Itsaso Arana as Ale and Vito Sanz as Alex
Billed as a comedy, it does not typically come across as such. It is more, as Trueba says, like “shock therapy,” for the characters, that is. Alejandra (Itsaso Arana) and Alex (Vito Sanz) have no particular reason to separate. There has been no infidelity, no arguments, so the logic behind their decision remains a deliberate mystery. Yet, reading between the lines there is an element of life having lost its challenges. In the intimacy of Trueba’s gaze, we are vaguely aware of a deeper wave that lurks beneath the mundane problems, the apparent companionship and ease of their relationship- perhaps also expresses the dangers of being too attached to a comfort zone, as the challenges vanished, so does the sexual energy which appears to lacking in their interactions.
Sometimes we need to be less comfortable to move on, to be able to grow, progress and move forward and not become stuck in domesticity as these two appear to be. Not an inviting scenario for two creative people. They have become too comfortable perhaps, everything has become so matter- of- fact, that life has been whittled down to mundane activities like coffee-making in the morning. It’s as if they feel controlled by the freedom that it has given them, nothing to push up against, how to grow in that milieu? As a result, somehow, they have come up with the idea of ‘separating,’ and, to cap it, have a party to celebrate the occasion as well
There are a few moments when the characters seem to be more contemplative, as when Ale walks aimlessly across a bridge in Madrid seemingly feeling emotional, but then it turns out to also be scene from the film that she is directing: So, what is real?
Jonás Trueba comes from a film dynasty. His father is Fernando Trueba (who plays Alejandra’s father), a creative who was a vital player in the generation that helped place the Spanish film industry on the map, after the death of Franco in 1975. Jonás then also plays tributes that he describes as a ‘homage’ to famous filmmakers that influenced him. Ingmar Bergman, by introducing a pack of Tarot cards designed using well- known characters from Bergman’s films, then the characters visit Truffaut’s gravestone.
This film is intensely intellectual and cerebral, with dialogue dominating every scene. There is wit, but at times you begin to feel nothing is moving on an emotional level. The character arcs for the two protagonists are invisible. Ale and Alex barely change through the film, perhaps you could say it is their shocked and bewildered friends who change the most. Even Ale’s father comments that the world needs a new philosophy
Why have a party? It is Ale who suggests it, as she recalls her father always said that:-
“couples…should celebrate separations rather than unions.”
It may have been said as great advice to lovestruck teenagers who needed to move on, but is it such a good idea for a couple who have been married for 15 years? The humour seeps through in the dialogue and the irony of the situations that develop. For all their big decision, here is a couple, who claim to be separating, and seem totally okay with it, yet unconsciously are going out of their way to find something they must do together.
Ale ( Itsaso Arana) sings at their party.
Trueba has blurred reality and fiction so closely that we question what is real and what is not? Ale is a film director making a film about…. them. Alex is an actor. Her film tells their story, so that the same characters are participants in both worlds. Using split screens, we see, not so much a film within a film, but the same one from two viewpoints- repeating and re-emphasizing their actions, as Trueba points out: -
“It’s a film about editing, with characters who confuse cinema and their lives”.
The idea is funny, and there is a gentle intellectual humour that permeates the whole production. Ale’s father, initially upset that his comments were not meant to be used in this way, nevertheless showers Ale with philosophy books about relationships, like Stanley Cavell’s insights that “love is built through discussion.” Similarly, Ale’s father talks about Kierkegaard who wrote a book called Repetition, or how, in Mauritania, they always celebrate separations with feasts and have many marriages, so as to enjoy an equal number of separations- any excuse for a good party!
Yet he also insists that philosophy no longer has the answers for the modern era, insisting a new path for philosophy has to be devised that touches on feelings, emotions and suffering: perhaps he has not heard of psychology.
“Must one see oneself filmed and in love.” The only moment that we spy some real connection between the couple is when, feeling nostalgic, they revisit videos shot when they had first got together.
Despite being adamant that they do not plan to ‘get together again,’ Ale and Alex’s stark decision starts to penetrate and we see them wavering a little- leaving things unclear. The Spanish title might be a clue: “Volveréis” (You will return). As in Harold Pinter’s work, here are people who appear to communicate but do not, as the dialogue is persistently oblique. What is going on does not always correlate with what is being said.
On some levels, it feels more like a theatrical production than a film. There is no melodrama or big action in this movie, but we are invited to penetrate the lives of these two people and experience their everyday lives, the mundanity and the details that build up the whole.
The film was written in tandem with the two protagonists. Jonás wanted it to be a collaborative experience. The result is openly influenced by ‘nouvelle vague’, touching on existentialism and perhaps even the nausea and depression that emanated from that period and the ethical question of choice. More reminiscent of Sarte, Truffaut and Eric Rohmer, than philosophers and their books.
Jonás Trueba
THE OTHER WAY AROUND (Volveréis) 2024 will be on general release from July 11th 2025
The film premiered at the Director’s Fortnight at the 2024 77th Cannes Film Festival and won the Europe Cinema Label for Best European Film.
Directed by Jonás Trueba / Written by Jonás Trueba, Itsaso Arana, Vito Sanz / Producers Javier Lafuente and Jonás Trueba/ DOP: Santiago Racaj / Editor Marta Velasco / Sound Designer Pablo Rivas Lyva/ Direct Sound Álvaro Silva Wuth and Raquel Martín Arribas/ Composers: Iman Amar, Guillermo Briales and Ana Valladeres.
Cast: Alex: Vito Sanz/ Alejandra: Itsaso Arana/ Ale's father: Fernando Trueba/ Andrea: Valeria Alonso/ also with: Jon Viar, Andrés Gertrúdix, Ana Risueño, Isabelle Stoffel and Sigfrid Monleón.
