Agnosia

(2010)

Agnosia is a romantic thriller that begins when a young Joana has an accident and loses the ability to see things as they are (a visual agnosia as such). Years later, Joana (Bárbara Goenaga) is looked after by a bunch of servants at her father's house and is about to marry Carles (Eduardo Noriega), her father's protege to his lens business. A new servant Vicent (Félix Gómez) also begins work at the house and he sort of looks like Carles, enough so that Joana can't tell the difference. Vicent takes an immediate liking to Joana. When the father dies intervening in a burglary gone wrong, Carles takes over the business and is given an offer to sell the business by Prevert (Martina Gedeck from that brilliant German film The Lives of Others), which he declines. Then a plan is put into place by Prevert to get what she wants, the specifications to the scope for a gun, which was abandoned when Joana lost her sight. This involves the doctor looking after Joana setting up a phony experiment to cure her agnosia and kidnapping and forcing Vicent to act as Carles and get her to tell them what or where the specifications may be. Of course, Joana takes comfort in Vicent as Carles and it sets off a chain of events that will end in tragedy.

Great film that plays up the love story angle extremely well and sets up for quite a devastating final act. The plot is very intriguing and to see the extravagant plot unravel is a treat. And with one of my favourite Spanish actresses in Bárbara Goenaga starring, it's the icing to a very tasty cake.