La Vida Abismal(released as Living on the Edge in the USA) is a fun, stylish film set amongst small time card games in Catalonia in the 1970s. Directed by Ventura Pons, based on a memoir by Ferran Torrent, the movie chronicles young Ferran’s poker and 54 apprenticeship with the charismatic compulsive player El Chino. The movie focuses on the friendship and conflicts between the two young men, rather than gambling strategies or capers(though the film has both as well).
The pair race every night to card games in houses and backrooms, pushing their bets to the limit of their funds and usually winning to the chagrin of their much older competitors. During the day Ferran labors as a ditch cleaner, while Chino invents schemes to obtain cash or invitations to new games. On the domestic side Ferran must contend with his stern, worried traditional parents . Very little is revealed about Chino; besides his love for Rosa, a beautiful, young prostitute, his life is gambling.
The film depicts an era in Catalonia shortly before the death of Franco and the opening of Spanish society. With small touches Pons subtly implies the political and moral restrictions the Spanish continued to live under after the rest of Europe had been liberated by the 1960s. To some extent the movie is a lighter Catalan version of Mean Streets, the template for films about young layabouts in the 1970s. Snappy editing and the bouncy jazz score keep the countless games from becoming repetitive. However the real standout in the film is actor Óscar Jaenada as Chino, whose charisma and manic energy propels the film. The actor has emerged as one of Spain’s top movie stars and has already won some of the country’s most prestigious awards.
Nice post – I loved this film and it reminded of the 4 years I spent in Barcelona, Catalonia – thanks.