friends at the beginning of the movie, the well dressed and supposedly well adjusted boys with whom he plays a deadly game on the railroad tracks. I think that is also why he so quickly tries to befriend the new kid Alfredo, Alfredo looks like trouble. But the movie is filled with contrasts and anti-stereotypes. At the same time not everything or everybody in the movie is clear-cut as good or bad. Under todays laws in the United States Alfredos father could also be charged with child abuse. Also the legal advise Alfredos father gets after he learns of Pablos abuse defies common sense and puts both Alfredo and his father in a major conflict. The movie is a decent drama, well acted and well produced with a fair amount of action, suspense, etc. One abuse scene, demonstrating just how bad the situation is, is intense. The DVD also includes a six minute and twenty-three second stop-motion film. The charters reminded me of E.T. from Steven Spielbergs film, but this was probably not the filmmakers intent. It was interesting but not really anything special.

El Bola or `the pellet is the nickname given to young Pablo - he carries a ball bearing for good luck. He has a miserable home life where he is forced to help care for his incontinent and ageing grandmother, work in his fathers shop, his father is a vicious tyrant who beats him for any reason and is a control freak par excellence and his mother is indifferent. Across this ensemble is cast the shadow of his elder dead brother - whose place El Bola should be in - according to his father. Then one day a new boy enters the class - despite the initial rejection by the other boys, Bola sees something in him and starts a friendship. He then discovers a family who have many problems and despite the parents being separated they come across as balanced and loving both to each other and their children. This is something Bola has not experienced before and the friendship blossoms. Then his father finds out and bans him from any further contact - the beatings increase in ferocity too and everything starts building for a denouement - but who will be the ultimate victim? This is an extremely well made film with an outstanding performance from Juan Jose Ballesta (`Bruc) as El Bola and a supporting cast that all put in fine performances. Director Achero Mañas has taken the difficult subject of parental abuse and tackled it in a believable and still upsetting way. For anyone who suffered at the hands of a parent this will be an uncomfortable watch. The embarrassment factor is one that I can still remember having had a father with similar inclinations, and this is all captured along with the hugely violent mood swings and the seemingly innocuous things that can trigger the violence from the father. It is hard to say I enjoyed this film for reasons as stated, but it has made a lasting impression and is well worth hunting down - it came out in 2000. It is in Spanish with good subtitles and a run time of an hour and a half - not an easy watch but ultimately a rewarding one.

This is Achero Mañas first film and is really excellent! It won 4 Goyas awards including best picture and best emerging director. Is a very interesting stoy about fathers and sons and that no always what you see is what is true. Really an excellent buy!

Well acted and well directed. The relationships of the boys was very moving. The juxtaposition of the family relationships of the two families was interesting.

Pablo (Juan Jose Ballesta), known by his friends as Pellet, is ruled by a tyrannical and abusive father. Pellet pales as he tries to grow up under the shadow of a dead brother, but remains a deeply empathetic and sensitive child. When classmates pick on the new kid, Alfredo (Pablo Galan), Pellet befriends him and is consequently introduced to a gentle and fun version of family life centered around Alfredos sweet father Jose. You dont learn the extent of Pellets abuse until the last few seconds of the film and youre left wondering how anyone who endured such depravity could have been so sweet. This film won more than 30 international awards, including four Spanish Goyas, all of them well-deserved. At times I completely forgot I was watching a movie and that the actors were acting. Engrossing and tender. If you like this film, Id also recommend the films

This movie starts almost as a documentarie, about the suburbian youth, but bit by bit while we follow two youngsters becoming friends we become involved in a world of child abuse. And as the parents of the boys friend we cant help, and you feel like you should, and you feel the anger growing when the whole situation gets to a climax. Its not a big american drama, no the film is very subtile,thats why it goes right into your heart.......and the cast is sublime, they are so naturel, so real, directed with so much empathy and finesse !

This multi-award-winning film tackles the difficult subject of domestic abuse and in particular a fathers abusive relationship with his twelve-year-old son. The nature of this abuse is revealed slowly, so that like any outsider, we dont see the full extent of it until weve already formed opinions about both characters. The film contrasts their relationship with that of the boys new friend at school, whose father is a tattoo artist and seems on the surface to be more potentially troublesome as a parent. But as we watch him with his son, we see how is firmness is an expression of his caring and love for the boy. The boys two homes represent mirror worlds with contrasting emotional dynamics. The drama in the film emerges as the abusive fathers treatment of his son becomes gradually apparent to his sons friend, and we become informed of the near inability of anyone outside the family to rescue him. There is no easy resolution to this dilemma, and we are left with a sense of urgency about this disturbing social problem. The performances of the two twelve-year-olds are wonderful, as they become friends, exploring the early stages of their growing independence. Shot in the streets of Madrid, the film has a gritty, gray urban ambiance, and key scenes are played out along a railway where commuter trains rush by and schoolboys play death-defying games across the tracks.

Moving story of a friendship between two boys, where one of them is being tortured by his own father. The topic is and unfortunately will be still up-to-date. Sad to realise the reality of such cruelty and traumas for entire life. Worth watching though!