It's a movie that doesn't have a lot happening but is so emotionally intense that it keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's so well done, with attention to every detail to sympathize with the Mario character (the gray tone of the picture, the blue hope of the daughter's coat, the gloomy and rainy city, the indifference from the crowd/ people, the isolation of the suffering character, even Mario's fake smile when he acts on stage...).
I would like to respond to a question that one of the reviewer asked (essbcn from Barcelona), regarding the Lewis Carroll's quote at the end of the movie. Of course, this is only what I believe and shouldn't be seen as "The" only explanation.
Marco Martins, the movie director, refers twice to Lewis Carroll's "Alice's adventures in wonderland".
The first time, when Mario walks by a wall with drawings of the White Rabbit carrying his pocket watch (note that the drawing repeats itself), it symbolizes Mario racing against time and repeating on the daily basis the same actions of a fruitless search (nursery school, suit cleaning, changing and watching tapes, acting in the theater play, walking the city .and so on).
The second time, in the movie credits with the quote: "but the wells of fantasy always end up by draining and the tired storyteller tried to escape as he could; tomorrow the rest – it's already tomorrow!"
"The wells of fantasy always end up by draining": the fantasy is nothing else than Mario's hope of finding his daughter and the wells are all the possible ways (such as tapes, pamphlets, walking in the city and so on...) that he uses to feed his hope. It's a hope which is drained and dying on a daily basis just to be reborn and replete the following day.
"and the tired storyteller tried to escape as he could;": the tired storyteller is Mario who tries to escape the insanity of this fantasy. Knowing that the reality is obscure, he tries to grab on what's left of his sanity to keep on with his search and the hope of finding his daughter.
"tomorrow the rest – it's already tomorrow": There is no more today or tomorrow for Mario, since the search is the only reality that he knows. But it means too, that the hope is always there.
I would like to respond to a question that one of the reviewer asked (essbcn from Barcelona), regarding the Lewis Carroll's quote at the end of the movie. Of course, this is only what I believe and shouldn't be seen as "The" only explanation.
Marco Martins, the movie director, refers twice to Lewis Carroll's "Alice's adventures in wonderland".
The first time, when Mario walks by a wall with drawings of the White Rabbit carrying his pocket watch (note that the drawing repeats itself), it symbolizes Mario racing against time and repeating on the daily basis the same actions of a fruitless search (nursery school, suit cleaning, changing and watching tapes, acting in the theater play, walking the city .and so on).
The second time, in the movie credits with the quote: "but the wells of fantasy always end up by draining and the tired storyteller tried to escape as he could; tomorrow the rest – it's already tomorrow!"
"The wells of fantasy always end up by draining": the fantasy is nothing else than Mario's hope of finding his daughter and the wells are all the possible ways (such as tapes, pamphlets, walking in the city and so on...) that he uses to feed his hope. It's a hope which is drained and dying on a daily basis just to be reborn and replete the following day.
"and the tired storyteller tried to escape as he could;": the tired storyteller is Mario who tries to escape the insanity of this fantasy. Knowing that the reality is obscure, he tries to grab on what's left of his sanity to keep on with his search and the hope of finding his daughter.
"tomorrow the rest – it's already tomorrow": There is no more today or tomorrow for Mario, since the search is the only reality that he knows. But it means too, that the hope is always there.