That Was Life

That Was Life (Spanish: La vida era eso) is a 2021 Spanish drama film directed and written by David Martín de los Santos. It stars Petra Martínez and Anna Castillo as two Spanish immigrants who form a friendship after meeting in a hospital in Belgium.

That Was Life
Directed byDavid Martín de los Santos
Written byDavid Martín de los Santos
Produced byDamián París
José Carlos Conde
StarringPetra Martínez
Anna Castillo
CinematographySantiago Racaj
Production
companies
Lolita Films
Mediaevs
Magnética Cine
Smiz&Pixel
Distributed byElamedia Estudios
Release date
December 10, 2021
Running time
109 minutes
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

Plot

María and Verónica, two Spanish immigrants of different generations, meet in a hospital in Belgium where they form a friendship after an unexpected event, this leads María to embark on a journey of self discovery through the Spain she left many decades ago.

Cast

Production

The film began shooting in May 2019 in different locations of Spain in Almeria and Cabo de Gata, later in Ghent, Belgium. Santiago Racaj was the cinematographer and Javier Chavarría was the production designer, other credits include Tonucha Vidal (casting director), Eva Valiño (sound) and Miguel Doblado (editing).[1]

Release

The film was screened at the Seville European Film Festival, where it won the ASECAN award for Best Film and Best Actress for Petra Martínez.[2][3] The film had to postpone its release in cinemas several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ultimately being scheduled to be released on December 10, 2021.[4]

Critical reception

The performance of Martínez was met with acclaim, Demetrios Matheou from Screen International wrote that "Martinez, well into her seventies when she shot this, gives a strong, minimalist performance".[5] Writing for Cineuropa, Alfonso Rivera commented that "David Martín de los Santos makes his debut in fiction with a humble, emotional and intimate film, that supports its subtle theme over the experienced performance of the great Petra Martínez".[6]

See also

References
  1. "Empieza en Almería el rodaje de 'La vida era eso', que protagonizan Petra Martínez y Anna Castillo". CineyTele (in Spanish). May 27, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  2. ""La vida era eso", premio ASECAN a la Mejor Película del Festival de Sevilla". Agencia EFE (in Spanish). November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  3. "Petra Martínez, por "La vida era eso", premio a la Mejor Actriz en el Festival de Sevilla". Canal Sur (in Spanish). November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  4. ""La vida era eso" drama vitalista que llega a los cines el 10 de diciembre". Cinemagravia (in Spanish). May 17, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  5. Matheou, Demetrios (July 23, 2021). "'That Was Life': Transilvania Review". Screen International. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  6. Rivera, Alfonso (September 11, 2021). "Crítica: La vida era eso" (in Spanish). Retrieved November 26, 2021.
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