26/09/2023 - An alternative ending, different to the one in Sara Mesa’s novel, on which Isabel Coixet’s new film is based, saves this film from becoming unpalatable, blunt, dull stodge

Today’s most sought-after Spanish actress, Laia Costa (winner of the Goya Award for Lullaby [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
film profile]), returns to the microcosm of the rural world after testing the waters in The Enchanted [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – a feature by Elena Trapé that took part in the most recent Málaga Film Festival – thanks to Un amor [+see also:
trailer
interview: Isabel Coixet
film profile], the latest work by Isabel Coixet, who now returns to the San Sebastián Film Festival. This time, Coixet is in the official competition section, after taking part in the event 12 months ago with the non-competitive documentary The Yellow Ceiling [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. In addition, the actress and director are joining forces again, four years after working together on Foodie Love [+see also:
series review
series profile].

Curiously, both works share the word “Amor” (or “Love”) in their titles, but that is where the similarities end. Because while in the colourful, sprightly and affected HBO series, it was the joy of eating (and loving) that fuelled its content, in Un amor, a bittersweet and anguished (and not at all romantic) flavour impregnates everything. Nevertheless, it has to be said that this atmosphere remains quite faithful to the caustic spirit of the book of the same name on which it is based, penned by Sara Mesa.

The storyline of the film introduces us to Nat (played by Costa), who, with little explanation, moves away to live in a damp, dilapidated old house in a town called La Escapa, located at the foot of a rocky and ominous mountain. The owner of the dwelling treats her with almost zero respect, the inhabitants regard her with a certain distrust, and she can only find something akin to affection in a dog that nobody wants and in a foreign fellow, as large and reclusive as a bear, whom they call El Alemán (lit. “The German”, played by Hovik Keuchkerian).

Well, we all know that living in a small town can be hell, and this becomes a crushing burden for Nat, who is forced to lug around the collateral damage of her work within her soul. She translates the statements made by political refugees who are seeking asylum in Europe, and so every day, she has to listen to stories about veritable atrocities committed by humankind.

She is therefore an aloof, mistrustful, long-suffering and dull character, bearing a sad and bitter expression on her face. It’s difficult to empathise with her and her silences, and sometimes it’s hard to understand what she’s doing and why… until a liberating denouement brings what we’ve seen up to that point to a striking close, enabling it to make sense. Here, Coixet has taken the liberty of modifying the literary original, giving it a braver dimension and providing a restorative conclusion to a story that’s harsh to a fault, making the viewer feel simultaneously uncomfortable and astonished.

Because in Un amor, both the author of the book and the director of this film adaptation are uncompromising in the way they portray how society, with all its hypocritical dynamics, can be oppressive to the point that it attempts to drag along whoever refuses to adapt to it. In the movie, this happens to Laia Costa, who feels out of place, misunderstood and extremely alone in this town. That is, until she can take no more, at which point she will end up spitting out all of her pent-up rage, like a dog who has been beaten but still has enough strength left to tear a chunk out of her abusers.

Un amor is a production by Monte Glauco AIE, Buena Pinta Media SLU and Perdición Films SL. Its international sales are handled by Film Constellation.

(Translated from Spanish)

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Photogallery 26/09/2023: San Sebastián 2023 - Un amor

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