Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Hugh Sullivan Yes, it has moments of violence, but that's more a reflection of the 3 main characters lack of impulse control. The violence is more of an expression of their emotions. It's really a story about the 3-some. Many have praised Najwa Nimri's performance as Lucia, but I think they're missing the point. The heart of the piece is Chino. Gustavo Salmerón really steals the show with his sense of desperation and betrayal. It's hard to see what Lucia's motivations were, other than making a quick buck. I would have given it a higher rating if they had made the coming together of the 3-some were more realistic. Lucia says, "Things just happen." I don't think there's an actress alive who could make that line work. The relationship between the brothers was crucial to making this film work, but the mother-daughter thing seemed more like a plot device. Juan Diego Botto does a good job, but he doesn't have much to do.

Dr. No-7 I saw this movie at the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival and it blew me away. The story was greatly told, photographed and performed. I was really moved by the story of this three lost souls in modern Madrid. Najwa Nimri steals the show as Lucia, but Juan Diego Botto and Gustavo Salmeron are great too. I truly didn't expect it to be this good. This is really Calparsoro's best movie since Salto al vacio and is even better than that one too. In time, it has become one of my favourites. It hasn't been commercially screened in Argentina, but it should. A must see. If you have the chance, don't miss it. You'll want to see it again. I did.

silviopellerani Living in Italy, speaking Spanish and having so few opportunities to see a Spanish film I decided almost immediately to see Asfalto.Seeing the first scenes of the film you can deduct that is one of those "tarantinian" films talking about urban violence in a decadent Madrid. Three main characters: Lucia, Charly and the "Chino" are despaired guys. Each one of them is looking how to bribe and gain easy money without taking care of the rules of the society. Is interesting to see how all these three are linked in a love-violent triangle. Their language is as bad as the actions that they do. Chino's brother is a policeman working in the narcotic department and try to help him to gain a new life. He feels to have a certain responsibility since their father died.The end is the beginning and life is a circle, no solution at all is presented and perhaps the triangle is broken.This film should be seen for the very good acting of the 3 main characters, plus Lucia's mother (Almodovar's actress) but the rest is frankly useless.Rating: 5/10

Ophuls 15 minutes into ASFALTO, Calparsoro's latest directorial effort, I am still thinking that I am not going to like this. It has rained a lot since Godard said that all you needed to make a movie was a gun and a girl. Yesterday's boutade is today's common place. But something happens in the way and I find myself genuinely involved with the characters and deeply moved. And ultimately that is what filmmaking is about - I don't care about anything else, but move me, make me feel something, deliver an emotional experience. And ASFALTO definitively does, this is no ordinary Tarantinesque picture. In a year of mediocre Spanish movies it stands out. The script by Calparsoro and Santiago Tabernero underexplains certain subplots, but builds three very charismatic and believable characters and gives them great scenes to play. Najwa Nimri is OUTSTANDING as Lucia, the bad girl that wants to mend her ways, walking up and down the steamy streets of Madrid in the midst of summer wearing skimpy hotpants and high heels. Her Lucia is vulnerable, volatile and lovable. Gustavo Salmeron is once again great as Chino, the conventional guy forced to become a policeman, and Juan Diego Botto infuses the threesome with mystery. Beautifully shot by Josep Maria Civit, some of the action scenes are not terribly well executed, but it makes up for it with pure beauty in shots like Nimri and Botto asleep inside a discarded truck wheel looking at Madrid as the sun comes up, and many more. It has its flaws but the virtues of the film redeems it at the end. Beautiful, must see.