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Released by: Nucleus Films
Released on: 10/18/2005
Director: Miguel Bardem
Year: N/A
Cast: Robert Alverez, Hector Alterio, Elia Galera
The Movie:
Miguel Bardem's The Ugliest Woman In The World is a pretty odd little film that combines crime, murder, and a beauty competition in a marginally futuristic setting. It's got plenty of style, some interesting quirkiness to it, and even if you're left scratching your head a bit when it's all said and done with, it's also an entertaining little movie.
The story begins on New Years Eve in the year 2010. As partygoers are heading out on the town to celebrate in style, some whacko has decided to put on a habit and, dressed like a nun, heads out to celebrate in his own way - by murdering a middle aged woman who he seemingly encounters at random.
The cops call in Lt. Arribas (Roberto Alverez), a disshevelled looking man who has an air of sadness about him. He investigates a bit, asks some people a few questions, and some comes to the realization that the woman who was killed on New Years Eve was not the killer's first victim, in fact, there have been a few people, mostly wannabe beauty queens, offed lately who may or may not have fallen prey to this maniac. They also seem to have one connection that ties them all together in the form of a plastic surgeon named Werner (Hector Alterio). When Arribas questions Werner, he tells him the odd story of a woman named Lola Otero (Elia Galera) who once won a beauty competition and was named 'the most beautiful woman in the world' but who didn't win from her natural good looks as the general public seems to think. Werner reveals that it was his special brand of cosmetic surgery, which he has dubbed morphogenetics, that made her into the looker that she is.
He continues to tell Arribas that Lola was actually disowned by her parents at birth as she was hideously ugly and as such given over to the local nuns to take care of. Once she turned twenty four years of age she was able to receive Werner's surgery and become the gorgeous woman that everyone knows her as. In recent times, Lola has gone into hiding and become a bit of a recluse. Arribas thinks that she may have something to do with the murders and continues his investigation, and it just gets weirder from here on out and the closer he gets to Lola during his investigation, the more he starts to fall for her.
While story and theme wise it's a bit of a mish mash, The Ugliest Woman In The World still works. It's got enough style and there's enough clever, dark humor in the story that even if you could call into question some of the plot devices employed, in the context of the world that Bardem has created it does fit. The movie doesn't beat you over the head with its ideals or its message but they are there if you want to look for them and while at times certain scenes do seem a bit like an exercise in style over substance, you can't say this about the film as a whole.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The anamorphic 1.85.1 transfer could have been a little bit more detailed and maybe a little bit sharper but otherwise looks very nice on this DVD. The color reproduction is good, the black levels are strong and deep, and the fleshtones look lifelike and natural. While sometimes the really fine detail seems to be obscured a bit in the shadows or the darker scenes, there's still a lot in the image to look for and most viewers should come away from this one happy with how the movie looks.
Mpeg compression artifacts aren't a problem, edge enhancement is held firmly in place, and while there is some mild line shimmering, it's just that - mild, and it doesn't prove to be overly distracting or a serious problem at all.
Take your pick of two audio tracks on this release, both in their original Spanish language, in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound - with optional English subtitles. The quality of either track you should opt to check out is fine and there are no problems with hiss or distortion. Dialogue is clean and clear and the subtitles are nice and easy to read and also fairly well timed.
The most substantial bonus feature is a fifteen minute making of documentary that is made up mostly of comments from all of the key cast and crew memebers, most of whom sing the praises of the film's director and discuss what a good time they had working on the project. At times it seems a little self congratulatory but there are enough interesting little anecdotes in here to make it worthwhile.
There's also a pair of trailers for the film, trailers for other releases from Nucleus Films, and a decent sized still gallery.
The Final Word:
The Ugliest Woman In The World is an interesting if slightly flawed arthouse/sci-fi film that has received a fine presentation on DVD from Nucleus Films.