Friday 27 October 2023

Veneciafrenia (5 Stars)



This is a film that I've been struggling to see for more than 18 months. The difficulties highlight the stupidity of Amazon. It was made in 2021 by Alex de la Iglesia, one of my favourite directors. I waited in vain for it to be released on Blu-ray. Finally I read that it's an Amazon original film, so it wouldn't be released on Blu-ray. That's disappointing. The film was being streamed on Amazon Prime Video in Spain, but without subtitles. Earlier this year I found out that it's now available on Amazon Prime Video in America. If it had been offered for free I could have watched it with a VPN, but it's only available to Buy or Rent, and my German credit cards are refused. Today I found a solution at last, with the help of a very good American friend. I sent her $9.99 by Paypal to buy the film. Then I used a VPN to log into her account. I downloaded the film from Amazon using the excellent software AnyStream. It's not cheap, but it's an essential tool for me as a blogger. Finally I had the film on my hard drive, ready to watch.

Why is Amazon so foolish? If Amazon Studios really intend to boycott the physical media market for their films, they should at least make them available for streaming all over the world. If I hadn't paid more than $150 for my software tool and hadn't had a friend who trusts me with her password, I would have been blocked from seeing this excellent film. That's not right. I hope that an Amazon employee somewhere reads this post and passes on my complaints to his superiors.


When "Veneciafrenia" was released it was described as a slasher movie. That's what it looks like, especially in the opening scenes, but I don't like to give it that title. It doesn't follow the rules of the slasher genre. If you're expecting a crazed killer with supernatural abilities, you'll be disappointed. It's closer to a political satire, but it's a political satire with a lot of killing.

Five Spanish tourists are on holiday in Venice. They arrive in the middle of a protest against cruise ships and the tourists they bring. I can understand this. Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but it's ruined by tourists. The delicate bridges and narrow alleyways are clogged with foreigners taking photos. The native population of Venice rises up against this threat. Most are happy to stand at the harbour and wave banners, but there's an extremist fringe that wants to kill the tourists.

This is a beautiful film, typical for Alex de la Iglesia. It deals with a mundane scenario, unwelcome tourists in a foreign land, but it escalates into scenes of utter madness. It's a film that everyone should watch in the Halloween week. If they can.

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