Despite the fact that 'The Eternal Memory' is well-made and sheds light on a topic that affects many people around the world, I didn't find it to be particularly engaging. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that I personally have already had to deal with Alzheimer's cases in my family, so this documentary didn't really tell me anything new. On the other hand, it would certainly have helped if I had been familiar with the work of the Chilean journalist Augusto Góngora, whose Alzheimer's disease is the subject of this film, and his wife, actress Paulina Urrutia, beforehand. If you've followed their careers in the past, 'The Eternal Memory' will likely have a completely different impact. Nevertheless, I was at least somewhat moved by the movie overall - if only because it is a very familiar topic.
A beautiful love story that reflects on memory from the illness that leads to oblivion. This kind of approach to a patient raises certain doubts about how appropriate they may be and the degree of intrusion involved in placing a camera in front of the psychological degradation of the protagonist. But accepting that it is a respectful look that tries to be honest, it achieves a very outstanding dose of emotion. Although it loses some balance when it remains halfway in the confrontation between individual memory and the collective memory of a country, which also faces oblivion.
Sidney Flanigan is absolutely brilliant in this playing a troubled teen with a secret to keep. It's hyper-real at times. We can feel her pain. Some utterly heartbreaking scenes including one single take piece of quality cinema.
It's downbeat, sombre, melancholic and moody. And those are it's best qualities. The viewer is reminded of British cinema in the vein of Andrea Arnold and perhaps Cristian Mungiu's '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'. It's not over scripted, and it has a lovely washed out colour palette to ram home the "realness". Eliza Hittman is an extremely talented film-maker - Beach Rats was good, this is even better.
8.2/10
It notably shows the impulse of youth, but also the need to fit into a society that pushes towards the most superficial representations of personal satisfaction. The third act is downright disturbing, and the way the camera zooms in on Tara's face is more expressive than any explanatory dialogue. It is an intelligent film that knows how to set the pace and develop events in such a way that there is always a certain suspense due to what has happened or what is about to happen. Concern is built from the apparent normality.
Due to my complete lack of prior knowledge on the matter, I found every revelation and change of perspective to be extremely captivating. I could have spoiled myself the turning point just by watching the trailer or paying too much attention to the posters.
However, I couldn’t help noticing several contrived plot points and characters’ behaviors that came across as unnatural, serving primarily to create artificial payoffs or simply to advance the narrative according to the agenda. Moreover, I found the ending somewhat lackluster, if not downright banal.
[RTVE Play] Fragments of love with 3D animated paintings. Unattainable loves, lost loves, loves recovered through a shop window, permanent loves and traveling loves. Alberto Mariego shows different kind of loving expressions, passionate, wrapped in colors (blue, red...), almost impossible definitions, but enveloping and hypnotic. Get love back before it's too late. Soko sings: "We might be dead tomorrow."
