VENICE 2021: Sundown
The Match FactoryMichel Franco is no stranger to the festival circuit. While his films barely gather any form of critical or commercial success, he has often seen his work – and that of his friends/co-producers Gabriel Ripstein and Lorenzo Vigas – premiere at Cannes, Berlin, and Venice, often leaving with big prizes. They have been labeled as directors who make festival-ready slogs, always ambiguous, with sparse dialogues and mostly static camerawork, scenes often playing out in one or two shots at most.
Sundown is the latest film with this style, and it has already proven to be divisive for the same reasons as before. The 83-minute long runtime takes a long time to get going, as Franco does everything in his power to keep information at a minimum. Why is Tim Roth vacationing in Acapulco? Who is Charlotte Gainsbourg and the two kids to him? Why does he decide to stay in the city rather than leave for an important funeral? All of these questions are revealed slowly and organically, effectively making this more of a puzzle than anything else.
The film is as much about Acapulco, Franco’s home town, portrayed as a once-beautiful and now-dangerous place, as it is about freedom of choice. That is not so much about free will per se, but in the sense that Roth’s character makes a questionable choice that is not accepted at all by others. His inability to give explicit meaning as to why he did what he did, plus his lack of fitting into a society where he does not speak the language nor understand its customs, puts a mirror in front of audiences: how often does it feel impossible to be honest and straightforward with others? How many times can one try to explain themselves and feel as if they were talking to a wall? Those problems with communication and social interactions are shared by everyone, and there is always a feeling that Franco makes such uncomfortable movies that the reception is negative because of what he says.
Tim Roth has already worked with Franco in the severely underrated and depressive Chronic, and he seems to be at home in these slow films where he has barely any lines of dialogues. An actor’s face is their most important tool, and Roth knows how to be expressive in a raw and realistic way. Gainsbourg gets to have more overwhelming moments of drama, working as a brilliant juxtaposition to the lead. All of the side cast, with Iazua Lanos getting the most screen time, further grounds the narrative in the hot and sweaty streets and beaches of the Acapulco.
Like all of the films made by Michel Franco, Sundown tries both the patience and emotions of those watching it. Hate and feeling like it was a waste of time is understandable, but the film is commendable for trying to help people understand the importance of direct communication and human worth to avoid living a lonely, solitary life. Slow to a fault at first, but enlightening and tragic in its final scenes.