10.000 Km

Just a quick review to encourage people to see this lovely, impressive film:

10,000km is a beautiful drama about the difficulties of long-distance relationships. The entire film consists of interactions between a couple (we never see anyone else or leave their flats), mostly through skype or messaging. But believe it or not, it's completely enthralling throughout. The two leads are excellent, bringing both humour and deep emotion to their characters, while the director - in his feature debut - pulls in a variety of tricks to keep things interesting. An honest, quietly powerful film that I hope gets the recognition it deserves. Watch it if you get the chance, and then spread the word.

Ready for some bold words? If 10.000Km remains my favorite film of the London Film Festival I will be 100% satisfied. Either way, it's set a high bar for Mr. Turner, Whiplash and Foxcatcher to beat. On the premise alone, Carlos Marques-Marcet long-distance romance had my investment. I've gone through, am going through, will go through everything the film is about. I can attest that the characters and situations are painted authentically in every facet. While some may argue that the film is coming late to document the modern ways that couples connect with each other, it doesn't feel that the film is latching onto any zeitgeist and is simply a matter-of-fact part of our lives from now on.

Marques-Marcet's economy in the storytelling is terrific. It begins with a stunning but simple 23 minute long take. It's more Before Midnight than Gravity, but the poetic and organic blocking adds so much to a deliberately limited dynamic. Within that shot, we know everything about the bond between Alex (Natalie Tena) and Sergi (David Verdageur) and how painful it's going to be to see them torn apart, as the former receives the opportunity to live in Los Angeles for a year. But this opening also showcases the endearing sense of humour the film has, particularly from Sergi, who teeters on mean-spiritedness with his well-meaning sarcasm. They're immediately identifiable in their mid-20s joys, hopes and dilemmas, and they're the only characters we'll see on screen throughout the film. Everyone else is but a blurred out face.

The length of that opening shot is key to the rhythm of the film. There isn't much of a narrative besides the abstract form of their relationship's turbulence and so once Alex is in Los Angeles the structure becomes very fragmented into daily sections, some lasting less than a minute. It truly captures the isolation and the way time flies waiting without progress. But it also captures the warmth couples feel as they interact via Skype in a sincere way while still having natural friction. Every little freeze of the program feels ideally orchestrated by Marques-Marcet as it feeds into the spontaneity and sensitivity of the performances. It takes a little to upset the balance.

There's an interesting idea about the physicality of their online relationship when Alex visits the server farms of Silicon Valley and contemplates about how their relationship has been stored in 1s and 0s somewhere there. It raises fascinating questions about subjective representation, something that anyone who's met an online friend can confirm. For something that matters to most to people – romance – something that feels the most real, is only a simulation of a feeling. It's easy to project feelings on someone whose not there, which the characters feel often. It's bolstered by Alex's role as a photographer, as she takes artistic representations of things, and her photos of camouflaged antennas are our only hint to her job. It digs its fingers under the anxiety of romance being artificial under the circumstances and studies it gently, pulsating through the character's actions.

This is the starring role that Natalie Tena (of Game of Thrones and Harry Potter) has been waiting for. I'd always known her since I saw About A Boy upon its release and didn't recognize her until halfway through the film. She's tender and visceral in the best way. Both performances are perfectly measured and restrained until they reach their respective explosive points. Every little thing builds and builds and you can read everything they feel in just their expressions. David Verdageur appears to channel last year's Oscar Isaac's Llewyn Davis, not only in the bearded look but the subdued disgruntled temperament with the sense of humour. However, he makes it his own and his contradictions lead our opinion to constantly fluctuate but ultimately sympathize with him. They deservedly won the acting duo award at this year's SXSW festival.

Finally, it boasts a refreshingly ambiguous ending in a sea of overtly technophobic films. It knows that it can't be conclusive about the positives and negatives of a long distance relationship bonded by daily Skyping. It doesn't spell out any assumptions as it's not as simple as a happy ever after or a break up for good. Instead, it's a quiet reflection on what their relationship had been missing, one that the film leaves for the audience to judge for themselves instead of the characters. It's a thoroughly profound note to leave the film and one that rewards on consideration, true to it's otherwise slight but powerful nature. It truly connected with me on every level, not only in things I personally relate to, but in things that I hadn't even thought of. It's not a requirement to have experienced a long distance relationship to like this film as it certainly has something to admire for any empathetic viewer.

If there were any justice, 10.000 Km would join the race for Best Foreign Language film, but as Spain submitted Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed, hopefully this will find a mainstream audience that can also relate to its anguish. With nuanced and relatable performances, rich textured cinematography and a keen sense of pacing; it encapsulates every honest high and low about contemporary relationships with an ocean between them. I really can't give enough praise to 10.000 Km and it deserves way more attention.

9/10

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A couple in one of the greatest romances in recent years but separated in a long distance . It deals with two people in love , Alex (Natalia Tena) and Sergi (David Verdaguer) ; two flats - one in Barcelona and another on in L.A. - and the frames of their past , present and future . One year apart , with a continent between them , this couple must rely on modern technology to keep their relationship alive . The story tracks the two as they cling to their relationship by video chats , phone calls and email . This laptop-set story deals with a special romance in which video cameras capture everything , and the internet has turned into a cesspool of surveillance and communication . Can love survive 10,000km? .

"10.000 Km" follows the story of two young lovers , well portrayed by "Game of Thrones" and Harry Potter player Natalia Tena and David Verdaguer , as she leaves Barcelona for a year-long work opportunity in Los Angeles . This is a well-crafted and strikingly intimate film though monotonous about a separated couple in a long distance , as when you are oceans apart in love , you have to find creative ways to connect . We immediately see that the story is going to be told from some unorthodox perspectives as many scenes are broadcasting through a computer monitor . Despite its low budget the picture manages to be intelligent , but also a little bit boring and hard to follow . The good thing about this film is that the director made it on a limited budget only having to do a few sets , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured . This film had U.S. theatrical release , bowing it in the U.S. on 13 screens in 13 cities and was even presented to international distributors in Cannes . Carlos Marques-Marcet's long-distance love story "10,000 Km," relies heavily on moving romance supported by technological means such as e-mail , Google Earth , Skype , Facebook and WhatsApp . As the flick is set in just two places in Sergi's Barcelona flat and Alex's LA apartment . As Alex/Natalia Tena shows from her computer : photographs , streets , avenues and Hollywood boulevard . The main question results to be : Just how interconnected can one couple be while living oceans apart ? . The final result is an offbeat love story that's captivating , in spite of not being all that fun or especially thoughtful , neither thought-provoking . Interpretation by two actors is frankly good , David Verdaguer and Natalia Tena give reality their roles , the latter replaced Bárbara Lennie unavailable due to prior commitments . Tena and Verdaguer won the acting duo award at South by Southwest following the film's world premiere for their performances as a couple separated by 10,000 kilometers .

The movie , a Lastor Media Production in co-production with La Panda, was shot in Barcelona . Carlos Marques-Marcet directed from a script he co-wrote with Clara Roquet . The motion picture was innovative and originally directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet , even Broad Green Pictures acquired U.S. distribution and international sales rights from Visit Films for this love story "10.000 Km" . Here Carlos Marques adapts to the times and find a particular romance in the ways people are living today . Carlos Marques-Marcet is a fine editor and director , known for Shorts such as The Yellow Ribbon (2012) and I'll Be Alone (2010) , being his first film : It Felt Like Love (2013) , followed by this 10.000 Km (2014), and is shooting : 6 years (2015) .

I thought this was really quite dull overall. It's hardly an original story and I got quite bored mid way through. The characters are nice enough but it's pretty predictable and didn't really 'grab' me. I suppose the script is fairly decent, there are some fairly poignant pieces of dialogue, though there are other times when little is said at all and there's not much content there...I guess it could move some people, it is sad to see how things change but I didn't find it exactly surprising or anything. The performances are good but it's pretty slow, plot pace wise. If anything appealed to me about it, I'd say its the technology aspect - relying on the internet, Google street view, photos etc. For her to convey what she's seeing and doing, is interesting. I suppose after the COVID19 lockdowns, people have been forced to rely on technology to stay in touch with others. I didn't mind that part of the story but I wouldn't say this film is primarily about the power or ability of technology to maintain a relationship alone. It's only a part of it, if that makes any sense. It's thoughtful but I think it's a bit too sparse for my liking really. I imagine some may regard it as quietly devastating but I'm not sure I really felt that, personally. I can see what they were getting at though.

Overall I wouldn't recommend it as such, no.

Opening to a rather explicit sex scene, we are introduced to Alex and Sergi; a Spanish couple living in Barcelona. Continuing from that is a lengthy, yet stunning, 23 minute one-take-shot. During that elusively choreographed sequence they talk, wash and eat as we find out everything we need to know about the couple.

Alex, played by Natalia Tena (Harry Potter's Tonks), is a photographer who is struggling to find work locally, and her partner, Sergi (David Verdergauer) is a teacher. But there intimate relationship together suddenly gets shaky as Alex is offered a fully-paid working job in Los Angeles for one year… After some discussion, she accepts. However Sergi is unable to join her due to teaching commitments. This is where issues arise.

Now a continent apart (or more specifically 10,000km) their relationship is put to the test. Topical, as long distance relationships do not usually last, yet the characters are aware and highlight the pros and cons.

But the real intelligence of 10,000km comes from director Carlos Marques-Marcet. Absent of any other surroundings, the film is set in just merely two locations in Sergi's Barcelona flat and Alex's LA apartment.

Their relationship continues via Skype, WhatsApp and Google Earth. Hindered by technology, they attempt to remain sensitive and in love. But as days pass (chronicled on screen with titles; Day two, Day 88, Day 116 etc), it inevitably becomes difficult to continue. At one point Sergi demands 'Can we talk about something else that isn't our relationship?' – Isolated and gripping, 10,000km studies the bounds of romance like no film before it.

Marques-Marcet's feature debut film is ambitious as it is ingenious and it thrives on the narrative. Very worthy of the Best Foreign Film at next year's Academy Awards perhaps?