Halley

Death can sometimes manifest itself as a truly hideous illness. Alberto is well aware of this. Life has sucked him dry but he still struggles to hold on, masking his sores and wounds with make-up and bandages. But the time will come when nothing more can be done and he’ll end up in the morgue. But it isn’t necessarily all over for him yet – particularly when a colleague from work takes a shine to him.... This stylistically confident film establishes the director’s roots in the fine arts, and his method of constructing Alberto’s story points to a clear sense of vision. A mildly grotesque gothic horror with allegorical undertones, the movie keeps its viewers guessing and, through its curious stylisation, casting the plot in unchanging, idealised twilight hues, succeeds in shifting the story onto another level. When Alberto is given an unexpected impulse, he acts upon it with scornful resignation, facing a metaphor of a world which has nothing left to offer. Because, while we all have to deal with the reality of our own lives, Alberto has already suffered a major decline and has now come to terms with it. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)