The Miracle of P. Tinto

Tinto and his wife Olivia, who live beside a railway crossing in Spain, cannot have children. The church counsels patience, the neighbours offer advice and the years pass. Eventually two strange creatures land in their house and the couple adopt them. From there the film abandons logic entirely. The film is not interested in story. It is interested in visual gags: there is one in every frame, and the crowded, absurd design is its real body. The humour is close to the Spanish comics tradition, particularly the Mortadelo line. The form is heavily designed: wide-angle lenses, distorted faces, sets packed with detail and background characters in constant motion. It is Javier Fesser's first feature. He would later adapt that same comics universe and make some of Spain's most watched comedies. The film gained a cult audience on release and is almost unknown outside Spain. Luis Ciges plays Tinto. Who it is for: viewers who like absurd visual comedy and Spanish humour. Who it is not for: anyone looking for narrative. The film discards plot entirely, the humour is very local and most of the jokes are lost in translation.