The deeply unsettling, psychologically acute "Leap Year" (Ano Bisiesto) won writer-director Michael Rowe, an Australian living in Mexico, Cannes' Camera d'Or prize for best first feature.
. . . .
"Leap Year" recalls Nagisa Oshima's controversial "In the Realm of the Senses," but Rowe heads in a different direction, subtly playing up the social and political implications of the story. It's not for nothing that Laura looks indigenous while Arturo appears to be Spanish, but then appearances are not necessarily what they seem in this picture.
. . . .
"Leap Year" recalls Nagisa Oshima's controversial "In the Realm of the Senses," but Rowe heads in a different direction, subtly playing up the social and political implications of the story. It's not for nothing that Laura looks indigenous while Arturo appears to be Spanish, but then appearances are not necessarily what they seem in this picture.
