NZIFF: The Beloved

Javier Bardem gives a power-house performance as a filmmaker directing his estranged daughter in Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s making-of-a-movie drama.

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved is the story of a famous film director, Esteban Martínez (Javier Bardem), who returns to his native Spain to shoot a movie in the desert and hires his estranged actress daughter, Emilia (Victoria Luengo), to play one of the leads. He claims that she’s the best one for the role, but we assume he’s doing it to mend fences (he is). That makes the movie sound a lot like Sentimental Value. The two films overlap in numerous ways. But The Beloved, unlike “Sentimental Value,” really is one of those movies about the making of a movie. It’s a meaty and enjoyable entry in the genre, one that updates it to the present day, when it’s not as easy as it once was for a director to bully a cast and crew (and Esteban, make no mistake, is something of a bully).

It’s been a while since Bardem had a role this straight-up that he could sink his choppers into. The subtle power of his performance, and it’s a terrific one, is that it takes us a while to grasp the kind of mind games Esteban is a master of.

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