Nuevos ideales: A curious look back at old-school drama

Is this worth a watch?

Honestly, it depends on how much patience you have for old black-and-white dramas that prioritize talking over moving. If you’re a fan of vintage Spanish films, you’ll probably find something interesting here. If you’re looking for a quick, punchy story, you’ll likely find yourself checking your watch before the first act wraps up. 🎞️

It’s not quite as energetic as Madness of Youth, which actually surprised me when I revisited it recently. Instead, Nuevos ideales feels like a stage play that someone decided to film without moving the cameras enough.

The dialogue is thick. Sometimes it feels like the characters are just waiting for their turn to recite a paragraph rather than actually talking to each other. It’s a bit jarring, but there’s a certain charm to how earnest they are about it all.

The little things

• There is this one scene where a character is holding a letter, and they hold it for so long that I started wondering if the ink was still wet.
• The lighting in the living room sequences is surprisingly moody, even if the sets look like they might tip over if you sneeze too hard.
• Alady manages to carry a lot of the weight, even when the script gives her absolutely nothing to do but look worried near a window.

I found myself thinking about Dulcy while watching this, mainly because both films deal with people trying to fix problems they mostly created for themselves. But while that one has a bit of a bounce in its step, this one is much more solemn. It’s like watching someone trying to walk through deep mud in a nice suit.

There’s a moment halfway through where the tension should really be peaking, but the music just sort of… drifts away? It felt like the composer took a nap. It’s a weirdly quiet choice that makes the whole thing feel strangely lonely. I kind of liked it, even if it was probably just a technical limitation back then.

Don’t go into this expecting a masterpiece of pacing. It’s a relic, and it knows it. It’s imperfect, a bit dusty, and definitely doesn’t care if you’re bored. But for a Tuesday night when the internet is down? Yeah, it’ll do. 🤷‍♂️