Reviewed by Michael Edwards
Stars Eireann Harper, Diego Cataño, Michele Alban, Cristina Orozco, Mariana Elizondo, Pia Elizondo, Emilia Garcia, Mateo Garcia,
Jeronimo Garcia, Paulina Lavista, Pablo Elizondo
Written by Jonás Cuarón
Certification UK 15
Runtime 78 minutes
Directed by Jonás Cuarón
A rare beast in the film world, Año Uña is made up entirely of photos. All of the pictures were taken in 'real life' by director Jonás Cuarón and a fictional story subsequently voiced over the artificial assemblage he has created. It's an interesting idea, and one bound to draw comparison with Chris Marker's classic 'photo novel' La Jetée. However, Cuarón's film is a very different beast.
Using still photos creates an atmosphere that is very different, and in Marker's short film this is emphasised by the story being narrated rather than lived. Cuarón, in contrast, uses the voices of all but one of the characters (the grandfather of the pictures, to whom the film is dedicated, sadly passed away in reality) to create his tale. What's more, his is not an abstract tale of time and space but rather an intimate look into the workings of the minds of a young teenage boy and an American sociology student who is uncomfortable with the identity her life and her society has imposed upon.
The apparent conflict between still image and the very clearly progressing narrative is a little uncomfortable, even as it is eased by subtle zooms and pans across each image presented to us, but the overall effect is one of a series of moments frozen in time by each of those voices as they viscerally experience it for themselves. But with this fleeting moment of intensity comes the inevitable sense of loss, and this is forcefully conveyed to us by the thoughtful characters who frequently declare that it is precisely this transitory and finite nature of things that makes them so special.
The intimacy and intensity of this film is really something to be treasured, and makes for an intriguing experience. But be warned that the dialogue is occasionally a little low on subtlety, with characters declaring their thoughts and feelings with far less nuance than is normally expected of a film with such artistic pretenses.
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SECOND OPINION | Janina Conboye **½ The Tate Modern ... a stalwart of modern art, which to me isn't often ore inspiring or able to provoke particularly strong emotions.Yet, whether it be the finished piece or the concept behind it, modern art always triggers curiosity and gets you talking — even if you detest it. This film is similar, it's not massively striking and doesn't trigger any particular emotion with force, but it is curious. It derived from an installation of thousands of photographs taken by the director, Jonas Cuaron and is an original and interesting concept. The idea for the film began with the novel, Elsinore, by Salvador Elizondo in which he describes a character with the power to know, from looking at a single image, if the subject portrayed is alive or dead — a photograph is the promise of a moment's permanence.
So, after mounting all of his pictures, Cuaron saw a narrative in his photographs, which subsequently make up his film - a story made up of still images that come together to bring us a story. The story is that of an impossible romance between 21-year-old Molly (Harper) and Diego (Catano), a Mexican in the throes of puberty. Molly travels to Mexico, where she rents a room in Diego's house. A close relationship develops between them. Molly likes Diego and his flirtations, finding the attention and respect missing from her relationships with various older boyfriends, including her university professor. Molly returns to New York. Diego misses her and decides to run away to New York to win Molly's heart. It's a charming story and the way in which it has been constructed using photographs could make for some interesting post film chit-chat with friends — as with all modern art, make of it what you will.