Natalia Tena and David Verdaguer.

‘10.000 km’ questions whether technology helps us get closer or whether it pulls us further apart. There are people who have only had relationships through technology, compelled to using sound bites and avoiding physical interaction. But what happens when a couple who have had a sensual and intimate relationship for seven years are then obliged to continue through computers and technology? It begs the question as to whether people have become addicted to the lack of sensuality of the mobile and the technological contacts and to the unchallenging aspects of communicating through a machine.

Natalia Tena as Alex

Alex (Natalia Tena. Game of Thrones) and Sergi, (David Verdaguer, Anchor & Hope and Summer 1993) are at a point where they are desperate to have a baby together, when Alex gets offered the dream of a lifetime opportunity of a one- year residency to develop her photography in Los Angeles, obliging them to live apart.

As Carlos Marques-Marcet says: -

“I’m interested in how that space and all its facets have an impact on us: how we pass through those spaces and the distances that are created… I wanted to explore how cinematic tools, lenses and cameras have been used as a way of relating to others- how one can get so close now, right into a relationship…”

The film opens with an astounding 22-minute sequence of their loving and sensual life together in their apartment in Barcelona, making love, thinking about baby names, dancing, showering, brushing their teeth and sharing every thought with a tender and visceral intimacy.  The place is overflowing with objects and things that have bound them together over the years. Sergi is a music teacher, aiming to pass his Board Exams to become fully-fledged professor, and Alex contributes to their lives with odd jobs, doing her photography whenever she can. She has never complained of her art being consigned to being a bit on the side.  This vital opening sequence places us in the middle of their lives and when she receives the all-important email offering her the position, the temperature in the room drops several degrees, until Sergi, feeling guilty for his initial reaction, pushes her to accept the opportunity of the one-year residency in LA.

The film then cuts to daily sound bites of their brief interactions on Skype, or phones, sometimes no more than one minute long.  Her apartment is stark, white and devoid of warmth and life when she arrives, as are the streets that she shows him using Google. Her photographic project focusses on unusual telephone masts, that emphasize the fact that their communication is now entirely going through them.  There is a poignant take of a storage facility in Silicon Valley: are their intimate interaction recordings held in that depot?

Initially, they are playing with the idea of communicating via technology as if it were a game, which gives rise to some witty gags as they try  to keep their relationship intact. The challenges gradually gets them down and as Alex’s life soars and she is more successful with the offer of yet another sponsorship, he has meanwhile failed his exams and is ever more despondent and shows signs of cracking. The increasing frustrations of the unsatisfactory links, pixillated images and cracking audio lines add to the lack of physical closeness that begins to affect them both and wear them down.

Marques- Marcet has an uncanny ability to get right into his characters. He has a natural and deep compassion for how relationships work and develop.  His style has been compared to Cassavettes and there is certainly a direct, unfettered approach that makes the relationship feel authentic and real. Marques-Marcet has also proved this with his insightful study of a Lesbian relationship in ‘Anchor & Hope’ (with Natalia Tena and Oona Chaplin). He is unsentimental and minimal in his storytelling style which adds to the poignancy, as when we see David dancing with his computer trying to feel close to Alex as they listen to ‘their song’.

David Verdaguer and Natalia Tena play their roles to just the right pitch, the personalities that shine through are subtle and believable and they were rightly rewarded with awards.   

Carlos Marques-Marcet: =

“You did not need words, you could feel her (Natalia’s) pain- her personality, her energy. The physicality of the role, and the body language were spot on.”

Carlos Marques-Marcet

 Here is a director who understand how to work with actors, and there is still much potential that we look forward to see. ‘10.000 Km’ is a superb opera prima from a young director.  He had already shown promise from an early start with award -winning shorts and documentaries.  He has made full use of his opportunity to participate in workshops with legends like Victor Erice and Abbas Kiarostami.   

Awards

Goya Award 2015:            Best New Director

Gaudi Awards 2015:         Best Actor/ Best Actress/ Best Director/Best Original Screenplay. +1

Director                Carlos Marques- Marcet

Writers                 Carlos Marques -Marcet/ Clara Roquet/ +2

Cast :                   Natalia Tena as Alex / David Verdaguer as Sergi