Filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen, alongside Javier Bardem and actress Luengo, presents The Beloved One at Cannes, a drama competing in the official section. The film tells the story of a director who returns to Spain to shoot a film about the Sahara and seeks to reconcile with his actress daughter, whom he abandoned. The movie explores abandonment and the difficulty of communication between parents and children, focusing on the male inability to listen and connect emotionally.
The camera as a tool for emotional conflict 🎬
Sorogoyen uses a mise-en-scène that alternates close-ups and moving sequences to reflect the tension between the characters. The cinematography employs a palette of cold colors in conflict scenes and warm tones in the rare moments of respite. The editing, with abrupt cuts in dialogue, underscores the lack of communication. Bardem plays a father who uses cinema as an excuse to avoid confronting his emotional failure, while Luengo portrays a daughter seeking answers through acting.
Going home, but with a camera and excuses 😅
Because, of course, nothing says I love you like shooting a film about the Sahara to avoid having a twenty-minute conversation with your daughter. Bardem plays a director who prefers to plan a tracking shot in the desert rather than ask how school went. The film, presented at Cannes, shows that, for some parents, emotional abandonment is better solved with a film crew than with a psychologist. Sure, at least the photography is nice.