Just a quick note to say that tonight (though annoyingly coming down with a sniffly cold — aargh!) I trekked in the dark across the rapidly-vanishing glacier that is Parc Jeanne-Mance to yet another pelí at Festivalissimo. The fest wraps up on Sunday night, and there’s still a film or two I want to catch before it’s over. This one was called Astronautas (can you translate that? aren’t you amazing, yes: “Astronauts”) and set in Andalucía.
I said it would be a quick note, so I’d better make this a short paragraph… What a wonderfully quirky and charming film! Not exactly Amélie, yet somehow reminiscent in its dark-yet-lightness, unpredictability and visual style. Except…it’s about a recovering 40-year-old heroin addict and a 15-year-old girl. It unfolds slowly and takes you awhile to figure out what’s going on. Trying to be “normal”, is what’s going on, for one character at least. The characters are sort of on opposite roads and yet are both seeking something — their paths intersect and interact beautifully. Charming (did I already say that?) story; good acting; effective and fun (inexpensive) visual effects.