Country: Chile / Netherlands
Movie Review: Chilean Dominga Sotomayor Castillo’s directorial debut, despite its good intentions, was not a film for me to remember. Set in Santiago, the story follows a family road trip, seen by the perspective of Lucia (Santi Ahumada), the eldest child of a couple who struggles to stay together. Lucia, being sensitive and smart, certainly will remember this small vacation period, since she gives subtle signs of preoccupation about her family’s future. The performances were naturally convincing but this film seems more an exercise on dispersed life details than an effective story with beginning, middle, and end. Within the first hour of its 96 minutes, nothing really relevant happens and I got a bit lost in the apathy and vagueness of the most frivolous occurrences. After that period, we start to glimpse in a clearer way the director’s intentions but my patience had already gone away, making me wish the end of this little tale. The cinematography by Barbara Alvarez never impressed me with its highlighted whites in daylight and almost imperceptible moves in the dark of the night. The script, also written by the filmmaker, was too basic for the screen and presented with a sleepy and inconsequent sequences of images. It was a pity, since I really enjoyed the performances and the subject matter had potentiality to become much more appealing to the viewer. Notwithstanding, the film collected prizes in several Festivals, including Buenos Aires, Rotterdam, and Valdivia.
