“TANTA AGUA” ****
There’s a quiet sense of being under the weather in this coming of age tale, creating a fragile atmosphere throughout the interactions of its characters. In this case, the estranged relationship between a father and his two children. He organizes his car on his way to pick up the children for a weekend-long vacation in a remote area by the Uruguay River. The silence predominates over them, an aspect that embodies the resentment, abandonment and guilty they’re dealing with. Due to the divorce, they haven’t seen each other often, and the father tries his best to recognize them, looking for anything to reconnect, while the children personify infant characteristics such as selfishness, uncontrolled emotions and anger. It’s pouring rain, and the gray climate affects their mood, bringing a lack of enthusiasm in every situation they go through, such as an attempt to go fishing or hanging out in an amusement park. The son gets frustrated by the authority of his father, who blocks him as he just behaves normal for a kid of his age. The daughter is facing the transition from childhood into womanhood, causing uneasiness and confusing. As she jealously observes her father flirting with other women pursuing his new beginning, she becomes aware of the effervescent emotions developing inside and around her.
That’s when she meets a young boy who introduces her to the rebel pleasures of becoming a teenager, moving her strongly to the point she arranges a meeting using lies and careless actions. And sometimes life can be bitter giving the lessons needed to learn in order to improve as part of a cycle of joy and disappointments. Young Lucia must learn how to overcome the unexpected consequences of that amazing feeling, the reactions of first love, and as the rain gives a break, she decides going swimming in a crowded pool where everyone will meet. The water is represented as a form of guidance for the characters washing out their fears; if once it forced everyone to struggle face to face in search of reconnection, forgiveness and understanding, now it pushes them to manifest their real expectations on the essentiality of interaction. The team of Uruguayan writers-directors Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, making their feature film debut, demonstrate a delicate and feminine touch that creates an irresistible affection towards the terrain. Their incredible sensibility with the material of turbulent hormones shaking both adults and children conquers the audience’s hearts and attention, making it a lovable study on reaching self-consciousness and learning steps to deal with unforgettable memories of an ordinary weekend among family. (Available on DVD by Film Movement)
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