The Beloved

Spanish competition entry The Beloved (El ser querido) practically picks up where last year’s Cannes Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value left off: Oscar and Palme d’Or-winning director Esteban Martínez (played by Javier Bardem) reaches out to Emilia (Victoria Luengo, also starring in Almodóvar’s contender Bitter Christmas), whom he hasn’t spoken to in 13 years. At an awkward lunch he offers her a part in his latest feature. The soap actress accepts, but because it is the right move for her career, she clarifies, not to be his daughter.

The Beloved chronicles the immediate effects of the filmmaker’s attempt at atonement: allegations of nepotism and bumpy first shooting days, in which he tries to calibrate his process around her. Gradually, as the two familiarise with one another, the eggshells dissipate and bring Martínez’s more unpleasant traits to the surface.

Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen plays with the kaleidoscopic qualities of framing a picture around the process of filmmaking any way he can: the image switches to black and white mid-scene (in an extraordinary shot a bathroom mirror reflects back a colourless version of the visuals); sound and music tune in and out. As creatively as these stylistic devices are implemented, there is a certain capriciousness to them, as one questions their concrete contribution to the narrative.

The language on this fictional set has been adapted for a public audience’s understanding, which initially feels somewhat stilted, but overlooking this, one is drawn to the two-way mirror and the behaviour it exposes. A sequence in which a scene requires multiple takes is an especially potent powder keg, as the viewer is acutely aware of the fear setting in on Emilia’s face with each interruption, anticipating her father’s loss of patience.

It is Bardem’s indomitable performance that is the central pillar giving this feature its coherence. There is no metamorphosis between the different facets one sees of his character. Instead he plays Martínez with all the contradictions and complexities humanity has to offer, convinced he is in the right, when it is blatantly obvious to anyone around him that he is not, and utterly incapable of apology. It is through this sophisticated portrayal that one can grasp why the most hostile environments can still produce emotionally resonating pieces of art.

Laden with tricks and flourishes, The Beloved may struggle to know which audience to play to: film aficionados who will appreciate the meta cinematic elements of a story within a story, or those who know little about what this work entails and need to be guided. Nevertheless its resounding lead performances make this heated family drama worth watching and mark a highlight in Bardem’s impressive career.