Extraterrestrial (4 Stars)

Over the years there have been many films about alien invasions, from "Earth vs the Flaying Saucers" to "Independence Day". The Spanish film "Extraterrestrial" is unique among them.

The film takes place in Madrid. After a wild night out Julio wakes up in the bed of a woman he doesn't know. Did they have sex? He can't remember. All he knows is that he must have drunk a lot, because it's already 7:30 pm.

Something is strange. Phones have been cut off. There's no television or Internet. The streets are deserted. Luckily the girl, whose name is Julia – what a coincidence! – has a radio in her apartment. Is that common nowadays? I haven't had a radio at home for the last 19 years. Messages are being broadcast that the Earth is surrounded by flying saucers, and all the major cities have been evacuated. They see a huge flying saucer, about four miles wide, hovering over the centre of Madrid.

So are Julio and Julia the last people left in the city? Not quite. Julia's next door neighbour Angel remained behind, because he has a crush on Julia. The next day, Julia's boyfriend Carlos returns looking for her. It's an awkward situation. Julia tells Carlos that Julio wandered in from the street, but Angel knows that they had sex and threatens to tell Carlos.

As the days go by, the lies and the paranoia intensify. Carlos suspects that Angel is an alien in disguise, and Julio persuades him that this is true in order to get rid of him.

Even though the whole film takes place beneath an ominous flying saucer, it's not intended to be a science fiction film. It's a character study. It shows how four normal people react when they're thrown together in a situation of stress. It's a very slow film, and we never see the aliens, but if you like quiet, thoughtful films you'll enjoy it.

"So are you an alien, Angel?"

"What! Do I look like an alien?"

TV Series: Isabel

I've just finished watching the first season of the Spanish television series "Isabel". It's a historical drama based on the life of Spain's Queen Isabel, who lived from 1451 to 1504, and reigned from 1474 to 1504. The emphasis of the series is on historical accuracy, and I can see that great pains are made to present every detail of her life, even at the expense of pacing. I appreciate this attention to detail. I come from England, so I knew almost nothing about this woman before I began to watch the series. A Spanish friend of mine recommended it to me, calling Isabel the greatest monarch who has ever reigned in Europe. That's a difficult claim for an Englishman to accept, but I put my patriotic biases aside and let myself be educated. After watching the first few episodes I read a summary of her life, and I have to say that I now agree with my Spanish friend. What Isabel did for Spain is greater than anything any other king has ever done for his country. It could also be argued that some of the things she did have benefited all of Europe, even to this day.

The first season deals with the years 1461 to 1474, i.e. from her childhood to her appointment as Queen of Castile. Castile was at that time the largest kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. During Isabel's reign it united with the neighbouring kingdoms to become the country known as Spain. Wars were necessary to achieve this, but wherever possible Isabel preferred peaceful negotiation. She was very popular with the common people, which made the unification of Spain easy. On the other hand, she was unpopular with the noblemen who called themselves her "advisers". Castile, like most of the other European countries in the Middle Ages, had had a long succession of weak monarchs who were controlled by the noblemen. The noblemen took it upon themselves to decide who would be the next king, if there was any uncertainty about the line of succession, based on which person would give them the most favours, in riches or land ownership. The noblemen were not above poisoning the kings and other members of the royal families. Isabel put a stop to this. She took control of her country and ruled with absolute power, eliminating the corruption around her. She was a deeply religious person (Catholic) and very patriotic, wanting to serve her people more than her own personal interests. People who oppose monarchies in principle should look at Isabel as an example of a good Queen, someone who did more for her people than most democratically elected rulers.

The series has won many awards in Spain. It's very much a talkie, if you know what I mean. Most of the episodes contain long conversations between the different characters. There are a few fight scenes, but overall there is little action. Wars were taking place throughout the first season, but most of the battles took place off screen. The series has more of the character of a history lesson than a drama series. That might disturb some people, but for me it's perfect, it's just what I want to see.

The series has been released on DVD and Blu-ray in Spain, unfortunately without English subtitles. It's possible to watch the first two seasons on the web site Dramafever, a streaming video service that specialises in Korean TV series. Dramafever is only available in the USA and Canada, but if you're able to spoof your IP address it can be watched anywhere. I've subscribed as a paying member of Dramafever, so it's not in their best interests to block foreign access.

Extraterrestrial (4 Stars)

You know what it's like. You go out partying. You drink too much. The next morning you wake up in bed with someone and you don't even know each other's names.

Okay, I admit that it's never happened to me. I've never drunk so much that I forgot the night before. And I've never woken up next to a stranger, especially not someone as beautiful as the Spanish actress Michelle Jenner, who plays Julia. The man in her bed is Julio. The biggest problem with the situation is that she lives with her boyfriend Carlos, who is away on business but could return at any time. There is an unnatural calm over the city. Madrid has a population of more than five million people, but the streets are empty. The phones, the television and the Internet aren't working. They finally hear a report on the radio that the Earth has been invaded by flying saucers, and all the major cities have been evacuated. Wow, they missed all that? It must have been some party! How much did they drink?

The only other person in the city is Angel, a single man who lives next door to Julia. Carlos returns from a refugee camp the next day looking for Julia. Angel threatens to tell Carlos that Julia and Julio have had sex, so an intricate game of deception begins. They convince Carlos that Angel is an alien who has infiltrated the population.

The film is very minimalist. For most of the film we only see the four characters, until they meet a fifth person late in the film. Despite the sci-fi background it's not a sci-fi film. It's about the complications of a drunken night out. The alien invasion is just an added difficulty in dealing with Julia's mistake.