By the Fire

Abandoning the promise of the city for a life of labour in the Chilean countryside, Daniel must contend with his girlfriend Alejandra’s illness and his own ill fortune. Seeing the middle-aged couple in their ramshackle new home, it appears that they aren’t so much settling in as just plain settling. And when Daniel’s son sarcastically scoffs at his dad’s many "successes," it’s abundantly clear that things have rarely gone to plan for Daniel. A lifetime of frustration is never more evident than when he’s asked what he misses most about the city, to which he forlornly replies, "To be young again." And yet, when hardship pushes Daniel to the brink of a complete collapse, he does what he’s always done: picks himself back up and carries on.

Alejandro Fernández Almendras’ portrait of resilience proves both visually and emotionally rich. Furthermore, instances of gentle comedy (sheep invade a decrepit basketball court) and arresting intimacy (Daniel and Alejandra’s post-coital reminiscences about their respective "first times") lend tonal complexity to this "gentle, carefully observed drama… Concerned with unearthing the transcendental hidden within the everyday, [the film] is elliptical, oblique and wary of easy emotion… The gentle piano score kicks in at appropriate times to accompany moments of lyricism, which become increasingly frequent as events below the surface pull things inexorably to their expected conclusion."—Jonathan Holland, Variety