Tout ce que tu ne peux pas laisser derrière toi by Nicolás Lasnibat is a touching medium-length feature about growing old, displacement and lastly love. It’s about an older Chilean man Roberto who after fifty years of service at a steel mill is being forced to retire because he’s too old, slow and has diabetes. What he decides to do with his severance pay is buy a bright red used van and, with the help of one of his friends, he learns how to drive. Roberto, with his wife Hilda, returns to their childhood home Taltal. They have a long journey ahead.
Similar to Nicolás Pereda’s ¿Dónde están sus historias? or Nathan Silver’s Soft in the Head, Lanisbat’s film begins with the crisis of a transitory life event. So when Roberto looses his job, what are his prospects other then further accumulating medical debt? He starts to obsess on two photographs: one of his wife in her youth at a political protest and the other of his childhood hometown. Roberto learns how to drive with the help of his best friend, and after just barely passing the driving test, he packs up all that can’t be left behind and, with some help on the road, makes it back to Taltal. But it’s the love for his wife that carries him through, and the beautiful view and traditional Chilean music, makes it quite an endearing journey.
In France, for a short time, you can watch Tout ce que tu ne peux pas laisser derrière toi on the Arte website.
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