There would appear to be a growing force behind cinema from Chile in recent years. Pablo Larraín’s No recently became the first Chilean film to be nominated for foreign language film at the Oscars whereas his previous films Tony Manero and Post-Mortem have joined the likes of Patricio Guzman’s political documentaries (the most recent being the astonishing Nostalgia For The Light) to boost the country’s cinematic reputation of late. Whether or not this is down to a cultural ‘renaissance’ or the ever expanding availability of global cinema is debatable but whatever the reason we should be thankful that such choice is being made available especially in the case of Thursday Till Sunday, an achingly sad yet tender drama from newcomer Domingo Sotomayor that has premiered at various international festivals and picked up the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival.
Ana and Fernando (Paola Giannini and Francisco Pérez-Bannen) are taking their two young children Lucia and Manuel (Santi Ahumada and Emiliano Freifeld) on a journey across the country to visit an old lot left by Fernando’s father to him. The long weekend is passed by way of colourful landscapes, locals and naive childrens games and inquisitive questioning of their parents. As the journey goes on, the pre-teen Lucia (and in turn the audience) begin to realise that something is desperately wrong with her parent’s marriage.
With a unique, singular directorial style and observations that seem deeply personal yet also universally recognisable, Thursday Till Sunday comes at you like a distant yet powerfully evoked memory. Filmed for the vast majority from inside the moving car and in long static takes, Sotomayor forces us to look longer at everyday events longer than perhaps we are accustomed to (or comfortable with) whether it be a repetitive expression of a child’s boredom or the quiet, awkward and telling silences between mother and father. Rather than alienate however its muted tone makes it easier to focus on the smaller yet dramatic moments that linger in the memory. It’s a relaxing and all too rare experience to be watching a film that requires you to simply calm down in order to appreciate its pleasures. Keeping the camera firmly within the car for long stretches of the drama certainly creates a feeling of claustrophobia but more so it keeps the action fresh and vibrant, quite a feat given the deliberately slow pace of the proceedings. Whilst focusing on a kids toy being handed back and forth or the constantly shifting landscapes that pass us by, Sotomayor will draw the eye with key actions and conversations taking place in the background, isolated far in the frame or even suggest them offscreen altogether. The film is told directly from the viewpoint of Lucia and the film brilliantly conveys her confusion and anxiety by keeping the family turmoil at a distance. We are never told directly what has contributed to the disintegration of the marriage though we are given hints along the way most notably a detour at a campsite with an old friend of Ana’s of whom Fernando seems suspicious of. Many other filmmakers could have used the pause in the journey as a chance to shed light on the inner turmoil on the marriage but again all the drama is hushed down. An extended shot of Lucia staring out into the night whilst we hear (but don’t see) a potentially crucial plot point says more than most dialogue driven scenes could ever say.
Such a long drawn out journey requires engaging company and thankfully the cast rise to the challenge wonderfully. It’s an advantage to the naturalistic tone of the film that the cast is comprised of unknown faces (both adult leads have extensive CV’s in Chilean television whilst the children are complete newcomers) but these are excellent performances in their own right. Giannini and Pérez-Bannen are given only a minimal setup for the roles of the distanced parents and yet they effortlessly convey the feel of two people who have shared a life together and discovered its shortcomings. You sense the weight of indecision and disappointment on their shoulders and there is thankfully no forced or contrived lapse into melodramatics. The two children are an absolute revelation especially Santi Ahumada as Lucia. Sotomayor kept the exact nature of the story a secret from the two child actors which only serves to make her performance more remarkable. Bright, inquisitive and clearly aware that things are wrong between her mother and father she’s an engaging and delightful conduit into the drama through light and dark moments. A brief scene at the tail end of their journey where Lucia and her father share a quiet moment after all has become clear is so simple in execution yet the naturalness of the performances makes it simply heartbreaking. It is a truly terrific ensemble.
It’s not all doom and gloom in Thursday Till Sunday. There are some brilliantly droll observations as Fernando makes little effort to hide his disdain for Ana’s slightly too friendly colleague and the sight of the two children riding atop a vehicle strapped down alongside luggage does raise a smile. But this is a journey toward an inevitable conclusion and as the tone becomes more melancholic and the landscape more sparse and unforgiving the film emerges as a bittersweet account of the end of childhood innocence and the cruel disappointments of adulthood. It’s summed up in one of the more cheerful scenes where Fernando allows Lucia to get briefly behind the wheel giving her a first, almost overwhelming taste of adult responsibility. The evocation of long journeys together and the dawning of awareness that your parents are just people with their own faults is palpable throughout and there’s an honesty to the portrayals that makes the film seem so genuine and naturalistic. Thursday Till Sunday may not be an easy watch for some. It’s aesthetic demands your attention and some may find the subject matter unbearably sad. But to jump to conclusions is unfair; your patience is rewarded with an emotional resonance that lasts long after it ends. It’s certainly one of the best films about childhood I’ve seen in some time and I can’t wait to see what Sotomayor does next.
