So Far Away

[BSR]

So Far Away was released in Spain April 11, no idea when it comes out in the US.  While I liked some parts of it while watching it initially, I felt that it dragged on too much, with simply too little story to fill 1h40m of screen time.  But after a couple of days of reflection, I’ve come to appreciate it more.

The protagonist Sergio travels from Barcelona to Utrecht with his brother and buddies to watch a soccer match, but on the trip back he inexplicably throws his wallet away so that when he gets to the airport, he cannot board the flight.  His brother & friends give him whatever cash they can spare, but he is basically stuck in the Netherlands with no ID, friends, family, money, or knowledge of Dutch.  Why Sergio did something so bizarre and baffling becomes obvious  when you see how he looks at his fellow dishwasher, a beautiful Moroccan named Yusuf.

I struggled to understand why Sergio is so repressed since 2008 Barcelona was already as gay-friendly as any homo could ask for.  Nor did the film make any mention of Sergio’s family being particularly homophobic.  After a while I figured Sergio was simply one of those guys who struggle with accepting their sexuality for reasons known only to them.

I shifted from initial dissatisfaction to eventual appreciation mostly because of Mario Casas’s performance, a subtle yet moving portrayal of a man who’s going through hell and suffers that hell completely alone.  No spoilers, but there’s a scene where Sergio’s brother flies up to visit him that I could watch a dozen times.  While I still wouldn’t say it’s a great movie, I am glad I saw it.  When it inevitably shows up on streaming, give So Far Away some consideration.

PS:  the dialogue is in 5 languages — English, Catalan, Spanish, Dutch, and Arabic.  Under no circumstances should you watch it dubbed (Netflix always offers a dubbed option) because the language shifts, while subtle, are critical to understanding the film.