Arrebato [Rapture] (Blu-Ray Review)

Certainly as a writer, and I'm sure you as a reader, appreciate film. Everything from the early days of production through to the final product is here to be marveled at and studied as the beautiful, intricate pieces of art they are. Labours of love from everyone involved in the process, from the actors bringing beloved characters to life, to the writer baring their creative soul for our entertainment.

Films give us a place to retreat to when we are at our lowest and need a form of escapism, and they're here to guide us through our toughest challenges. We sit down to share a film with our families, partners, and children, and laugh away the night.

All this said, filmmaking comes with a dark side that can drive those involved to the brink of ruin – something expertly explored by designer and filmmaker Iván Zulueta in his cult classic Arrebato (1980). The transgressive flick has been praised for its meticulous cinematography and narrative choices that force viewers to evaluate their relationship with the screen, and now film fans can experience the horror of Arrebato in stunning clarity with a new 4K restoration from Radiance Films and Altered Innocence.

The Spanish art-house horror focuses on José Sirgado (Eusebio Poncela), a reclusive, low-budget filmmaker battling with drug addiction and his tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend Ana Turner (Cecilia Roth). As his second feature film nears completion, his ex-girlfriend Marta (Marta Fernández Muro) reenters his life, delivering to him a reel of Super-8 film, an audiotape, and a door key from her cousin Pedro (Will More). As he listens to the audiotape and watches the film, José is drawn into Pedro's life as they attempt to chase the arrebato – the ‘rapture' – the ultimate catharsis.

The story is told through a series of flashbacks that tell the story of how Pedro and José met, and how Pedro travelled to achieve the perfect rapture he envisions. Arrebato bounces from one hazy scene to the next that gives the impression that everything in this world could be a hallucination experienced by one of the characters and that nothing we see is certain.

Arrebato effortlessly blurs the lines between reality and hallucination as we explore both Pedro and José's troubled relationships with filmmaking and their pilgrimages to find meaning in their art that has long since been lost, instead filled with a void of doubt and self-loathing.

It would be easy to chalk Arrebato up as a warning tale of drug addiction, but the film offers so much more than what first meets the eye. It is a film about filmmaking and the medium itself, and how this entwined with drug addiction has made for a hollow existence for our main characters. Arrebato is a vampire film of sorts, only within this narrative, it is cinema that is the soul-sucking monster rather than an undead ghoul.

As Pedro desperately tries to reignite his love of making films, it is as if the camera is slowly stealing his life force as he becomes more and more disheveled, and gaunt as his eyes develop sore, red rings due to lack of sleep and living to excess. His character becomes unbearable to look at, and the dramatic change in his appearance is effective in shocking the viewer.

Despite this, Pedro's philosophies have a profound effect on José who begins to chase the same seemingly unattainable end goal that consumed Pedro's life after becoming obsessed with unexplained red frames caught on the Super 8 camera left running while they sleep. This voyeuristic pursuit of happiness acts as a warning to not allow yourself to be destroyed by a form that takes more than it gives, but also an invitation to explore the unknown. The duality of the narrative is embodied by the juxtaposition of screen, from the violent dysfunctionality of José and Marta in their effortlessly chic and pristine home, to the erratic behaviour of Pedro in stark contrast to his meticulously curated work.

This organised chaos gives the feeling that the whole narrative is set to devolve into something horrifying at any second, with each scene dialling up the tension a notch before it meets its crescendo in the final evocative scenes.

While substance abuse is an important part of the film, with José sharing a copious amount of white powder with Pedro while also getting his girlfriend Marta hooked, director Iván Zulueta assures it melts into the background of the psychedelic flick while it instead shines a light on the intimate relationships the characters have with the art of filmmaking.

The effect is disorientating, profoundly haunting, and horrific in its own unique way as tension runs high throughout the narrative while it forces the viewer to question their own relationship with film. While it may not be the easiest film to wrap your head around, it rewards those that do with a thought-provoking spectacle that you will not experience elsewhere.

Limited Edition Special Features:

• New 4K restoration
• Commentary track with Mike White of The Projection Booth
• Documentary: Ivan Z by Andrés Duque (51 mins)
• Theatrical trailer
• Other trailers
• Reversible art
• English subtitles

The Radiance edition of Arrebato is available in the UK on Blu-ray now