191. Death Will Come And Shall Have Your Eyes (Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos); movie review

 

Death Will Come ANd Shall Have Your Eyes (Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos)

Cert TBA 

88 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

Cancer is humanity's curse, apparently choosing its victims at random.

Its cruelty in dragging out the misery for its sufferers and their families seeks no boundaries.

To see a loved one disintegrate is forever etched on our eyes, an ever-present memory which cannot be dimmed even decades later.

Sadly, the more years pass, the more inevitable that we will encounter this horror.

During José Luis Torres Leiva's Death Will Come And Shall Have Your Eyes, we see how devastating its impact can be.

At the centre of the story are Ana (Amparo Noguera), a senior hospital nurse and her partner, Maria (Julieta Figueroa), a maths teacher.

They are clearly deeply in love and it is heartbreaking to see the cruel fall-out of Maria's terminal cancer.

She refuses treatment and her decline is all the more painful when she takes her frustration and fears out on her partner who is dedicating herself to making her as comfortable as possible.

The pair spend Maria's last days in a country cabin but we are deflected from their very touching path towards Maria's death by odd tangents.

I have since read that these are representations of Maria's reflections on love, desire and the power of narrative.

To be honest, they didn't seem to be connected to anything to me. For example, two chaps meeting in the woods and having sex was a very strange juxtaposition to the cancer storyline.

Yep, you read that correctly. And there are several other lengthy asides to the main narrative which left me bewildered.

There is no doubt that Noguera and Figueroa give their all to two roles which must have been very draining.

Unfortunately, however, Death Will Come And Shall Have Your Eyes wandered so far off-piste that the full effect of their performances was diluted.

Reasons to watch: The portrayal of terminal cancer

Reasons to avoid: Arty interludes

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? An advance decision to refuse treatment (ADRT) is a written statement of your wishes to refuse a certain treatment in a specific situation. It is a way of making sure everyone knows what treatments you do not want to have if you become unable to make your own decisions. It will only be used if you cannot make or communicate a decision for yourself.

The final word. José Luis Torres Leiva: "Initially the story came from three friends of mine who all died of cancer. For the first time in my life, I had to look death in the eyes and ask myself about the possibility of death at any moment in one’s life. Then I began to think about death, not in a tragic way but more about the beginning of a new life for those who remain after the death of their loved ones, the survivors." International Cinephile Society

Share this post