Dreams

The story is common, but this time it is just a bit colder than usual. There is a rich patron of the arts, with a special interest in dance, and a talented young dancer. They have an affair. The patron lets the dancer stay at her place and fixes a job for him. She doesn’t have the guts to go out with him openly. The dancer agonises and eventually runs away. She goes after him. The ending is not beautiful.

Mexican-born Michel Franco’s film’s twist is that the rich patron is a stunningly beautiful woman (Jessica Chastain) and the dancer a handsome Mexican man (Isaac Hernández) – who is in the United States illegally.

The setting is clear. She can travel to Mexico any time she wishes, but he can only get to her by risking his life, or with her help. Nevertheless, both could still gain from the relationship. She is already doing so, for she is an abuser. Were she to be honest to herself, she should at least let her closest friends know that she is having an affair with an illegal immigrant. He could gain, if he were to submit and accept that regardless of his talent, he would forever remain “the other one,” whose life is dictated by the woman.

Franco portrays unbalanced relationships and their everyday realities with a cool detachment, as if to say: this is just how it is, don’t dream of anything more. Even the name of the film is everything but romantic.

Jaana Semeri (translated by Herman Tikkanen)