The title of my review (if IMDb permits) is taken from a quote by Salvador Dali in 1969 regarding rumors of a Dali-Lorca affair. The full quote, epitomizing Dali's unbridled humor and arrogance is as follows:"He was homosexual, as everyone knows, and madly in love with me. He tried to screw me twice... I was extremely annoyed, because I wasn't homosexual, and I wasn't interested in giving in. Besides, it hurts. So nothing came of it. But I felt awfully flattered vis-à-vis the prestige. Deep down I felt that he was a great poet and that I owe him a tiny bit of the Divine Dali's a(..)hole."And with that, let's now talk about the movie.Although vividly denied by Dali, speculation of a romance between Dali & Lorca is the story of "Little Ashes". This is important to note up front, because if you're looking for a film that delves into the passion & inspiration behind Dali's art, Lorca's poetry and Buñuel's films, you'll be disappointed. This is mostly a straightforward love story with only a few substantial references to the 3 young men's creations (Lorca recites 2 poems, Dali displays 1 painting, and we get no more than 5 sec of Buñuel's film references, including the infamous slashed eyeball scene from "Un Chien Andalou").What makes this film separate from any other generic forbidden love story is the interesting portrayal of the characters. Whether historically accurate or not, their personalities jump out of the screen at you, particularly Dali played by Rob Pattinson a.k.a. the Twilight studmuffin. Pattinson's Dali is decidedly NOT a studmuffin but instead a very awkward, dorky kid which instantly reminded me of some of Johnny Depp's early roles ("Benny & Joon", "Edward Scissorhands", "Don Juan Demarco"). But fused with his dorkiness is an overbearing arrogance which comes to the surface more frequently as the film progresses."Little Ashes", however, is not about Dali and certainly not about Buñuel (who is really a minor character) but is mostly from Lorca's perspective. In that respect, it's fitting that the affair (which never happened, according to Dali) would be exaggerated and poetic. If you noticed in the Dali statement I quoted, he did admit that Lorca was "madly in love" with him, and that is what the film portrays in a very poetic and sentimental way.Although I was initially disappointed because I wanted to see more of Dali's art & creativity, I liked the forbidden, one-sided love story because it was well done and made good use of recognizable characters & events in history. Thus you could say I liked it in the end (uh, which is more than we can say for Dali. Heh heh).

This film came to my attention because Robert Pattinson is in it, but it is an amazing movie. It is a small film but I don't think that big budget films are always that good anyway. The strange live of Dali is explained and his love is shown. Robert Pattinson has done a amazing job with portraying Dali. Some people may find this film boring but i find it rather interesting. This movie is not a feel good movie, but a beautiful drama. The accents were a little annoying. It's to bad that this film does not get the attention it deserves. A great script, amazing acting, and a rare story is what makes this an amazing movie. I have enjoyed it and I hope more people will.

I can't help but be slightly worried about anyone that professes this to be the Best Movie Ever, it was really quite bad! I've marked it 2/10 purely for Beltran's performance but the rest... well, the accents made me wince & the acting was really quite wooden and awkward for the most part. As good an actor as Pattinson is, this was a disastrous bit of casting - I thought he actually looked a bit embarrassed at times.... I do believe this would have been a lot better if the whole cast & dialogue was Spanish with some subtitles for us; the story itself is an interesting one and it would have been much more believable - and much less distracting - if that were the case.

I have to admit that it took a while for me to get around to renting this on DVD partially because of the subject matter (out in left field for me) and partially due to the mixed reviews. Went into it expecting at best mixed feelings about it but "Brilliant" was the first word to mind as the end credits rolled. It's a complex and, at times, slightly confusing character study (sort of like Dali himself). The movie focuses mostly on the personalities and how they affect each other rather than on their art. I didn't really know anything about Dali, Lorca, and Bunuel before but had to google and learn more about them after viewing this movie. Definitely peaks your interest into some very complex personalities and their artistic endeavours. Very well acted all around, especially given the challenging nature of these characters and relationships. Robert Pattinson yet again proves his ability to make you forget the actor and see the character. His portrayal of Dali's metamorphosis from shy, awkward art student to flamboyant character is brilliant and courageous. Not a "safe" role and he puts himself out there heart, mind and soul. Amazingly well done for such a young actor! True talent. Javier Beltran (Lorca), Matthew McNulty (Bunuel), and Marina Gatell (Magdelena) are also excellent.