Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes
A film from Chile sometimes comes close to the sublime but also loses its step.
The very title of this film written and directed by José Luis Torres Leiva is an act of defiance in itself given that it is so off-putting in its sense of foreboding. Had the film been a horror movie that would not have applied of course, but Torres is offering something entirely different: a small, intimate tragedy that is nevertheless overwhelming for those involved. Ana (Amparo Noguera) and María (Julieta Figueroa) are devoted to one another, but the film only introduces us to them when it is already known that María is dying. Cancer is not actually named in the film and Leiva also chooses to give us few background details regarding these lovers and their relationship. It seems likely that this decision was taken so that the film could concentrate fully on how they relate to one another in this period of their lives. With outstanding performances from both actresses, the film captures their intimacy, the togetherness they possess and the intense care that Ana shows for María. Early on there is also a scene of the utmost delicacy in which María, having put on a brave front in Ana's presence, takes a solitary walk, starts to cry uncontrollably and receives succour from a male passer-by who chances to see her and to appreciate her state of mind.
Soon to get its British release is The Two of Us, an affecting study of two elderly lesbians, and parts of Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes bring that film to mind. The scenes shared by the two actresses here are so sensitively done that it would not surprise me if some lesbians found them in their quiet way outstandingly memorable. However, this element although central is hardly enough to sustain a full feature and Torres seeks to achieve a standard running length by inserting additional sequences which in the event fit in uneasily. Two of these are stories told by María both of which are visualised. The first features a girl in the forest and is so unheralded as to be disruptive when it appears, while the second - said to be about María's uncle - is about a gay encounter that doesn't readily belong in this context. The ending - a kind of coda looking to the future - also feels misjudged and there are a few scenes that seem confusing as well as out of place.
All told, the impact of the film is very variable and on occasion it's a touch pretentious (the fact that the title is a quotation from Cesare Pavese is not made clear and similarly only outside information that I found clarifies the source of a poem quoted by María). But, if you put everything else to one side, the film is special in its handling of the profound bond that exists between Ana and María showing us simultaneously the happiness of what they have together and the tragedy of losing it as death approaches. These scenes are remarkable and all the more so because the writer/director is a man.
Original title: Vendrá la Muerte y Tendrá Tus Ojos.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Amparo Noguera, Julieta Figueroa, Nona Fernández, Ignacio Agüero, Edgardo Castro, Mariano González, Naldy Hernandez, Belén Herrara.
Dir José Luis Torres Leiva, Pro Catalina Vergara, Screenplay José Luis Torres Leiva, Ph Cristian Soto, Art Dir Catalena Devia, Ed Andrea Chignoli and José Luis Torres Leiva.
Globo Rojo Films/Autentika Film/CSP Films/Compañía De Cine-Mubi.
89 mins. Chile/Germany/Argentina. 2019. Rel: 19 May 2021. Available on Mubi. No Cert.
