"A Gun in Each Hand" is a film directed by Cesc Gay, who is one of the sharpest chroniclers of the urban middle class of the Catalan. He was born in 1967 in Barcelona and studied in New York and Barcelona. He produced the film "A Gun in Each Hand” in 2012 in Barcelona using the Spanish language. Gay portrays women and eight modern men in their messy lives. Bipolar J. is turned into the perfect psychoanalytic subject. E is living with his mother because he prefers his cat over his wife. In addition, S who is an adulterer is trying to gain his ex-wife back. G. does not understand why this wife cheats while L requires getting rid of the confusions about his dog and his wife. In addition, P. who is a married man will be humbled after shamefully putting the moves on an office party colleague shamefully. Finally, Sara and Maria teach their husband a bitter lesson by discussing their feelings openly (Cesc 1).
The opening of the movie "A Gun in Each Hand" sets the pace for much of what follow in the movie. Two friends, Leonardo Sparaglia and Eduard Fernandez bump into each other randomly on the street, engaging in a revealing and lengthy conversation concerning their lives which are messed up. Both of them have been affected by a relationship they have had with women. Also, other scenes involve a divorced hubby named Camera, who hopes to reunite with his previous wife. In addition, there are two acquaintances, Luis Tosar and Darin, who cross paths at a park bench and realize they have more similarities than they would like. For instance, the common experience they have is shown in a funny sequence in which Noriega, who is a new dad, tries gain back Candela Pena, who is a fellow office worker, only to learn something about sexual harassment.
Gay employs chance encounters in all cases to explore the change of the gender roles in Spanish society which is shown to be a far cry from Ernest Hemingway's novels from the macho days, and are closer to matriarchy, where women rule in bed and elsewhere. Many of the laughs emanate from the manner in which male characters so modestly attempt to obtain what they want but end up getting the opposite. This is illustrated in the series about divorce, in which the modest ex-husband tries to find his way into the pants of his ex-wife, but finds himself ultimately moving out of her apartment (Cesc 5).
The film is a refreshing Latin-lingo comedy in which the filmmaker manages all of his vignettes which are both surprising and witty, along with his encouraging message. He starts off with a chance note and then reverses things around to show the truth behind bourgeois appearances.
The line-up of expert actresses and actors of whom acted the previous movies of Gay as well as those of Pedro Almodovar, impressively execute the dialogues that usually play out in a single setting. Thus, the director reduces the cinematic scope of the movie so that Barcelona becomes less like a real city as compared to theatrical backdrop, which is the backdrop for the war of the sexes, with the advantage going to the ladies.
Thus, Gay made this film a comedy with a tone that sounds like various types of music played together. As a matter of tone, humor is treated very delicately. The film is also a bit sad, or tough, hence it is not a typical comedy. It has built in gags and is authentic when the comedy is genuinely felt. Besides, it is written from a dark cosmic point of view in which the kind of available humor shakes one a little.
Dramatic conflict of the film
The film displays masculine identity crisis in which eight men, who are in their forties are caught up in everyday situations. This reveals the central conflict. The men share feelings of bewilderment, and their behavior develops varied emotions, which is not usually common for most men. For instance, J is miserable. E. lives with his cat and his mother because he has lost everything. After two years of separation, S. tries to reconcile with his wife. G tries to understand why his wife cheats and uses drugs. Under similarly bad circumstances, his friends are doing their best. Ordinary men are put in extraordinary situations and the director provides a merciless portrait of manhood and masculinity.
Thus, many topics are addressed exploring various approaches to masculinity. Gay demonstrates that the society has become more feminine and has entered into emotional territory. Although this is all good, Gay show that it has not come about naturally. For example, men do not know how to cry while women commonly cry. In the film, 90% of men suppress their feelings. The character of Javier Camara, for instance, is pathetic as he fights against that moment of emotions and one can tell that he is pretending and is not honest with himself. He acts as if everything is okay. In essence, there are lots of protagonists in the film and male characters have not been given names which might taint their personalities. They are similar to babies before birth with no names. Therefore, in "A Gun in Each Hand,” all male characters follow a particular masculine pattern.
However, the women are well –drawn, despite the focus on men and their issues. The women are shown in a positive light for their self confidence which usually counterpoints the floundering menfolk’s struggle. The masculinity conflict is solved at the end when the characters come together and relate to each other. Nevertheless, the ending is wisely played less as a big reveal than an epilogue. The conversations have twists and turns that makes getting to know the men as engaging and absorbing as any heist thriller.
“"A Gun in Each Hand"” has no actual shootouts, but plenty of male egos that are wounded. A variation of shorts-structured features like Robert Altman’s Short Cuts hopes from one sequence to another. However, there are similar tales of men suffering sexual emasculation and mid-life crisis at the hand of significant ex-other. Gay uses this style to develop a modern film with interesting emotional dilemmas.
Therefore, in my view, “"A Gun in Each Hand"” is a misleading title since it is a short film with overlapping characters and interlocking story lines all experiencing dilemmas with relationships. In most of the movies dialogue, which is in Spanish, there is the notion that a gun will sometimes be seen once the viewer gets used to adult relationships. Thus, the title should be thought of as a metaphor for sexual entanglements.
Work cited
Cesc, Gay. "A Gun in Each Hand". Impossible Films: Rome Film Festival, 2012.
