"Damned Misery" disregards those fascinating blonds at the bar or rock'n'rollers that philosophize on their spare time, to centre on a quartet of well-disposed people implicated in a kidnapping story, driven by love, money, revenge or a vague desire to get away from that misery referred to in the title, that seems like a scab stuck to the skin of the main characters.

Three men and a women are the victims and executioners of a determinant and fatal story, prevailed by an ironical view of human nature, in which humour is the caustic way of accepting the injustice of social roles. Outlooks and ways of life that Ventura Pons sets in Valencia, following the original novel, in search of a sentimental scenery instead of a recognizable and phisical period. As for the plot, "Damned Misery" is a claustrophobic film in which, from the very beginning, we suspect that the lust of the characters will prevail over the dramatic evolution of this homely-looking kidnapping. It is a narrative relinquishment in which, all too often, Catalonian imagination -and not only in films- seems to take joyful part.

This vindication of spontaneity with regard to diachronics pays the token price of some wasted gags for the exclusive pleasure of masochistic progressionists, a fact that, although in the director's previous films ended up being the hallmark of a stile, here becomes the side element that does not disturb the objectives of the film.

Technically speaking "Damned Misery" is a successful film that does not go beyond its limits.

The idea that upholds it is credible and despairing: the powerful always rule the roost. The film has two clearly defined parts: the first leads to the kidnapping and subsequent discovery made by Amparo Moreno, and the second begins with her confession, explaining what her relationship with the kidnapped man had been. The first part is the most entertaining and, apparently, has a more harmonious vein than the second, in which the pace decreases. But, despite scenes that are a bit repetitive -such as at the police station, but with a priceless Monleon as a civil guard- it is precisely in this second part that we find the three best scenes of the entire film: that in which Amparo Moreno confronts, alone and for the first time, Antonio Ferrandis and ends up feeding him; where Antonio Ferrandis "buys" Enric Majó's silence and Amparo Moreno is unable to slacken when faced with reality; and the closing scene of the film, in which the two main characters recive God's fury in the form of a cleaning flash of lightning.

We have begun by speaking of the actors and it is only fair to point out the presence of Paco Morell and Angle Burgos, two tattered comedias with moments of real inspiration. It is probable that Amparo Moreno has acted out the role of her career, at least in cinema -she is frankly touching-, while Ferrandis deploys his usual "savoir faire".