A deep love of "Vertigo" motivates director Julio Medem to jump into an almost empty swimming pool. Problem is 'V" was a second rate film to fall in love with to begin with. (Question: Did the producers have to pay royalties to the estate of Bernard Herrmann for the almost literal use of some of his music?) So what happens because of the second rated-ness of "V"is that "Red Squirrel" becomes a third rate movie before one's very eyes. Towards the end of it we learn in flashback that Lisa was seen in passing by Jay before the accident that supposedly brings two strangers together and that this brief sighting so smote him that he wrote what would become his favorite song. In the beginning Jay is about to off himself, for reasons ultimately that are never revealed, when he witnesses a motorcycle smashing off an elevated road and landing in the sand of a beach. But folks, the woman driving turns out to be Lisa (Elisa), who he had already met and fallen desperately in love with, after seeing her for less than sixty seconds. THE EXTREMELY LONG ARM OF COINCIDENCE ONCE AGAIN POISONS THE WELL. Sometime later in the movie we learn from Elisa/Sofia's brother that she was never hurt badly enough to suffer from amnesia. Even Hitchcock didn't mess up logic this much. Jay, because of his lying about E/S being his live-in girlfriend and subsequent behavior indicates that he should be in a mental hospital getting daily analysis and the appropriate medication. Perhaps too a red squirrel may have deep psychological meaning to the Spanish nation but to this North American, the repeatedly visual references to it had zero affect. By the way, a massively huge problem with Red Squirrel was that the subtitles were out of sync with the actors lips. Whoever the bottom feeder was who allowed this to happen should be horsewhipped at the grave of Luis Bunuel.

While struggling to have courage to jump off from a bridge to commit suicide, the musician Jota (Nancho Novo) that misses his girlfriend witnesses an accident with a motorcycle, with the rider falling down on the beach. Jota helps the unknown woman that has amnesia and goes in the ambulance with her to the hospital. Jota invents her name, calling her Lisa (Emma Suárez), and also that they have been living together for four years in his apartment nearby the beach. On the next morning, Jota visits Lisa, who is in session with the psychologist; then he leaves the hospital with her telling that she was discharged. Jota reinvents Lisa's past and travels with her to the camping "La Ardilla Roja", where they befriend the family of a taxi driver. When a stranger comes to the camping claiming that Lisa's name is Sophia indeed and that he is her husband, Jota feels trapped in his lies and questions whether Sophia has had amnesia."La Ardilla Roja" is a weird and entertaining love story, with an original and surrealistic screenplay and bizarre characters and situations. The gorgeous Emma Suárez has a stunning performance and shows a great chemistry with the odd and unusual Jota, performed by Nancho Novo. The climax with the arrival of Felix to the camp site is strange and a little disappointing, but the happy end fits well to the plot. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Esquilo Vermelho" ("The Red Squirrel")

The Spanish version of Vertigo, this story is more than meets the eye. The plot if very much one sided. Although you do great a nice switch at the end of the movie, the journey getting there is better. A sweet ending with not much to it, the audience is given a happy ending like in much fiction. Emma Suarez is amazing. She steals every scene with her seduction. From the start of the movie, it appears that Emma plays the victim. As the story unfolds, she becomes the aggressor in more ways than one.

This movie was a unique experience for me: I entered the cinema during the 2nd minute when Emma Suarez just crashes with her motorcycle and was immediately absorbed by it. A magical intriguing story unravels in which the plot seems to be important; actually the process of your thinking while watching this movie is more important, guided by powerful images and sounds. Julio Medem proves to fit in the Spanish tradition of storytellers using slightly distorted or original images that refer to very basic and elemental issues like nature, earth, food and sex and suggesting supernatural events. Reviewing the movie with the knowledge that Julio Medem studied medicine before becoming a director adds to insight in the script. If Hitchcock had been still living he would definitely approve of the romantic atmosphere of this thriller!! The three actors playing the main characters also appear in Medems other movies, which in itself starts to form a magic oeuvre. La ardilla Roja, or "the red squirrel" received many prizes at a number of film festivals, including the Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival. I only regret that Julio Medem himself hasn't been playing a character in one of his own films, because he is one of the most handsome men I've ever seen: beating Banderas with a street length!!