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Traditional wedding vows usually include the promise from both parts to love and be with the other "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part." This sounds so charming and moving during the wedding, but not so much when the actual "worse" comes around five, ten, twenty years down the road; and sometimes one or both parts can't hold out any longer.
Avatar is a short film from Spanish filmmaker Lluis Quilez that presents us a couple in that situation. It follows a wheelchair-bound husband (Sebastián Haro) as he is subjected to a tense bath from his wife (Rosana Pastor). From the get-go, you can see there's distance between the two, and this is proven as the short progresses. Evidently, the "worse" and the "sickness" came, and there was no room to love and cherish.
This short film was recommended by filmmaker Tim Egan, when I interviewed him earlier this year. He cited it as an inspiration for him while calling it both beautiful and heart-breaking. I suppose that the same can be said about marriage. Anybody that has been married long enough knows that the time you spend together with this other person is bound to have both beautiful and heart-breaking moments, so it's just a thing to try to navigate those moments together.
From a technical standpoint, the short is great. Direction, cinematography, editing, everything is in the right place. But what makes it for me is the performances from Haro and Pastor, both of which make so much with just facial expressions and looks. There's hardly any dialogue and yet you get all you need to know from their body language, and it's impressive.
There is a tragic beauty in how Quílez slowly unfolds what's happening. Like with any family and personal situation, there are a hundred things we don't know about others, and when it hits you towards the end, you can't help but feel sorry for them. For better, for richer, and in health is easy; for worse, for poorer, and in sickness might require us to hold out longer for things to change... or just to let go.
Grade:
AVATAR
(2005, Quílez)
(2005, Quílez)
"Every time you hold out longer."
Traditional wedding vows usually include the promise from both parts to love and be with the other "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part." This sounds so charming and moving during the wedding, but not so much when the actual "worse" comes around five, ten, twenty years down the road; and sometimes one or both parts can't hold out any longer.
Avatar is a short film from Spanish filmmaker Lluis Quilez that presents us a couple in that situation. It follows a wheelchair-bound husband (Sebastián Haro) as he is subjected to a tense bath from his wife (Rosana Pastor). From the get-go, you can see there's distance between the two, and this is proven as the short progresses. Evidently, the "worse" and the "sickness" came, and there was no room to love and cherish.
This short film was recommended by filmmaker Tim Egan, when I interviewed him earlier this year. He cited it as an inspiration for him while calling it both beautiful and heart-breaking. I suppose that the same can be said about marriage. Anybody that has been married long enough knows that the time you spend together with this other person is bound to have both beautiful and heart-breaking moments, so it's just a thing to try to navigate those moments together.
From a technical standpoint, the short is great. Direction, cinematography, editing, everything is in the right place. But what makes it for me is the performances from Haro and Pastor, both of which make so much with just facial expressions and looks. There's hardly any dialogue and yet you get all you need to know from their body language, and it's impressive.
There is a tragic beauty in how Quílez slowly unfolds what's happening. Like with any family and personal situation, there are a hundred things we don't know about others, and when it hits you towards the end, you can't help but feel sorry for them. For better, for richer, and in health is easy; for worse, for poorer, and in sickness might require us to hold out longer for things to change... or just to let go.
Grade: