AFI Fest Report: Your Life in 65’ (Tu Vida en 65’) Review

As the young men share memories of Alberto, they can’t quite believe it’s really their friend who has died. After all, Barcelona is a large city, and Alberto Castillo is a common enough name. Still, the age (23) is right, and they have no other pressing business, so they decide to stop by the funeral home to pay their respects, just in case.

The friends are still joking, still not sure that it was really their friend who had died, and not quite taking things seriously when they run into Dani’s ex-girlfriend, Carmen (Nuria Gago). As it happens, she was also the ex-girlfriend of the deceased Alberto.

Caught up in the moment, the boys decide to err on the side of caution and claim Alberto as their old pal. That leads to Dani meeting—and being smitten by—Alberto’s beautiful sister Cristina (Tamara Arias), and soon enough the friends are brought along to Alberto’s wake.

Your Life in 65’ features an exceptionally good script by Albert Espinosa, based on his stage play. The dialogue captures the playful yet loving banter between longtime friends as well as the subtle flirting between two people immediately attracted to one another. The subject of death figures prominently in the story, but it never feels morbid or obsessive—just an important topic that is too seldom discussed. A very healthy amount of underplayed, sometimes silly, humor keeps the film’s spirit warmly alive.

It’s not just a play “opened up” for the screen, however. Beyond the words, director Maria Ripoli shows the impact that a few moments of silence can have, the pauses that have meaning. In the scene where Dani meets Cristina, she asks him a question that makes him stop. Her beauty has already caught his eye, but it’s what she has said, and the empathy that prompted her to ask, that causes him to look at her in a new light.

The concluding moments of the film have tremendous impact. The ending has proven to be controversial, and if nothing else is bound to be a point of discussion and disagreement. Your Life in 65’ deserves broad exposure.

(The title is the original name—and length, 65 minutes—of the play upon which it is based.)

Director Maria Ripolo was present for a Q&A after the screening and I’ll be posting notes from this later in the week.