2023 documentary film
The Eternal Memory () is a 2023 Chilean documentary film directed by Maite Alberdi. The film follows the relationship of Chilean journalist Augusto Góngora and Chilean actress Paulina Urrutia. It was selected in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival where it had its world premiere on 21 January 2023 and won the Grand Jury Prize. It received critical acclaim and was named one of the top 5 documentary films of 2023 by the National Board of Review.
The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, being Alberdi's second nomination in the category as well as the second Chilean documentary film to be nominated for an Academy Award. It also won Best Ibero-American Film at the 38th Goya Awards.
Plot.
Augusto Góngora and Paulina Urrutia have been a couple for 23 years. Augusto is one of Chile's most prominent cultural journalists and television presenters. His wife, Paulina, affectionately called "Pauli," is an actress who served as Minister of Culture and the Arts of the country from 2006 to 2010. Eight years ago, Augusto was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and since then, Paulina has been caring for him. Throughout his career, Augusto was dedicated to ensuring that the atrocities of the Pinochet dictatorship are not forgotten. Today, it is up to him and his wife to maintain his identity despite the challenges of his illness. Each day, the couple faces the difficulties caused by Alzheimer's disease, but they also maintain the tenderness and sense of humor that bind them together.
Release.
Festivals.
The film was first screened as a part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, premiering on 21 January 2023. At the festival, it won the Grand Jury Prize of the competition. It also screened in the Panorama section at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival where it had its European premiere. It was also invited to the 27th Lima Film Festival for competing in Documentary section, where it was screened on 11 August 2023.
Theatrical.
MTV Documentary Films acquired the distribution rights of the film planning a theatrical release. It had a limited release in US theaters during August 2023 beginning on August 11, 2023, in New York. It was commercially released on August 24, 2023, in Chilean theaters.
Reception.
Critical reception.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Telling a deeply personal story against a profound political backdrop, "The Eternal Memory" offers poignant testament to the power of love and remembrance." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Guy Lodge from "Variety" wrote that the film "treats inexorably sad material with a lighter, more lyrical approach than most". Writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", David Rooney called the film "a moving chronicle of a marriage challenged by Alzheimer's", finishing his review commenting that the film is "as unexpectedly stirring as it is sorrowful".
References.
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