MovieChat Forums > En tu ausencia (2008) Discussion > Great movie (some questions-SPOILERS)

Great movie (some questions-SPOILERS)

posted 15 years ago by ddk999
7 replies | jump to latest

What an awesome movie. Great plot, great characters to whom the audience forms a strong connection and who are complex and well-developed. Beautiful cinematography and a great acoustic score which really added great emotional depth to the story.

My only questions are:

******SPOILER ALERT********

1) How did Paco ensure that his car broke down in the town and needed repair, which would keep him there so that he could go about his plan to manipulate Pablo into falling for him? How did he know Pablo would be in the fields at that time so that he could "run into him"?

2) When Paco and Pablo are walking through the town, some kids comment that he may be Pablo's father. Since this is a very small town, wouldn't they know that Pablo's father had died and was buried in the local cemetery?

[–] ynoel-2 15 years ago

Thanks indeed!

1) Wow, specific questions, I can tell someone here is mathematically minded!
The original cut was ...40 mins longer! There was much more detail in it. In the long version we see him taken off a piece of the starter, though it wasn't too obvious. The mechanic later speaks of having to 'get a new part'.
The second question is easier: Paco knew he would find the boy there because he had just been at his house with his mother - which is why the boy asks, the very first time he speaks in the film 'who was that man here this morning'. Paco was obviously already 'roaming' ...the bastard.

2) Well, this is crediting each and every member of the village with mental clarity... it is a little inside 'joke': the boy who says the comment ('luis') is in fact true to character.
In real life, he is still answering questions today that I asked him 2 years ago. Really nice kid, but ...a little slow on the uptake is a way of putting it.

hope that helped.
I try to write water-tight scripts, no stones unturned. My next one ('Brecha') coming out soon, is much more complexe, and I'm hoping nobody finds a loophole!

[–] ddk999 15 years ago

Thank you very much! It is indeed an honor to converse with the writer and director of such a fine movie, even if it is via electronics and across an ocean!

LOL...I am no mathematician. I am a doctor who works with children and adolescents, and I found the performances by the main children in the movie to be so natural and believable. So many movies have children directed to perform like little adults. Pablo's anxiety and awkwardness in the scene where Julia is encouraging him to kiss her, and his panic when she tries to perform a sexual act on him, is so real...

I also was moved by how Pablo's agitation after the discovery of Paco's betrayal appeared to reach dissociative proportions.

It was also interesting how Pablo's own sadness and longing for Paco to assume the role of his departed father made him fail to appreciate how his words towards Julia could be wounding to her, given the loss of her own parents and the dementia of her grandfather (which made him unaware or able to help her as she was assaulted by the mailman). A recurrent theme of the movie, in my eyes, appears to be how people's own needs, desires, and pain can make them insensitive and unempathic to that of others, and how this failure of empathy can have destructive and long-term effects.

[–] mikecobb13 15 years ago

So I am to understand you are the writer director, well then I will write as if you are.

Great story, I was surprised at the video look of the film when it first began but then as the movie progressed I felt it gave the landscape an unseen view a lot of movies miss. It made me feel I was was a fly on the wall watching everything.

As far as the car trouble, it was obvious in my view he was paying with something under the hood, as if he had perfected this game with other young boys.
I must also admit, I was fooled, I believed this man was going to betray the trust of the child other than the real betrayal of the man and his mother. Of course after a while I thought the man had been brought there my his mother to help young Pablo comp with killing his father. Yes it was an accident, but the film showed me the child felt responsible.

Outstanding work by all involved. I must tip my hat to you and your crew and the young first time actors willing to go the extra mile to make a wonderful movie.
I always watch the making of movies and even through the talking was not sub-titled the few bit's and pieces made it was interesting to watch. Brave dog I must say.

There is so much more I could write on this movie, but time to put it to rest. I look forward to seeing your next film. I'm sure I won't see it on the big screen, but net-fix is pretty cool.

Thanks for the film and keep going.

[–] ynoel-2 15 years ago

There are no questions above, so I'll limit myself to thanking you (and the others) for the support towards this film. It was a shot in the dark, and risky, but seemed to work out well in the end.
I hope you are not dissapointed with the new one 'Brecha'...(takes SO long for these things to come out).
I am in post-production of my third 'Primary!' (a comedy on primary school)
and in pre-production of my 4th film 'Vuelve' ('Come Back'), an emotional thriller/horror movie of maternal love from beyond the tomb, as always shot with my students.

Best wishes,

Ivan Noel

p.s. I didn't WANT the video look! It was not intended to appear thus in the DVD.

[–] mlang_dvd 15 years ago

I didn't WANT the video look! It was not intended to appear thus in the DVD.

Was the movie shot on film or on video? Could you add the technical specifications on this sub-page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1289396/technical? It's a pity the DVD isn't mastered properly.

[–] JeffL1965 14 years ago

ynoel-2 wrote: I didn't WANT the video look! It was not intended to appear thus in the DVD.

************************************

Really? May I ask why? I think it added to the realism of the story, and it certainly made the local flora stand out in all it's beauty.

[–] daddyd-2 15 years ago

I have to agree with the opinion that this is a great film. But then again, most that have such a subtle underlying theme usually are. I watched it for the first time today and immediately watched it a second time listening to the audio commentary by the actor who played Paco and the director. Lots of insight when you listen to that.

The story is simple yet very powerful in showing how misconceptions can conjure up the worst in some people. This being how the villagers, the postman in particular can judge someone they know nothing about with only what they want to see and believe him to be bad. And especially the postman being guilty of what he is accusing the stranger of being, when he goes after Julia for sex. The only pervert in the story was the one who was pointing the biggest finger.

I found it so believable to see how desperate a child can be when longing for a friend (father figure) after losing his and him remember mostly bad times with his own father. Poor Pablo was willing to give anything to keep the relationship with Paco alive even if that meant giving himself. No there was no happy ending in this story as is true in much of real life. That is what makes this story so believable. I look forward to seeing more films by this film maker and also from the three main actors, Paco, Pablo and Julia. They were all great.