The tagline for this one is: Is long distance the wrong distance? This
award-winning entry from Spain/USA (Special Jury Recognition for Best
Acting Duo: SXSW; Best Film, Actor, Actress and New Screenwriter: Malaga
Spanish Film Festival) gives us video chats (Skype), texts, e-mails,
Facebook status updates and phone calls between Los Angeles and
Barcelona.
Director Carlos Marques-Marcet brings us:
- Natalia Tena as Alex,
a professional photographer who has put her career on hold to stay in
Barcelona with her lover of seven years. She is flattered and excited to
be offered a grant to exhibit her work in Los Angeles. She expects to
be away for a year.
- David Verdaguer is Sergi, studying for
his board exams so he can become tenured. He is funny, considerate and
extremely creative but he doesn't want to leave Spain.
I am
convinced that these two are stage-trained actors because I have rarely
seen (at least in modern filmmaking) actors capable of carrying a scene
from beginning to end with few or no cuts, no editing and no tricks.
These are highly capable performers! No wonder they won awards. The
characters' use of social media is unusual, to put it mildly. Expect
many sexual situations and forthright language (these are adults, after
all), but be prepared to appreciate those long uncut scenes.
Naturally we would like to see our lovers be extraordinary and perfect, however that is NOT real life... Sigh...
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