It’s an adaptation of a chapter from the book Dialogues with Leuco (1947) by Cesare Pavese, which delves into the myth of Sappho (a poetess of Ancient Greece) and the nymph Britomartis, in connection with the foam of the ocean and the idea of heartbreak-induced death. Avoiding a linear narrative, components such as footnotes or extratextual information are also adapted, giving the film a poetic dimension that transcends the boundaries of the text.
Tú me abrasas, Matias Pineiro’s new film, moves away from his previous style: first of all, because it is the first of his films that is not based on the works of Shakespeare. It is an adaptation of Sea Foam, one of the chapters of Dialogues with Leucò by Cesare Pavese. But also a mixture of fragmentary works by Sappho, which were recommended to him by one of the film’s secondary actresses, Agustina Muñoz (herself a regular in his work). And finally, he inserts the diary he kept during the making of the film. It is a film shot on 16 mm film, bathed in warm colors and lots of sunlight, which speaks of desire and nostalgia.
Matias Piñeiro discovers that he feels a connection, a closeness to the discussion between Sappho and Britomartis. One was real, the other was a nymph, a creation, a mythological figure. This mixture gives us an idea of desire, death, will, accident, problem. A cycle of recurring shots tries to answer the question of what an adaptation of a poem could be. The discussions between the poet Sappho (Saidón) and the nymph Britomartis (Villar) reject the logic of the reverse shot and focus on various other types of images, or on silent portraits of the actresses. The film is an invitation to reproduce the fragmentary experience of reading in a cinematographic context.
