One of the best films at TIFF this year is Delfina Castagnino’s What I Most Want, which is about two women – Maria (Maria Villar) and Pilar (Pilar Gamboa) – and the week they spend together in Pilar’s hometown in Patagonia as they cope with their respective problems. Maria is at the tail-end of her four-year relationship with her boyfriend which has gone very sour; Pilar copes with the recent death of her father and the subsequent responsibilities that come with that such as managing her father’s extensive land and business. The two friends need each other to cope, yet they cannot fully communicate their pain to each other and so we watch them experience loneliness in the company of a close friend and we also see how that company gives them security and comfort.
The films opens on the backs of Maria and Pilar, sitting silently in front of a beautiful look-out point in Patagonia. After a few minutes they begin to talk about breathing classes and gossip and relationships, the conversation flows the way real conversation flows: sometimes there are long pauses of acceptable silence and sometimes dialogue is continuous with a realistic fast-paced rhythm. They are charming and bright and we like them instantly.
In both her writing and directing, Castagnino has mastered the art of conversation and silence. The film is shot in a series of long takes each with a still camera, and each take can last ten minutes or longer still. These long takes allow us to experience these characters in “real-time”: we can enter their world and really experience the awkwardness of silences and the excitement of flowing conversation. Such long takes require remarkable acting skills and Castagnino has found such mastery in these two exquisite actresses. Both actresses started out in theatre, which is perhaps why they are able to carry their performances throughout these long takes.
Near the beginning of the film, Maria gets a phone call from her boyfriend, and we follow her on the phone for about five or ten minutes. We watch as her body language changes from completely open and confident to slowly becoming more enclosed and less self-assured. We can hear subtle changes in her voice as the effects of this emotionally-demanding conversation begin to take their toll on her. We see her suppressing her desire to cry – she needs to cry but she does not want to – as she hears, what we can only imagine, is something very hurtful. We never hear what her boyfriend says but it doesn’t matter: we can see it all on her face. Here we experience silence and minimal dialogue, but we follow Maria on her emotional journey completely: the words spoken are just enough and just right. Continue reading
Departures is a new Japanese film about a man, Daigo, whose dream to be a concert cellist fails because he lacks the necessary talent, and so is forced to make other plans. He moves from Tokyo back home to a small town, where news seems to travel surprisingly slowly. Untrained in any profession other than music, he answers a classified ad in the newspaper for a job in “departures”, thinking he is applying to work at a travel agency, only to discover it was a misprint and a job about “the departed”. The job interview lasts 2 minutes; the interviewer asks Daigo if he will work hard, Daigo responds “yes, sir!”, the interviewer tells him he’s hired and hands him a pile of cash. When Daigo discovers the job deals with dead people, he is hesitant, having never seen a corpse before or had to deal with death. Nevertheless, upon discovering how well it pays, Daigo decides to accept the job.
