And so it begins! The opening film of 2016's Athens International Film Festival is Pedro Almodövar's newest creation, Julieta. But, is it a success?
Almodóvar has always been a unique director. He tells simple stories about life in the most intriguing way making the events he describes seem relatable and distant at the same time. And he also loves his women. His most recent film is an adaptation of three short stories (Chance, Soon, Silence) by Alice Munro from her collection named Runaway. It is the story of Julieta who writes about her life in a letter addressed to her estranged daughter.
Julieta may have lived a full life but it has been one of disappointment, sudden changes, unexpected love and betrayals. She is played by two women, Adriana Ugarte who plays Julieta at a younger age and Emma Suárez who is the older Julieta.
When we first meet our heroine, she is a content woman who is in a happy relationship and prepares to move -possibly permanently- to Portugal. But when she accidentaly meets her daughter's best childhood friend she seems to have a mental breakdown and we soon realise that she hasn't been in touch with her daughter for many years.
Her life story is told in flashbacks as she tries to discover - as we do, alongside with her- the reason behind her only child's disappearance. And that's that. The plot is linear without any particular surprises and even though the story is an interesting one and the direction is rather poetic at times, the film never reaches a clear conclusion or a much-implied big revelation. It is as though it tries to create questions out of nowhere - questions that we will never get to see answered. And by the time we reach the end it is like there was no reason for those questions in the first place.
Her life story is told in flashbacks as she tries to discover - as we do, alongside with her- the reason behind her only child's disappearance. And that's that. The plot is linear without any particular surprises and even though the story is an interesting one and the direction is rather poetic at times, the film never reaches a clear conclusion or a much-implied big revelation. It is as though it tries to create questions out of nowhere - questions that we will never get to see answered. And by the time we reach the end it is like there was no reason for those questions in the first place.
Julieta was the opening film of the AIFF. It will also be shown on the 23rd of September.
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