A documentary connection to David Lean frames the idea of making intimate human emotion feel epic. The Black Ball adapts Alberto Conejero’s La piedra oscura, using an expansive canvas with swooping cinematography, a score, and notable production and costume design. The story begins in 1937 with Sebastian, a Barcelona musician performing in a rural square, when gunfire erupts and he is forced into the army. The narrative then jumps to 1932, following Carlos as he tries to join a casino through an approval process involving white and black balls. Rumors about his homosexuality lead to repeated rejection, setting up themes of war, sexuality, homophobia, and doomed love across generations.
"The directors known as "Los Javis" take a novelistic approach to their adaptation of Alberto Conejero's La piedra oscura, delivering one of the few films at Cannes this year that feels like it's painting on a broad canvas. There's nothing wrong with an excess of tight chamber pieces, but there's something so invigorating about seeing a work with this kind of expansive cinematography, swooping score, remarkable production & costume design, and ambitious editing. David Lean would get it."
""La Bola Negra" opens by introducing us to a musician named Sebastian, played by soon-to-breakout Guitarricadelafuente, a famous Barcelona singer-songwriter with one of the most emotionally heartbreaking faces you've seen in years. Sebastian is playing a concert in a crowded rural square in his town in 1937 to celebrate what they think is the welcome arrival of their Italian allies when gunfire strafes the street. Before he knows it, he's been swept up, thrown on a truck, given a gun, and forced into the army."
"Los Javis then zip back a few years to 1932, where we meet a man named Carlos (Milo Quifes), who is trying to join a casino, which appears to be a process not unlike joining a country club today, complete with a tense approval process involving the dropping of white balls for yes and black balls for no. He gets more of the latter thanks to rumors around town about his homosexuality, un..."
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