So Long Enthusiasm
(Adiós entusiasmo)

In the vast Buenos Aires apartment where they live, Axelito, Antonia, Alejandra and Alicia “gravitate” permanently around their mother, Margarita. A mysterious treatment forces her to stay locked up in her bedroom, to which only her children have the key. Margarita’s voice, a real presence-absence, does not leave the off-screen world. While at first it seems that she has the power to control what they do and say, the birthday party they prepare for her calls this relationship into question. Be it the “dark matter” mentioned before the first image appears or Margarita’s invisible bedroom, darkness is at the centre of the dramaturgy of Adiós entusiasmo. Yet, it is towards the light that Vladimir Durán’s debut feature strives throughout. The seemingly light-hearted tone, the careful and delicate humour he bestows on his characters enable him to avoid the hysteria of the family drama and keep alive the siblings’ desire for equilibrium. CA