The ninth and final day, at a special festival that will remember me with great affection. Leaving two films risky for the last day, I'm writing this first chronicle with the music of a bar, because I didn't like the movie I saw before.
I've seen Ulysses in the program of the four, in the Principe. Or rather, an hour and a quarter work in which three short stories are collected.
In the first of the stories, we have met the immigrant mother and her son who live in Madrid. The father, who had left before the child was born, is waiting for him to return. In the second, we will see a Japanese man and a Basque woman in San Sebastian, among friends and getting to know us. In the third, we have seen the celebration of a Japanese family, a simple and silent celebration in memory of the deceased.
I thought it was a very slow work: it uses static and too long plans to tell stories; improvised and natural conversations, but which arouse little interest; slow, contemplative, silent scenes. Silence can be a very powerful tool in film, but if misused it can make the film very heavy. The silence of the last scene may have some strength, but after an hour, I would dare to say that few people, including myself, have been able to appreciate it.
It has not been very well received by the public. In the end, there have been very few applause, only from those that are given out politely. And when I came out, I also heard murmurs and complaints from people. There have also been those who have called the film “robbery”, and those who have asked their colleague for the reasons they have applauded. Although I found some to be too harsh, partly or partly, I have agreed with some views, and I am sure you have denounced my face.
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How to cope with it
To finish the festival, I've seen a very hard documentary called Saturn. Director Daniel Tornero tells a very personal and violent case. His grandfather has been tried for a case of pederastia and abuse and has not yet been admitted to prison, so there is no firm sentence as he is processing appeals to higher courts. On this occasion, the film tells the story of her family.
The experiences of the family, of course, are terribly cruel, and we see the horror that has caused the crime of grandfather. But in addition to the crime, the type of man who has been grandfather is analyzed and the influence that grandfather has had on his son, the father of the family, is observed.
At first, a son has made a rather harsh accusation: that he has been emotionally absent. She tells her that this is what her grandfather looks like and that hurts her father a lot, so a serious and discarded discussion begins between them. From there, it is observed how characters and ways of acting are transmitted between the different generations of the family.
The protagonist of the documentary, who was originally a grandfather, ends up delving into his father’s character. It has not drawn clear conclusions, but it has been a very personal piece of work. It has many silences and a slow pace, necessary to express the seriousness of the situation, in my opinion. Everything recorded is also real, and it reaches the inside. My grandfather, who has not yet been incarcerated, is given many interviews, and sometimes that has made me uncomfortable. However, who am I to tell you how the director should treat your personal situation? With a serious but rather positive end, it does not, moreover, leave such a bad feeling, a good option, in my view.
And with this latest criticism, my work is over, along with Zinemaldia. I've seen good, very good and terrible movies; slow and boring movies; applause and few tears; and, I'm not going to lie to you, I've seen and heard people sleeping and snoring in the movies. In the end, film has to bring everything together: well, better, better and snore.
Bound in Heaven
Address: Xin Huo
Country: China
Duration: 109 minutes
Premiere: Not implemented
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