Opening 27 Jul 2017
Directed by:
Juan Zapata
Writing credits:
Daniela Escobar, Juan Zapata
Principal actors:
Daniela Escobar, Marlon Moreno, Peter Ketnath, Barbara Scolaro, Mary Pedroso
A small international art house film, Another Forever was shot in seven countries: USA, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Columbia, Spain, and Brazil. Co-screenwriter and star Daniela Escobar mimes more than acts; Alice is clearly morose, grieving, and unresponsive to surroundings. Flashbacks introduce us to John (Moreno), and their obviously affectionate, comfortable relationship. Deadly slow, the crux of the film is this shifting backward/forward from a happy-faced to woebegone Alice. Eventually, Alice budges. On her pilgrimage choices are presented: options inside an envelope, a reawakening coincidence (Ketnath), an empathetic encounter (Mr. Wim) that feeds body and soul. After a fashion, she arrives where and with whom she wants to be with.
Juan Zapata co-wrote the screenplay and directs. Missing is character development: why should we care about Alice? John? Ana (Scolaro)? The background story amounts to showing Alice and John enjoying an affluent lifestyle in predominantly closely framed shots at home. No interaction with friends or family, and minimal dialogue at best. Thanks to Pablo Chasseraux’s impressive cinematography, visual interest is held and the many location sites are unobtrusive, a credit to Lisi Kieling and Onon’s editing, although the sea lions shot is a stretch. Jon Kahn’s lyrics perfunctorily fill-in for dialogue, until by the end the music is superfluous. Most people are impatient with cursory films; still, it would be interesting to see what these filmmakers would produce with a stronger screenplay. (Marinell Haegelin)
