Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

SunnyHello Nice effects though.

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

ronchow My first exposure to Medem's films was through 'Lovers of the Artic Circle'. Right away I grew fond of his style of directing - meditative, philosophical at times, poetic, personal and often abstract. 'Tierra' was one of his earlier films, dated 1996. However, time has not eroded the film's merit.The protagonist, called Angel, had just come out of a mental institution and was struggling to get back to a normal life of work and love. In love he was linked up to two women, played by Emma Suarez and a young Silke. Both very attractive to look at and contributed to a few very erotic moments in the film.'Tierra' told the story of Angle's mental struggle, and the struggle of others around him. There is really no message in the film despite the many quotes relating to atoms, stars and the universe. What we are left with is a story of human interaction and struggle, and love. This is one very usual human drama and well told by Medem.

Tim Kidner I watched this as part of the six DVD Spanish release Julio Medem 'Collection', easily the most cost effective way of getting his first six films.Quite weirdly wonderful, this sums up all that is good - and bad - about World cinema. Forever inventive and beguiling, one just doesn't know where either the narrative or camera will take us next. But that weirdness and fantasy can leave one confused and wishing for a more concise reality.Medem's immense imagination - who else could summon a screenplay on the back of a just a grub-exterminator just released from an insane asylum? but also make it work. I've never come across any director quite as unique as Julio Medem.I do like and enjoyed this film but in my opinion, it isn't quite up there with his best, which is The Red Squirrel, followed by Sex & Lucia, then Lovers Of the Arctic Circle.

raymond-15 "Tierra" is an interesting metaphysical Spanish fantasy with an unusual central character called Angel who by his own admission is half man, half angel, and he also admits to a turn in hospital to cure his hyperactive imagination. What's more , he's a first class fumigator who with the help of casual gypsy labour rids the soil of woodlice. The story opens in vineyard country, red dry undulating fields of gnarled vines, swirling red dust before an approaching storm, a lightning strike that splits a tree in half and kills a shepherd and some of his lambs. A great dramatic introduction that sets the scene for what is to follow. The film does not explain how the presence of woodlice gives the wine an earthy flavour which is said to be most desirable. The camera work is great, especially in the fumigation scene where the recruited workers dressed in white protective clothing move methodically through the red vineyards with their probing tubes, the white fumes swirling around them. They look like extra-terrestrial beings. There are numerous references to the dimensions of the universe, to the spaciousness of creation. The film starts with a panoramic vision of the stars and ends with a flight of birds wheeling in the sky. Yes, producer Medem works on a broad canvasa with incredible artistry. The love interest in the film is provided by Angela, a farmer's wife in love with the newly-arrived Angel, and Mari a sexy little thing in tight Spanish leather who frequents the bars and is quite a deft hand at billiards too. Her snake-like movements are very seductive and Angel begins to admire them, too,but being half angel has its own special problems. I like particularly the hospital scene where Angel's uncle says there is a charming girl waiting to see him. Is it Angela or Mari? We are teased for quite some time before her identity is revealed. I liked too the stark white hospital room- such a contrast to the red sweep of the Spanish countryside. Most of all I liked Gomez as Angel. What a charmer!

gerardo-5 The film tells the story of a technician who comes to a little village to solve the problem of the local wines, they taste to soil, in that task he will find several charachters that will start to enter wildly in his life. To me this one is the most discret film in the career of Julio Medem, a genial creator. Even if the film follows the general guidelines of the rest of the filmography of Medem (symbolism and psychologicalism), it lacks of the potence to attract so much the audience.