Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo arrived at the Glasgow Film Festival late showing of Extraterrestrial on Saturday night to introduce the movie – not because he had to (his scheduled Q&A was for the second screening the next day), but simply because he wanted to thank those who were staying into the early hours to catch his latest effort. What a guy!
With a keen sense of humour Vigalondo explained to us how this movie had been created on something of a shoestring budget, but that he could definitely guarantee the presence within it of a jar of peaches, tennis balls and an alien mother ship. (An entirely unique combination even amongst this year’s expansive GFF line-up.)
Thankfully, in addition to that he has also delivered a funny, skilfully plotted and paced film which proves acclaimed previous feature Timecrimes was not a no one-off. Julio (Julián Villagrán) wakes up in stranger Julia’s flat (Michelle Jenner), and has been left with no memory of what happened the night before. Oh, and as well as that it also turns out that there’s been an alien invasion which has left their city almost deserted...
But instead of becoming the usual sort of sci-fi battle for survival, instead what plays out is a comedy with hints of romance and drama, any extraterrestrial element pretty much a MacGuffin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin which helps develop the relationships between those at the centre of the film.
The moral legitimacy of some of Julio’s actions may sometimes be dubious at best, though Villagrán does well to portray him as someone who – though definitely something of a jerk – you grow to increasingly care for as the plot thickens. And if there was anyone a red-blooded male (or female) would want to be stuck in a flat with, then Julia would surely figure pretty highly up the list.
Vigalondo ensures there’s a lightness to proceedings as Extraterrestrial breezes along, and if this movie’s storyline was taking place in parallel to the events of Independence Day then I imagine most cinema-goers would think themselves more likely to be in Villagrán’s shoes than Will Smith’s. It’s perhaps one of the strongest possible compliments to say that – for a movie called Extraterrestrial – at no moment do you feel short-changed by the distinct lack of any green, glowing saucer-eyed interplanetary immigrants.
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