Being loved

It is the avant-garde of Spanish cinema that triumphed at Cannes last May, the first film in the running for an Oscar. For Best International Feature Film – or, as has been the case for some time now, simply for Best Film. Its main rival, ‘La bola negra’ by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, will not be released in Italian cinemas until January. Rodrigo Sorogoyen, aged 45, has an impressive track record spanning both films and TV series. In Italy, ‘Antidisturbios – Unità antisommossa’, the dystopian ‘Apagón’, and ‘Dieci capodanni’ have been released. On the big screen, the harrowing As Bestas would have put anyone off the countryside. More than enough titles to place him on the list of directors we admire, in the hope that he continues to work to this standard. L’essere amato does not disappoint, even if one begins to spot references and homages. However, there are some stunning masterstrokes, such as the opening scene. A conversation over lunch between a man and a much younger woman. The viewer realises they haven’t seen each other for about twenty years. After a while (spoiler alert, but everyone will have told you this by now), we discover they are father and daughter. He is a famous director; he has won two Oscars and a host of other awards. She is an aspiring actress who works as a barista to make ends meet. He offers her a role in his next film. They are shot in close-up, and the scene feels incredibly long. A sensational opening – you even forgive him for the ‘film-within-a-film’ device.