Tú me abrasas

Written and directed by Matías Piñeiro, the film traces an interwoven relationship between literature as its central core and cinematic language, where texts of Greek poet Sappho and the chapter Schiuma d'onda of Dialoghi con Leucò by Cesare Pavese are in constant dialogue with the format.

Tú me abrasas aims to translate said texts into different languages from their original ancient Greek, as is the case with Sappho's. Texts embodying a script that could be seen as much as a poem in its own as an experiment with the medium. By reason of this, a play between image and sound is taking place from the start, something resembling a remix if we were talking about music, owing to the constant repetition of words in different rhythms and places. As a result, this circumlocution is the strongest asset of the movie because, even if repetitive, there can be found a charm in it, and mostly, artistic stimulation. Nonetheless, the movie fails in everything else due to it not being interesting enough. The passages of the texts chosen are anything but engaging or something that would justify their inclusion in a film. This makes the final product a dense experience even with its short duration of 64 minutes.

Matías Piñeiro's feature is more interesting if looked at as an experimental work since it contains elements and artistic choices that, together, formulate a different approach to the cinematic medium, albeit the price it pays is sacrificing its narrative. Ultimately, even if it is guilty of being esoteric, it is an honest work in its aim and approach, but it never ceases to be another case of content subordinated to form.