Once Alex arrives at her sunny Silver Lake abode filled with blinding white Ikea furniture and fabrics, it becomes clear that the entire movie will revolve only around these two characters. And the title of the movie-which is the distance that is about to pull them apart-materializes onscreen. Meanwhile, Sergi realizes his hopes and dreams, including that baby whose name is already being debated, are being put on hold. The emotional temperature onscreen drops a few degrees as Alex learns she has been offered her dream assignment, a freelance photography gig in Los Angeles. That is when an email arrives, with the effect of a grenade being thrown into the room. Alex ( Natalia Tena), focused, driven and practical, immediately logs on to her laptop after breakfast.
Sergi ( David Verdaguer), playful, demonstrative and nurturing, is nicknamed “Squid” for his fondness for long showers. They then perform the dance of domesticity on a lazy Sunday morning, brushing their teeth and making coffee in their cramped Barcelona apartment as their personalities reveal themselves. As they catch their breath in bed, talk turns to their attempts at having a baby. The 20-minute-plus take starts off with an early-morning bout of vigorous sex between a millennial-age couple, still passionate after seven years together. Marques-Marcet certainly knows how to capture our attention judging from his opening scene. As a result, “10,000 KM” instead feels authentic and raw, with only the occasional risk of torpor sneaking through. This sort of Cassavetes-esque filmmaking is the polar opposite of something like “Men, Women and Children,” Jason Reitman’s over-reaching attempt to put digital-age risks in perspective on a grand scale. That isn’t exactly an earth-shattering insight, but first-time director Carlos Marques-Marcet comes close to emulating what it is like to attempt to maintain a personal connection via services such as Skype by stripping his story down to its essentials: a man, a woman and a loving relationship that is sorely put to the test. Virtual simply can’t beat reality when it comes to bonding over the small details of human existence, whether cuddling, arguing or sharing a joke. The difference is, the cell phones, laptops and tablets that provide access to email, text messages, social media outlets and video-chat features are supposed to make us feel more connected to one another, not less.īut as demonstrated in “10,000 KM,” in which long-distance lovers struggle to bridge the vast gulf between Spain and Southern California during a year-long separation, those screens are more likely to act as frustrating barriers than accessible portals into your partner’s miles-away soul.
There are countless high-tech gadgets to distract us from engaging in face-to-face conversation and physical interaction. Indeed, TV now has plenty of competition for our ever-shortening attention spans.
0 kommentar(er)
