Un Amor (HSBC Spanish Film Festival) - Film Review

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Tue 11 Jun 2024 - Thu 11 Jul 2024

Having left behind the city and an emotionally draining career as a translator for refugees, Nat (Laia Costa) has moved to a rural village in Spain. She has rented a dilapidated house, the plan being to live cheaply, do some freelance translating work and decompress from her former job. But despite this breezy-sounding premise, a light-hearted treechange tale Un Amor is not. Director Isabel Coixet instead presents a story which is dark and knotty and although at times uneven, ultimately rewarding.



Nat's rural timeout turns ominous from the very start. Her landlord reveals himself to be a sociopathic prick who berates her after she requests the house be equipped with clean water and a roof which doesn't leak. When Nat demands repairs, he condescendingly refuses. He does, somewhat strangely, give her a gift: a sad-looking dog which has obviously been mistreated. Nat names the dog Surly and begins caring for it.

Despite her unwelcoming landlord, Nat sets about building her new life and is soon taking Surly for walks through town. She meets Piter (Hugo Silva), an artist who tries to come off as contented and welcoming, although he's not shy about telling Nat how she should behave. The house next to Nat's is a weekender, owned by a yuppie family from the city. They too are on the surface friendly, appearing to welcome and assist Nat.

Another village resident is Andreas (Hovik Keuchkerian), dubbed 'the German' by the town's residents. Andreas is a huge man of few words who delivers vegetables for a living. After Nat's roof leaks again and her landlord refuses to help, Andreas shows up at Nat's door with a proposition: he will fix the roof if Nat has sex with him. Nat, astonishingly, agrees to the proposal. It's the beginning of a long and strange relationship, one which soon becomes the talk of the town.

In its frank and unflinching way, Un Amor says much about the motivations behind sexual relationships, much about what is still considered acceptable behaviour for women and even much about the insularity that small-town living produces. At a tick over two hours, the film is a touch too long, the many sex scenes with Nat and Andreas sometimes standing in the way of plot advancement. Some believability issues arise as well, most obviously that Nat and Andreas are maintaining a relationship in the first place.

Laia Costa is very good here, her Nat is a tangled, somewhat unsettling character, defying easy categorisation. The film's supporting roles are also performed adeptly, especially Hovik Keuchkerian as Andreas, who plays a character who ends up being not what you expect. Indeed, Un Amor delights in keeping its audience off balance and rewards with a sophisticated and pleasingly murky story.

Un Amor is playing nationally as part of the HSBC Spanish Film Festival 2024. Find information on session times, locations and tickets on the festival's official website .

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