Tere’s house is filled with plants and bathed in a light of its own—an ideal setting for the first televised interview granted by Rosa, the hostess’s friend and a prominent musician. Tere’s daughter, also an artist, joins the pair, and a long, ironic debate on hypocrisy in the art world begins to unfold. Add to this the power outages, the stubborn barking of a neighbour’s dog, and other comic, persistent intrusions, and the result is the perfect recipe for an ode to the everyday as a raw material of rare excellence.
In a metropolis like Mexico City, where five million cars fill the roads every day, traffic jams are a common sight. After the opening credits at a noisy and congested junction, we are taken to Tere’s flat, where the entire film is set. Tere is a cellist and composer. Today she hosts Rosa, another composer, and also journalists who are coming to interview her friend. For the most part, things go awry: technical problems, a power cut, a dog barking while the recording, and Tere’s daughter, Luisa—whose father is a well-known composer—constantly makes sarcastic remarks. In this tender comedy, Nicolás Pereda surprises us with razor-sharp and hilarious direction, as well as an irreverent and magnetic cast comprising the director’s regular actors. The mother (Teresita Sánchez) and daughter (Luisa Pardo) duo stand out, revealing how the male-dominated art world excludes them, yet, through their humour and complicity, enjoy together the beautiful harmony within the cacophony of everyday life.
Falcão Nhaga
