Wri/Dir: Sebastian Lelio | Cast: Nestor Cantillana, Marco Hernandez, Patricia Lopez, Coca Guazzini, Macarena Teka | Chile, Drama 99’ 2005
Sebastian Lelio’s first film La Sagrada Familia has nothing to do with the cathedral in Barcelona, – a provocative social experiment – it unfolds thousands of miles away in his native Chile, and plays on the passion of Eastertide and its inherent conflicts.
A group of actors were given a script and a beach house to live in for a week on location. The plot focuses on a couple of architects, their grown up son and his girlfriend. What follows is an ingeniously plotted family tragedy complete with resolution, but the process is left open for the actors to improvise bringing their own ideas and interpretation to the table.
An awkward subplot doesn’t quite ring true but serves to counterbalance the central story seen through intimate close-up and widescreen handheld camerawork and picturing Chile’s wild Pacific coastline near the capital Santiago.
Marco (Nestor Cantillana) has always had a competitive relationship with his father (Sergio Hernandez). When his mother goes away for a few days over the Easter holidays leaving the father with Marco with his bohemian girlfriend Sofia (Patricia Lopez), an erotic scenario develops between the three of them in this tension-fuelled constructed reality. MT
SCREENING at VIENNALE 2023