Film review: 10,000km - fine acting holds up study of a couple thrown apart
Ours is an age when many people make use of technology to reach out across vast distances. But as Carlos Marques-Marcet's well-crafted first feature shows, two people used to sharing the same bed cannot help but find their relationship suffering when there are thousands of kilometres between them for a significant period of time — even though they spend hours communicating via computers and phones.
Starring: Natalia Tena, David Verdaguer
Director: Carlos Marques-Marcet
Category: III (Spanish, Catalan and English)
Ours is an age when many people make use of technology to reach out across vast distances. But as Carlos Marques-Marcet's well-crafted first feature shows, two people used to sharing the same bed cannot help but find their relationship suffering when there are thousands of kilometres between them for a significant period of time — even though they spend hours communicating via computers and phones.
opens with an arresting 23-minute scene, shot in real time, showing Alex (Anglo-Spanish actress-musician Natalia Tena) and Sergi (David Verdaguer) being intimate in their Barcelona apartment. Together for seven years, they would dearly love to have a baby. But Alex's mood changes minutes after their latest procreation attempt, while he's in the shower, when she receives an email saying that she's been awarded a one-year artistic residency in Los Angeles.
Originally from Britain, Alex has been giving English lessons to make ends meet after Spain's economic crisis causes her photography career to stall. Teacher Sergi's not in that great a professional position, either. Still, he decides against going with her, meaning the couple must be apart for at least one year.
After Alex moves to LA, she's mainly shown in her new studio flat while Sergi mostly appears on her computer screen and is heard as a disembodied voice while they video-chat via Skype.
And it says much about the abilities of this two-hander's thespians — as well as the film's director and co-scriptwriter (along with Clara Roquet) — that stays engaging despite this visually minimalist set-up.
