Red Cockroaches

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Red Cockroaches
Red Cockroaches Poster.jpg
Directed by Miguel Coyula
Written by Miguel Coyula
Produced by Miguel Coyula
Starring Adam Plotch
Talia Rubel
Jeff Pucillo
Diane Spodarek
Music byMiguel Coyula
Distributed byVinegar Syndrome (US) / Herectic Films (US)
Release date
  • 25 October 2003 (2003-10-25)(Cuba)
Running time
82 minutes
CountriesCuba, USA
LanguageEnglish
Budget2000 USD

Red Cockroaches (Spanish: Cucarachas Rojas) is a film released in 2003. This feature film was the debut production of Miguel Coyula and was the result of a two-year effort on a $2,000 budget. Shot entirely using a portable digital camcorder and edited on a home computer, Red Cockroaches is an example of DIY cinema. In its review, Variety called it a "A triumph of technology in the hands of a visionary with know-how..." It is the first of a trilogy which continues with Blue Heart (film) .

Contents

Plot

A young man meets a mysterious girl in the subway and gets romantically involved with her, only to later discover that she might be his long lost sister. Dark and atmospheric, the world the characters inhabit is an alternative New York City with bouts of Acid Rain and ruled by an omnipotent cloning company called DNA21.

Visuals

Based on carefully planned storyboards, every time there is a cut in the film it is to a new camera setup that hasn't been used before, as opposed to traditional film language where the editor cuts back to the same shot during a scene. In the case of Red Cockroaches the influence of manga storytelling is obvious.

Rather than attempting to make DV look like film, the colors were digitally manipulated to the extreme with the purpose of enhancing the atmosphere. This along with multiple layer composites generated the movie’s distinctive, often saturated look.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on reviews from five critics with an average rating of 4.5/10 [1]

Film critic Ronnie Scheib of Variety reviewed it as "a triumph of technology in the hands of a visionary with know-how..." [2]

Some reviewers have pointed that scene transitions and edits mimic the effect of a pop-up book. [3]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Red Cockroaches (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ↑ "Red Cockroaches". Variety. 2004-08-05. Retrieved June 8, 2004.
  3. ↑ "FilmMonthly Review" . Retrieved 2005-10-16.
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