So vast, yet so private. Grief is a paradoxical entity — an old (un)familiar presence, a creature of many silhouettes. In this bookbinding workshop — devoted to extending the lifespan of a few volumes — it becomes the central character.
An entire film under the effect of the Goldberg Variations. It begins with the precise application of dye to water required for a paper-dyeing process, and the rest of the film that follows seems to move in the same tone of subtle diffusion. The story of mourning of one of the characters in a bookbinding course is the thread that ties together the various moments of this film, but beyond the explicitly narrative, it is a patient look at these emotions. Through carefully crafted long takes that observe both the behavior and the passage of time of the characters inhabiting them, the film seems to reveal, in this discreetly melancholic tone and under various lights, the small yet significant emotional variations of this grieving process (and of the people surrounding it). Regardless of the story attributed to it, Bach’s music in the film remains inextricably linked to calm. (Vasco Muralha)
