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‘When a River Becomes the Sea’ Review: A Sexual Assault Survivor Heals in Her Own Time in a Piercing Spanish Drama
The three-hour runtime of Pere Vilà Barceló's 'When a River Becomes the Sea' is daunting, but justified in a study of recovery that can't be rushed.
Taking their protagonist, archaeology student Gaia, at her word and inviting the viewer to do the same, Barceló and co-writer Laura Merino vividly and empathetically enter the mind of a victim struggling to be heard even when she is believed, in a culture where women in her position are still judged and dismissed across lines of gender and generational difference. Simply and candidly presented, and carried by Claud Hernández’s alternately combative and fragile lead performance, this Karlovy Vary competition entry (Barceló’s second at the festival, 13 years after “La lapidation de Saint Etienne”) could resonate forcefully with viewers across a range of ages, backgrounds and experiences of gender-based violence — though a three-hour running time may curb its arthouse distribution prospects. Titled after a blunt but effective running metaphor for social integration from a state of isolation, “When a River Becomes the Sea” sets out to be an imposing and even testing work, but it’s also an emotionally involving one — warmed by the intimately drawn relationship between Gaia and her desperately aggrieved single father, beautifully played by Alex Brendemühl.
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