7 Virgins. When Ballesta poses and pouts

Sarajevo FF, 2007. A film review.

It’s a drama, it’s a slick flick, and it’s “pretty-bad.” When does a non-judgmental style simply become exploitation? That’s a question still to be answered. The only sure thing is that this seductive Spanish film will successfully separate teenagers from the price of admission in their wallets.

Seven Virgins is a seductively cinematic story that is tragic on several levels. Tano, played by Juan José Ballesta, is a teenage boy who is serving time in a reform school. He comes out on a 48 hour pass in order to attend his brother’s wedding. We are instantly charmed by his youthful vigor, (Ballesta was born in 1987!) but forewarned by Tano’s coldness to the brother who has come to pick him up at the institution. We are then treated to the sight of him stealing money from his grandmother nearly as soon as he walks in the door. During the following two days, we see him fall back in with his casually delinquent friends. The relationships that he has are heartbreakingly dysfunctional. Among his friends the only allowable shows of affection are the play of insults. This game of dissing is fairly normal among macho characters, but these characters don’t know when to stop, they lovingly insult each other to the point of provoking violence. On top of that, they steal from each other, and recklessly put each other into danger. They all clearly care about each other, but are prevented from showing it by the macho rules they live by. The only affection Tano can publicly show is for the dead, the people that he has killed in a car accident, and even there, one has to wonder if he is sorry for the dead or for the fact that he is now serving the sentence.

His relationship with his girlfriend is nothing more than carnal, a situation she finds nearly unbearable, and when he gives her a gold chain that he has obviously stolen from a friend, this is the last straw, and she leaves him. At first he finds it impossible to speak to his brother about his brother’s hesitations about marriage, but then he does eventually reach out to his brother, and helps to make the wedding a success. Presumably, this is supposed to represent some kind of personal growth on Tano’s part, but it is peanuts, in the context of everything else that occurs.

The film is very entertaining, in an irresponsible and exploitative way. That, to my mind, is the saddest part of all. Teenage rebelliousness has existed forever, but the nihilism depicted here is something more disturbing. It is the dislocation of a society

Juan Jose Ballesta in a poster

moving headlong into a new century, when Grandma still lives in a peasant world of superstition, while the teen is living in a world of drugs and petty theft at the shopping mall. Yet, we are never asked to reflect on this social schizophrenia in any meaningful way during the film, we are just invited to enjoy watching the teens have sex and play their deadly pranks as though it were all a big joke. To my mind, this is cruel treatment of the characters and careless irresponsibility toward the young audience. The film does serve as a fine vehicle for the young star, Juan José Ballesta, as he performs in ever more complex roles. (check out his excellent performance in Ladrones, (Thieves) in 2007 to see his professional growth). Indeed, this stardust connection may be the only thing keeping “7 Virgins” from speedy obscurity.

What are the ethical responsibilities of a filmmaker that presents such drowning, amoral characters as sexy role models for the young people of his country? I don’t know, but I have a feeling that we don’t discuss this enough. Perhaps the filmmaker would claim that he does not mean for these characters to be role models, and that his audience will be sophisticated enough to perceive the underlying sadness of these boys, but I would not be convinced and I think the film’s official website proves otherwise. I don’t think we should allow filmmakers to get away with such disingenuous cop-outs. To be fair, there is some attempt to depict the inevitable consequences for the boys’ actions, both for them and for their victims, but it is overwhelmed by the unreasonably sympathetic characterizations and fawning rationales for their irresponsibility.

The film was presented in the “TeenArena” section of the Sarajevo Film Festival, films devoted to teenage viewers. The promotional copy ends with the observation that “Tano’s leave turns out to be a journey into maturity.” This is surprising, as it suggests that we are to consider Tano’s irresponsible actions at the end of the film to represent some kind of maturity. I think Spain’s future deserves something better than that, as do the boys in the film, who are the biggest victims of their own predicaments. The acting was excellent, and in fact, the main actors have won awards in Spain for their performances, but this movie, probably the most professionally filmed and commercially viable in the category, did not manage to seduce the young jury and audiences who judged the TeenArena. It was passed over for the Best Teen Film award, which was won by “This is England,” directed by Shane Meadows.

7 Virgins. 2005, Spain. Directed by Alberto Rodriquez, written by Rodriguez and Rafael Cobos, and produced by José Antonio Félez.

Related Post:

Ladrones: Thieves, 2007. Ballesta and Valverde.

This is England. Gritty UK drama is a winner at Sarajevo, 2007

Sarajevo FF, 200

In case you think “TeenArena” means all fun and games and gyrating teenyboppers all in a row, the choice for this year’s TeenArena award will come as a wonderful surprise. The main players are young, in their teens or twenties, indeed, the lead role is played by a thirteen year old, but they have all been brutally thrown into an adult world. This film is maturely intelligent, meaningful and truly worthwhile for audiences of all ages.