00:01:57.094 --> 00:01:59.847
December, 1986.

00:02:00.639 --> 00:02:02.099
Dear Mrs. Schlittler,

00:02:02.850 --> 00:02:06.311
Regarding your letter dated October 10 of this year

00:02:06.645 --> 00:02:10.232
in which you detail the diagnosis
of your husband's health status,

00:02:10.649 --> 00:02:14.319
we inform you that unfortunately,
at the current date

00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:17.948
we do not have any effective drug or
procedure for the treatment of his disease.

00:02:19.867 --> 00:02:25.622
That said it is impossible for us to accept
him as a patient in our medical center.

00:02:27.833 --> 00:02:31.420
Our recommendation is that you follow
the instructions given by your local doctor

00:02:31.420 --> 00:02:33.672
and mantain his care from home.

00:02:35.257 --> 00:02:38.010
Without further ado, we send you our best regards.

00:02:38.010 --> 00:02:42.765
Dr. Erika Schmit. Center of Psychiatry
of Muntsinguen. Switzerland

00:02:57.070 --> 00:03:01.283
The first time she notice something was wrong,

00:03:01.283 --> 00:03:04.036
he was looking through the window at the garden.

00:03:05.704 --> 00:03:12.836
He had been staring for a long time until
she asked him what was he seeing.

00:03:13.796 --> 00:03:16.965
And he replied: "A bunch of baldies."

00:03:17.132 --> 00:03:20.844
"The baldies are buried in the garden."

00:03:24.681 --> 00:03:30.395
And it turns out that he was referring to the
cobblestones that surrounded the garden's pond.

00:03:35.859 --> 00:03:42.950
And at that moment she realized that
he was completely halucinating.

00:03:49.748 --> 00:04:02.094
It was as if he felt concern, affliction,
in his intinimity, in his deepest being,

00:04:02.636 --> 00:04:07.516
he was very afflicted by the realization
that he was no longer who he was.

00:04:10.227 --> 00:04:15.983
And in this situation she was
left completely in the dark,

00:04:18.193 --> 00:04:19.987
not knowing what to do...

00:04:20.445 --> 00:04:21.738
Petrified.

00:04:24.908 --> 00:04:28.495
Beyond the fact that they had been together for a long time,

00:04:30.622 --> 00:04:32.875
they were not a common marriage.

00:04:39.923 --> 00:04:44.887
Time Theorem

00:04:59.401 --> 00:05:00.652
These are my grandparents.

00:05:01.570 --> 00:05:03.989
His name is Arnoldo and she is Anita.

00:05:05.365 --> 00:05:08.035
This is the first picture they took as a couple.

00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:14.499
I found it in the huge building  where Arnoldo
worked as a printer almost all his life.

00:05:15.250 --> 00:05:19.087
Along with his correspondence,
and other three thousand photographs

00:05:19.171 --> 00:05:23.759
there were also hundreds of films
containing their travels, memories,

00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:25.552
and the way they lived their lives.

00:05:29.056 --> 00:05:36.313
This is the day they met: August 1st 1941
at the Swiss club in Mexico City.

00:05:37.147 --> 00:05:38.899
According to my mother,

00:05:38.982 --> 00:05:43.612
he invited her to dance in three languages
before he realized that she spoke Spanish

00:05:45.781 --> 00:05:46.949
This is their civil wedding.

00:05:47.699 --> 00:05:51.662
On the left Arnold's parents and
on the right Anita's parents.

00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:57.709
The two families had emigrated from Switzerland
and ended up being neighbors in colonia Roma.

00:05:59.211 --> 00:06:03.048
The curious thing is that although
Arnoldo and Anita were very similar,

00:06:03.340 --> 00:06:05.968
this was not exactly the case with their parents.

00:06:08.470 --> 00:06:18.563
Her father had some kind of disconnection
when he met a group of people

00:06:18.981 --> 00:06:23.527
that received advice from the spirits,

00:06:24.569 --> 00:06:27.447
and that's how he got connected with spiritism.

00:06:28.323 --> 00:06:37.082
Jaime was convinced of it and he was
also devoted himself to propagate it.

00:06:40.794 --> 00:06:43.755
Her mother, Maria Amparo

00:06:45.215 --> 00:06:49.594
was the illegitimate daughter of Giussepe Garibaldi

00:06:50.470 --> 00:06:59.896
an Italian revolutionary with a very bad reputation
with the conservative families in Valencia, Spain.

00:07:01.815 --> 00:07:09.197
So her grandparents registered
her as if she was their daughter.

00:07:11.033 --> 00:07:17.414
So she grew up thinking that
her mother was her sister.

00:07:19.124 --> 00:07:26.256
And it is until long after she
realizes her sister is her mother

00:07:27.132 --> 00:07:29.176
and that was very hard for her.

00:07:33.472 --> 00:07:44.483
Arnold's father was a man with a great
dignity and pride of being Swiss.

00:07:45.067 --> 00:07:49.905
He belong to a prominent family that lived
very well and who owned Al Libro Mayor,

00:07:50.072 --> 00:07:56.119
one of the best companies in San Luis Potosí,
that controlled the market for the manufacture

00:07:56.119 --> 00:08:02.125
and sale of accounting books throughout
the west and north of the Republic.

00:08:10.509 --> 00:08:13.053
When Anita and Arnoldo get married,

00:08:13.595 --> 00:08:18.058
Anita's father-in-law gives her a movie
camera as a wedding present.

00:08:19.392 --> 00:08:23.939
And that camera is the one she takes
to film on her honeymoon in Veracruz.

00:09:22.581 --> 00:09:26.835
Anita does not record a single shot
of herself or Arnold on their honeymoon,

00:09:27.669 --> 00:09:33.133
but spends all the film rolls to capture
the passage of the train and time.

00:09:33.842 --> 00:09:39.389
She anchors her camera to the last car and collects
landscapes of a country that no longer exists.

00:10:06.166 --> 00:10:10.837
It is also during this journey where she
began one of her filmic obsessions

00:10:11.213 --> 00:10:13.715
that will repeat throughout her life;

00:10:19.596 --> 00:10:21.765
To portray the world from a window.

00:10:40.784 --> 00:10:44.454
Finally, both settle in the city of San Luis Potosí

00:10:44.913 --> 00:10:48.208
and decide to buy a house with
the look of a Swiss chalet.

00:10:48.458 --> 00:10:51.503
located in 437, Carranza Avenue.

00:10:57.634 --> 00:11:01.930
Over time this house will
become their favorite filming set,

00:11:02.472 --> 00:11:04.891
but despite the fact that the
camera belongs to Anita,

00:11:05.183 --> 00:11:07.936
it will be Arnoldo who will record the first images.

00:11:24.744 --> 00:11:27.998
Secretly, like a child secretly doing a mischief,

00:11:28.415 --> 00:11:30.542
he starts filming himself.

00:11:54.190 --> 00:11:59.237
At first, his attempts to frame
end up cutting off his head.

00:12:13.668 --> 00:12:18.423
He invites some friends to have a drink
and the toast get miraculously recorded.

00:12:30.268 --> 00:12:32.854
To make sure that this doesn't happen again,

00:12:33.104 --> 00:12:36.816
he draws a line on the wall as
a boundary sign for his head

00:12:37.108 --> 00:12:42.447
and starts a dialogue with some character
that's supposed to live outside the frame.

00:12:58.880 --> 00:13:03.051
And apparently, filming himself is
something he takes very seriously.

00:13:59.566 --> 00:14:02.819
This is not the first time that
Arnoldo suffers a camera obsession.

00:14:03.570 --> 00:14:08.450
Already from his youth, the reasons
for this mania began to be discovered.

00:14:13.204 --> 00:14:19.127
He arrived in Mexico from
Switzerland at the age of 20.

00:14:20.044 --> 00:14:26.676
His father had sent for him to train in
the printing press that was in San Luis,

00:14:26.676 --> 00:14:29.679
which was runned by his father from Mexico City.

00:14:32.682 --> 00:14:37.437
By then, Arnoldo was already a fan of photography,

00:14:37.812 --> 00:14:43.526
So to show his father that he was
doing well in the printing house.

00:14:43.860 --> 00:14:45.111
He portrayed himself.

00:14:46.863 --> 00:14:50.241
As a responsible and hardworking man.

00:14:51.993 --> 00:14:56.164
And he sends those photos to his father in Mexico City.

00:15:04.339 --> 00:15:11.012
He takes photos as a military man,
as an artist, as a violinist...

00:15:12.931 --> 00:15:15.433
Because that's what he really wanted to do.

00:15:32.742 --> 00:15:38.122
And bit by bit, he convinces the employees
with whom he had a very good relationship.

00:15:39.123 --> 00:15:44.754
and he rents a dozen tuxedos
and lots of musical instruments,

00:15:47.549 --> 00:15:50.843
and they portray as a music band.

00:15:57.392 --> 00:16:01.354
That must have get in each of the employees too,

00:16:02.272 --> 00:16:08.319
the necesity for telling stories and
being able to be someone else,

00:16:08.987 --> 00:16:13.491
not only a salesman, an accountant or a clerk

00:16:13.491 --> 00:16:22.959
but having the possibility of being able to
imagine and to portray as someone else.

00:16:36.514 --> 00:16:41.394
And one day his father doesn't tell him
that he is going to San Luis to visit him,

00:16:42.812 --> 00:16:47.150
when he arrives he is astonished to see
what Arnoldo has done with the buisness,

00:16:48.067 --> 00:16:53.906
where the business is freeze, because
both Arnoldo and the workers,

00:16:53.906 --> 00:16:58.036
are dedicated to being full-time musicians.

00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:03.833
The nineteenth-century father

00:17:04.250 --> 00:17:06.753
with the twentieth-century son.

00:17:07.253 --> 00:17:10.423
Who was not going to give up,

00:17:10.798 --> 00:17:13.593
so Arnold rebelled and left.

00:17:14.427 --> 00:17:16.012
He left to the United States.

00:17:22.101 --> 00:17:27.023
Arnoldo decides to pursue his dream of
becoming an artist and settles in New York,

00:17:27.023 --> 00:17:29.067
where he stays for about 8 years.

00:17:32.862 --> 00:17:34.822
For a man who loves photography,

00:17:34.906 --> 00:17:39.661
it's strange that all that time is only
represented by three documents:

00:17:41.954 --> 00:17:44.290
his work permit in the United States,

00:17:46.084 --> 00:17:49.087
a self-portrait on the roof of a skyscraper,

00:17:51.172 --> 00:17:52.715
and finally,

00:17:52.715 --> 00:17:56.678
a photograph that shows him
as a successful conductor.

00:18:04.852 --> 00:18:07.105
May 1938.

00:18:07.939 --> 00:18:09.357
Dear brother,

00:18:09.649 --> 00:18:12.568
I'm sorry if we hadn't answered
your letters erlier

00:18:12.568 --> 00:18:17.657
but both Rosita and I have been
very busy these last months.

00:18:18.616 --> 00:18:24.706
But I'm very happy to see you're finally
succeeding in what you've wanted so much.

00:18:25.790 --> 00:18:27.500
Even dad is happy.

00:18:28.084 --> 00:18:32.463
He shows everyone who comes to visit us
your picture in front of the orchestra

00:18:32.672 --> 00:18:36.551
and he doesn't stop talking about visiting
you in New York to see you play.

00:18:38.886 --> 00:18:40.930
But in spite of the joy I feel for you

00:18:40.930 --> 00:18:44.308
it's my duty to tell you about the
situation of our family in Mexico.

00:18:44.767 --> 00:18:48.563
The truth is that our father fell ill with typhoid fever

00:18:48.980 --> 00:18:50.815
and Mom doesn't seems to react.

00:18:52.692 --> 00:18:57.613
This whole situation has come to
negatively impact the printing house,

00:18:57.613 --> 00:19:01.492
which as you know is our main source of income.

00:19:02.577 --> 00:19:04.537
I know it is unfair to ask you this way,

00:19:05.580 --> 00:19:11.878
but after thinking about it for a long time, I realize
my only option is to beg for your return.

00:19:12.295 --> 00:19:15.506
The ticket to Veracruz is already reserved in your name.

00:19:15.882 --> 00:19:18.509
I hope you make the right choice.

00:19:19.510 --> 00:19:21.387
Yours, Elizabeth.

00:19:24.724 --> 00:19:30.229
Arnoldo gave in to his family's wishes and
returned to Mexico to take over the printing house,

00:19:30.438 --> 00:19:33.191
thus fading his artistic ambitions.

00:19:35.693 --> 00:19:39.822
This loss of identity -about who he
was and who he wanted to be-

00:19:40.364 --> 00:19:44.368
will became an open wound that
would remain hidden for years.

00:19:44.744 --> 00:19:48.414
and would not begin to heal
until the arrival of an accomplice.

00:20:03.471 --> 00:20:08.726
At some point Anita discovers the solitary
filming that Arnoldo has been doing

00:20:08.726 --> 00:20:12.939
and in an impulse of empathy and
love decides to be part of it.

00:20:14.482 --> 00:20:18.110
Here they filmed themselves dancing
in a careful made scenography,

00:20:18.361 --> 00:20:22.907
where multiple camera shots
allow the editing of a close up.

00:20:23.783 --> 00:20:27.036
Or even a log shot from outside through a window.

00:20:53.229 --> 00:20:56.649
Who knows how much truth there
was in these romantic stagings,

00:20:57.108 --> 00:20:59.485
if their daily life was the same as in their movies

00:20:59.986 --> 00:21:03.197
or if these were a reminder
of how their life should be.

00:21:05.741 --> 00:21:10.371
In any case, they will soon realize
that it is one thing to film themselves

00:21:10.872 --> 00:21:14.083
and quite another is to tell stories.

00:21:47.074 --> 00:21:52.371
Anita and Arnoldo form a filming team with
her as director and him as the leading actor

00:21:52.371 --> 00:21:56.167
where they involve anyone who is
willing to stand in front of the camera.

00:24:10.926 --> 00:24:14.346
Of all the film reels that they
filmed throughout their lives,

00:24:14.513 --> 00:24:17.683
only one portrays an everyday day in Al Libro Mayor,

00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:20.227
the printing house that Arnoldo
inherited from his father.

00:24:24.482 --> 00:24:27.443
Perhaps they thought that the
stationery and accounting books

00:24:27.443 --> 00:24:30.279
were tedious and difficult objects to portray.

00:24:31.280 --> 00:24:34.658
Or perhaps it is a clue to the very little
interest that they had in the business,

00:24:35.117 --> 00:24:39.622
despite the fact that thanks to it they
could have enough time to make films

00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:42.124
and live a comfortable life in San Luis Potosí.

00:24:46.003 --> 00:24:47.254
There was a lot of parties.

00:24:47.922 --> 00:24:51.050
They could think of anything to party.

00:24:51.801 --> 00:24:53.928
They disguised themselves.

00:24:54.136 --> 00:24:57.807
Whatever it was and say
"Let's have a costume contest"

00:24:58.140 --> 00:25:01.769
"Now we're going to do a theater contest"

00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:06.857
"What costumes do you have?"
"Bring the robe with which you bathe"

00:25:06.982 --> 00:25:12.238
"And you try the slippers and the Swedes"
"And you bring your great-grandmother's scarf"

00:25:12.404 --> 00:25:16.158
"And you, bring the hat of John Doe
or whatever you can find."

00:25:18.786 --> 00:25:23.707
And we were all there laughing, having fun.

00:25:24.041 --> 00:25:29.088
Drinking glasses of vermouth or generous wine.

00:25:30.005 --> 00:25:40.808
There was a total uproar and everyone  
participated in the scenario they had build.

00:25:49.066 --> 00:25:50.693
In addition to mere entertainment,

00:25:51.026 --> 00:25:54.989
Anita and Arnoldo seem to conceive
cinema as a mean of artistic expression.

00:25:55.531 --> 00:25:59.702
Where you can portray your
fears or mock your failures,

00:26:00.077 --> 00:26:04.498
as shown in "The Violinist" their first sound film.

00:26:16.218 --> 00:26:19.722
The talking cinema has arrived

00:26:41.911 --> 00:26:46.999
One o'clock! My concert! My pants!

00:26:49.835 --> 00:26:52.796
I have to put my pants over my pajamas.

00:26:55.007 --> 00:27:04.308
Goodbye boys my life companions,
beloved bar of those times,

00:27:04.558 --> 00:27:08.938
it is my turn today to retreat.

00:27:24.578 --> 00:27:27.414
Life is so beautiful!

00:27:42.096 --> 00:27:47.059
This concert is driving me crazy, damn!

00:28:23.137 --> 00:28:26.932
-What an annoying guy!
-Oh yes, very annoying.

00:28:28.517 --> 00:28:30.477
-Look at him,he's so full of himself.

00:28:30.811 --> 00:28:32.438
-Orchestra! Ready!

00:28:33.188 --> 00:28:35.649
-Look at him, he's crazy!

00:28:35.941 --> 00:28:38.652
-He didn't even tune the violin.

00:28:44.199 --> 00:28:45.909
-Is he the artist for tonight?

00:28:46.410 --> 00:28:48.662
-How awful! What a night...

00:28:53.125 --> 00:28:58.047
In this film, Arnoldo not only acts
a funny character in a home comedy

00:28:58.547 --> 00:29:04.053
but by embodying a failed violinist, he makes
fun of himself by showing his as a musician.

00:29:05.512 --> 00:29:11.810
"The Violinist" seems to be his way to
accept that his life will now be different

00:29:12.144 --> 00:29:14.813
and that in the future, he will have
more things to worry about.

00:29:15.230 --> 00:29:18.025
More important things to portray on camera.

00:30:05.072 --> 00:30:08.951
Oh look, here come my grandchildren.
How cute is Noldi!

00:30:08.951 --> 00:30:11.954
Noldi and Willy. What a charming children.

00:30:12.538 --> 00:30:14.706
I'm Noldi Kaiser.

00:30:19.378 --> 00:30:24.842
I'm Willy Kaiser. Dad, how are you?

00:30:26.593 --> 00:30:28.595
I am the mommy...

00:30:36.061 --> 00:30:37.354
There comes Arnold!

00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:40.399
Look how happy he looks and the beautiful garden.

00:30:46.196 --> 00:30:50.951
Smells like smoke, my wife must be cooking.

00:30:51.827 --> 00:30:54.955
Where is Federico?

00:30:55.998 --> 00:30:58.292
His majesty, the king!

00:31:04.923 --> 00:31:07.342
That rifle is mine!

00:31:09.678 --> 00:31:13.932
Look how cute Iquito, he's the king
of the house and the king is having fun.

00:31:21.857 --> 00:31:23.734
And he has the rifle in his hands!

00:31:25.027 --> 00:31:28.780
Where is my "Icos"?
He's one and a half years old.

00:31:39.541 --> 00:31:43.212
There is also Wilitos, oh no, it's Ico
the one that is walking around.

00:31:43.212 --> 00:31:45.214
Look at Noldo, that is Noldillo.

00:31:45.547 --> 00:31:47.341
Llook at the mother, she did
not comb her hair today...

00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:49.676
She is very disheveled...

00:31:50.010 --> 00:31:53.013
Llook at Eva, she looks just like Ava Gardner.

00:31:53.013 --> 00:31:54.515
Who knows what she's saying.

00:31:54.765 --> 00:32:00.020
I have the pleasure of introducing
our distinguished guests,

00:32:00.729 --> 00:32:05.359
Mrs. Maria Arenas, Ms. Eva Schittler.

00:32:07.528 --> 00:32:08.695
To whom I give the floor.

00:32:09.988 --> 00:32:15.619
Nice... to be... with you.

00:32:18.038 --> 00:32:21.917
Greetings to all of you, from those from Mexico City.

00:32:22.501 --> 00:32:25.337
Very good, Ms, very good.

00:32:25.921 --> 00:32:27.214
Thank you so much.

00:32:29.883 --> 00:32:35.639
Let's toast to a happy stay in this home.

00:32:37.849 --> 00:32:40.352
Anita, you have a phone call.

00:32:42.187 --> 00:32:44.439
Anita, the phone! Don't you hear?

00:32:46.233 --> 00:32:49.528
Mom! Phone call!

00:32:51.405 --> 00:32:54.491
Anita, they are calling you on the phone!

00:32:55.826 --> 00:32:58.161
How irritating! I already heard!

00:32:58.579 --> 00:33:02.040
Hello, how are you?

00:33:02.958 --> 00:33:06.962
Really? What a good gossip!

00:33:35.574 --> 00:33:38.160
This is my uncle Noldi on his bithday.

00:33:39.036 --> 00:33:48.420
As Anita's filming shows, he is a shy child who
will have to bear the burden of being the first-born

00:33:55.510 --> 00:33:57.179
As this film seems to portray,

00:33:57.179 --> 00:34:00.140
Arnoldo embodies his signature in what
appears to be an agreement with Noldi

00:34:00.349 --> 00:34:03.560
on his rights and obligations as the oldest child.

00:34:09.524 --> 00:34:12.819
Apparently, Noldi has no objection

00:34:12.861 --> 00:34:15.864
and they end up celebrating
with a drink of fresh water.

00:34:35.467 --> 00:34:39.262
Willy is second in line and, unlike his older brother,

00:34:39.262 --> 00:34:42.140
he shows a more laid-back and outgoing personality.

00:34:56.988 --> 00:35:02.285
On February 20, the date of Arnoldo's
birthday, Federico is born.

00:35:08.166 --> 00:35:10.627
This means that from the first day of his existence,

00:35:11.211 --> 00:35:15.090
Ico not only becomes the undisputed
favorite of his father,

00:35:15.215 --> 00:35:21.680
but apparently also Anita's, since in very few
times that she appears in front of the camera,

00:35:22.097 --> 00:35:23.974
she always does it with him in her arms.

00:35:48.623 --> 00:35:54.629
During this time, Arnoldo feels very
comfortable playing the role of Arnold father.

00:35:58.675 --> 00:36:03.764
Over and over, both characters mix in the
tenuous line that divides cinema with reality.

00:36:04.306 --> 00:36:09.811
Revealing an artist who plays himself to his
own delight and of his small family.

00:39:39.312 --> 00:39:44.526
In this new facet, the the newly formed
family makes a trip to Acapulco.

00:39:45.235 --> 00:39:50.323
There, they convince the staff of the hotel
where they are staying to participate in a film

00:39:50.323 --> 00:39:53.118
where Arnoldo is portrayed as a successful man.

00:39:53.410 --> 00:39:54.619
As a happy provider.

00:40:05.088 --> 00:40:06.589
It was around March.

00:40:45.045 --> 00:40:47.714
Hey Noldi, where did you just come back from?

00:40:49.174 --> 00:40:51.551
-From Acapulco.
-What did you do there?

00:40:52.510 --> 00:40:53.470
-At the sea.

00:40:53.762 --> 00:40:55.180
-What did you do?

00:40:55.472 --> 00:40:57.891
-I swam and played in the sand.

00:40:58.183 --> 00:40:59.392
-Oh and what else?

00:41:00.643 --> 00:41:04.147
-We were in "Los Flotes" hotel in Santa Clara.

00:41:04.147 --> 00:41:06.608
-Now we are going to talk to Wilitos
to see how his trip went.  

00:41:06.608 --> 00:41:08.568
Wilitos, how was your trip to Acapulco?

00:41:09.194 --> 00:41:14.574
Good, I went with my aunt Carmela,
I walked a lot in Acapulco,

00:41:14.574 --> 00:41:16.743
I went to the beach every day.

00:41:17.285 --> 00:41:19.329
-And do you appear in the movie?

00:41:20.080 --> 00:41:21.623
-Yes, there I am!

00:41:22.290 --> 00:41:25.794
-Oh this naughty boys, but they are beautiful.

00:41:26.503 --> 00:41:28.088
-What would we do without them?

00:41:29.881 --> 00:41:34.886
-They were three then and now they are four,
because they have a 4-month-old sister.

00:42:18.555 --> 00:42:25.436
Aneli, my mother, breaks into a masculine
world by being the first girl in the family.

00:42:34.654 --> 00:42:37.991
She quickly finds in Ico an ideal accomplice.

00:42:45.373 --> 00:42:48.835
Both become fantasies playmates,

00:42:48.835 --> 00:42:53.631
that come to life among the trees of the
enormous garden of Carranza Avenue.

00:43:03.725 --> 00:43:05.310
Lastly, Jennifer arrives.

00:43:05.894 --> 00:43:12.317
a girl who gives meaning and unity to the family
at the end of Anita and Arnold's cycle of descent.

00:44:05.161 --> 00:44:07.247
Happy Christmas Eve!

00:44:33.439 --> 00:44:35.692
Open your presents, kids.

00:44:44.534 --> 00:44:49.539
This is the last film that shows Noldi
celebrating Christmas with the rest of his family.

00:44:50.123 --> 00:44:54.585
From here on, every future celebration
takes place without him at the table.

00:45:01.009 --> 00:45:05.013
Under the candles of the Christmas tree,
his four brothers grow year after year.

00:45:05.221 --> 00:45:08.182
While from him only remains the absence.  

00:45:12.895 --> 00:45:17.942
I think my dad had an attitude that he shouldn't
have had when he sent him to Switzerland.

00:45:18.192 --> 00:45:20.611
Why Switzerland? Well, because we were Swiss,

00:45:20.611 --> 00:45:23.906
although nobody was interested in
Switzerland, I think not even him.

00:45:24.741 --> 00:45:28.161
And that was an abandonment, because
Noldi went to Switzerland for five years.

00:45:31.247 --> 00:45:35.585
And since Noldi was the oldest,
it was like preparing him, right?

00:45:35.793 --> 00:45:39.422
But everything turned out
the other way around.

00:45:43.718 --> 00:45:47.680
His relationship with his father was not the
same as his father had with Willy and Ico.

00:45:48.056 --> 00:45:52.477
Maybe since he was the oldest,

00:45:53.144 --> 00:45:56.064
his father expected something from him
or demanded more of him.

00:45:56.481 --> 00:46:01.110
But I remember Noldi wanted to return from
Switzerland and his father didn't listen to him.

00:46:02.445 --> 00:46:03.654
He didn't listen to him.

00:46:10.119 --> 00:46:16.042
Arnold imposed himself as a father.

00:46:16.501 --> 00:46:19.003
"I command it and you go to Switzerland."

00:46:19.379 --> 00:46:25.259
He took him out of his security niche
and sent him to a Swiss institute,

00:46:26.010 --> 00:46:29.972
At an age when you are in
a very delicate transition.

00:46:30.556 --> 00:46:32.975
Exile him and send him to Switzerland!

00:46:43.694 --> 00:46:45.655
-Hello?
-How are you doing?

00:46:46.364 --> 00:46:48.699
-Well, thank you.
-Were you very asleep?

00:46:48.991 --> 00:46:50.952
-Oh! well asleep, yeah.

00:46:51.411 --> 00:46:54.038
-Yesterday we called you and
you hadn't arrived in Zurich.

00:46:54.414 --> 00:46:55.748
-No, I was in Bern.

00:46:55.957 --> 00:46:58.334
-So, how are you?

00:46:59.127 --> 00:47:00.962
-I'm very sleepy.

00:47:01.170 --> 00:47:04.215
-Hey, didn't you like to hear us?
-Yes, of course.

00:47:04.757 --> 00:47:08.719
-We've been trying to locate you,
and until now they have given us the call.

00:47:09.011 --> 00:47:10.430
-Really?
-Yes.

00:47:13.474 --> 00:47:16.853
-Where did you spend Christmas Eve?
-In Bern.

00:47:17.478 --> 00:47:18.521
-With whom?

00:47:19.313 --> 00:47:22.108
-With the people that I'm living with.

00:47:22.525 --> 00:47:23.901
-Where you happy?

00:47:25.778 --> 00:47:27.530
-Hm... Not so much.

00:47:29.323 --> 00:47:30.450
-Noldi are you Ok?

00:47:31.159 --> 00:47:32.160
-I'm fine!

00:47:32.160 --> 00:47:34.662
-Are you in good health?
-Yes.

00:47:34.829 --> 00:47:37.248
-I'm going to say goodbye,
your dad wants to talk to you.

00:47:37.248 --> 00:47:39.292
-Bye mom.
-Bye.

00:47:39.959 --> 00:47:42.003
-Alo Noldi.
-Hi.

00:47:42.044 --> 00:47:46.591
-Hey, sorry we woke you up.
-It's okay.

00:47:47.592 --> 00:47:51.220
-Hey, I want to give you a Christmas present.
-Oh yeah, what is it?

00:47:51.220 --> 00:47:53.431
-When you get to Mexico, huh?
-Okay.

00:47:53.431 --> 00:47:54.724
-Hey Noldi.

00:47:55.600 --> 00:47:59.061
-Anneli is going to talk to you for a moment.
-Sure.

00:47:59.937 --> 00:48:06.319
-Noldi, we really want to see you here.
-Oh, me too!

00:48:06.694 --> 00:48:10.615
-Jennifer is going to talk to you, bye.

00:48:12.074 --> 00:48:14.452
-Noldi.
-Hello Jenny.

00:48:14.827 --> 00:48:19.165
-Hey, why haven't you written to me?
-Why don't you write to me?

00:48:19.582 --> 00:48:22.293
-You are the one who should write to me.

00:48:24.795 --> 00:48:29.509
-I'm going to write to you and you write to me.
-Yes, sure!

00:48:30.092 --> 00:48:33.638
-Ico is going to talk to you.
-Ok.

00:48:34.639 --> 00:48:36.724
-Hey what are you doing?

00:48:36.724 --> 00:48:40.561
-Hey man, this phone bill is going to be expensive.

00:48:42.438 --> 00:48:46.275
-So Noldi we say goodbye. See you soon.

00:48:46.275 --> 00:48:50.821
-Sure, good luck.
-We´ll talk on the phone

00:48:50.821 --> 00:48:52.490
-Bye Noldi!
-Bye.

00:49:14.136 --> 00:49:16.847
February, 1962.

00:49:18.099 --> 00:49:19.725
Dear Anne Marie,

00:49:20.643 --> 00:49:24.939
As I told you in the last letter, we will
be going to Europe this summer.

00:49:25.273 --> 00:49:27.942
And we will surely be in
Switzerland for a few days,

00:49:28.359 --> 00:49:30.528
becasuse Arnold really wants to visit you.

00:49:33.823 --> 00:49:36.534
We will also take the opportunity to see Noldi

00:49:36.534 --> 00:49:38.911
who is already in his third year at the boarding school

00:49:38.911 --> 00:49:41.664
and then we are going to
travel with him through Italy.

00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:46.127
Here life goes on.

00:49:46.752 --> 00:49:50.298
The children are still growing and next
year Willy will go on student exchange

00:49:50.298 --> 00:49:54.552
to a small town in northern
Wisconsin in the United States.

00:49:56.721 --> 00:49:58.639
We are remodeling the house.

00:49:59.181 --> 00:50:02.602
since we think the girls should have their own room

00:50:03.060 --> 00:50:06.522
and also we can expand the living room and the terrace.

00:50:07.898 --> 00:50:14.947
Everything is under construction and Arnold moved the
beds to the living room where we all sleep for now.

00:50:16.365 --> 00:50:21.954
We hope that by the time of our trip they will
have finished and we can return back to normal.

00:50:24.040 --> 00:50:30.546
Thank Rolph for all the cards he has sent
us and we hope to see you there soon.

00:50:32.381 --> 00:50:33.424
With love,

00:50:34.091 --> 00:50:34.967
Anita.

00:53:01.864 --> 00:53:06.202
During the trip, Anita  and Arnoldo
meet again with their camera.

00:53:11.749 --> 00:53:17.463
They haven't filmed for a long time and the trip
offers an opportunity to use the image as a game,

00:53:17.797 --> 00:53:21.425
where they both strive to portray
themselves as if they were not tourists.

00:54:06.512 --> 00:54:09.306
When no one's around to film them together,

00:54:09.306 --> 00:54:15.396
they take turns for filming each other down the
same steps of museums, churches and palaces.

00:54:31.829 --> 00:54:36.667
Anita's habit of filming the world
from a window remains present.

00:54:56.145 --> 00:55:02.693
And even stranger is Arnoldo's obsession that
lies hidden between takes to portray himself.

00:55:08.741 --> 00:55:12.620
With speaking to the camera despite
the 8mm's lack of sound.

00:55:19.084 --> 00:55:24.882
Shot after shot, he seems to remind
the viewer, or maybe himself,

00:55:24.882 --> 00:55:27.426
important notes about what's
happening at that moment.

00:55:28.218 --> 00:55:32.222
What he thinks, what he feels, what he wants.

00:55:38.145 --> 00:55:39.647
And suddenly,

00:55:39.647 --> 00:55:46.737
among all these stagings, filmic obsessions and
tourists shots that don't want to be identified as such,

00:55:46.946 --> 00:55:50.783
some images evoke an honest and
deep affection between the couple.

00:55:58.666 --> 00:56:04.421
In multiple sequences, the camera's gaze
genuinely captures their close complicity.

00:56:07.841 --> 00:56:10.719
It traces the coordinates of a
life filmed in co-authorship.

00:56:11.345 --> 00:56:15.349
An authentic drawing that does not need
to be staged in order to flourish.

00:56:25.609 --> 00:56:28.070
July, 1962.

00:56:29.530 --> 00:56:30.531
Dear Eva,

00:56:31.907 --> 00:56:36.745
I am writing to you from San Sebastian,
where I have been alone for the last week.

00:56:37.871 --> 00:56:43.961
Arnold left  for Switzerland to pick up Noldi
and the three of us will meet again in Venice.

00:56:44.878 --> 00:56:48.924
As you can imagine, it was a
plan that I did not agree with.

00:56:49.842 --> 00:56:57.224
We had avoided the subject during the whole
trip but finally we had to talk about it in Madrid.

00:56:58.517 --> 00:57:03.522
No matter what reasons I could give him,
and he made the decision by himself.

00:57:04.857 --> 00:57:10.154
I understand that he wants to improve his
relationship with Noldi and I totally support him,

00:57:10.446 --> 00:57:13.323
But it seems to me that
the way to do it is different.

00:57:16.201 --> 00:57:21.040
At the end I told him that he should
listen more to his son and less to himself.

00:57:25.544 --> 00:57:31.508
Anyway, these days alone have served me
to relax and think about many things,

00:57:32.176 --> 00:57:36.513
After Arnold's departure I was able to
take the trip with much tranquility,

00:57:37.097 --> 00:57:40.017
so I visited the villages around Burgos.

00:57:41.351 --> 00:57:45.397
A Roman road passes by that can still be visited.

00:57:47.066 --> 00:57:53.781
it is impressive how certain things can remain
almost intact despite the erosion of the years.

00:57:54.907 --> 00:57:59.828
It may sound silly, but that afternoon,
walking on the road,

00:57:59.828 --> 00:58:04.875
I felt more impressed by it than when
I was in front of the coliseum in Rome.

00:58:05.417 --> 00:58:11.757
And it is actually nothing imposing, it is
just a rural road paved without any grace.

00:58:12.841 --> 00:58:17.221
Maybe it was the fact that I found myself
alone and my mind was wandering

00:58:17.221 --> 00:58:24.144
but the idea of that road disappearing one day
and no one will give it the least importance

00:58:24.144 --> 00:58:26.522
moved me deeply.

00:58:36.990 --> 00:58:41.453
The other day I went out for a walk around the
city with no intention of getting anywhere.

00:58:44.540 --> 00:58:49.962
just walked and took a break in the
parts of the city that I found interesting.

00:58:56.718 --> 00:59:00.514
And the sea has nothing to do with Mexico's.

00:59:01.473 --> 00:59:04.143
I barely stayed in the cold water for a few minutes.

00:59:06.395 --> 00:59:13.318
Do you remember when father take us to Veracruz
and scold us because we spent the whole day in the sea?

00:59:15.279 --> 00:59:18.866
I still remember how our hands got all pruny.

00:59:20.450 --> 00:59:27.249
Now I'm finishing reading B. Traven's
White Rose, which just takes place in Veracruz.

00:59:28.292 --> 00:59:32.129
When we're going back and passing through
to see you, I'll lend it to you if you like.

00:59:35.841 --> 00:59:41.263
We will also have the opportunity to tell
you how the trip ended and Noldi's story.

00:59:42.014 --> 00:59:47.853
Though on second thought, it is likely that
this letter will reach you after we meet.

00:59:48.520 --> 00:59:50.898
You know how bad the mail is in Mexico.

00:59:51.481 --> 00:59:53.567
Give the children kisses for me.

00:59:55.485 --> 00:59:57.988
Your sister, Anita.  

01:00:02.284 --> 01:00:03.911
And there a very big break happened.

01:00:03.911 --> 01:00:06.079
Both Noldi with his dad,

01:00:07.039 --> 01:00:09.917
and Arnoldo with Anita.

01:00:10.792 --> 01:00:14.546
And in hindsight, I think she was right.

01:00:15.589 --> 01:00:17.799
She was right to want him back.

01:00:18.050 --> 01:00:19.384
She wanted him with...

01:00:20.385 --> 01:00:21.428
With his family.

01:00:31.146 --> 01:00:34.316
You can't send someone so young,
so far from the family, just because.

01:00:35.067 --> 01:00:37.945
Well, my dad didn't understand it
very well, that was the problem.

01:00:52.125 --> 01:00:57.798
If someone encounter these images for the first time,
without knowing who is portrayed in them,

01:00:58.006 --> 01:01:00.300
they would think it was an idyllic family.

01:01:02.010 --> 01:01:06.098
That their hugs, walks and poses in
front of squares and monuments,

01:01:06.473 --> 01:01:10.644
are spontaneous flashes of affection that
the camera recorded almost by chance.

01:01:14.481 --> 01:01:19.861
But behind this collection of these happy moments,
lies a story trapped on the edge of the image.

01:01:20.862 --> 01:01:22.948
Everything we see hides something else,

01:01:23.824 --> 01:01:27.202
but we don't always want to see
what is hidden behind what we see.

01:01:43.343 --> 01:01:45.429
October, 1963.

01:01:46.305 --> 01:01:47.806
Dear Shorty,

01:01:48.223 --> 01:01:49.808
How are things going over there?

01:01:50.767 --> 01:01:54.187
Now that you enter Highschool you will
surely run into my brother Ico,

01:01:54.354 --> 01:01:55.689
who is now in Junior High.

01:01:56.064 --> 01:01:57.941
If you see him, keep an eye on him,

01:01:58.442 --> 01:02:01.695
so he won't end up hanging
out with people like you.

01:02:04.990 --> 01:02:06.908
I still have some time left here.

01:02:07.743 --> 01:02:11.163
My dad wants me to do the Swiss
military service after finishing school.

01:02:11.455 --> 01:02:13.040
But here it's not like in Mexico.

01:02:13.457 --> 01:02:16.835
The service lasts two years and all that
time you have to spend it in barracks.

01:02:17.836 --> 01:02:20.464
The truth is, I don't intend
to stay here any longer.

01:02:20.797 --> 01:02:23.508
I would prefer to go back to Mexico
and take a lot of pictures.

01:02:24.176 --> 01:02:29.431
Last month my uncle Rolph gave me a camera
for my birthday and I've been trying it out.

01:02:30.515 --> 01:02:33.643
I'm sending you the first ones
I took and I'll send you more later.

01:02:34.644 --> 01:02:38.190
Say hello to all the existentialists and
tell them I'm sending them a hug.

01:02:39.149 --> 01:02:40.150
Noldi.

01:03:23.193 --> 01:03:28.657
With Noldi absent, Arnoldo shoots
"Combate",  his last fiction film.

01:03:33.703 --> 01:03:40.335
This time, he stands behind the camera
directing Willy, Jeniffer and particularly Ico,

01:03:41.086 --> 01:03:44.548
who by this time, wanted to be a pilot.

01:03:52.472 --> 01:03:56.435
"Combate" seems to be Arnoldo's way
of encourage Ico's aviator dreams,

01:03:57.310 --> 01:03:59.312
A way to assert himself as a parent.

01:04:00.230 --> 01:04:02.357
To state that despite their mistakes,

01:04:02.732 --> 01:04:05.318
there is still a chance for healing the wounds.

01:04:16.037 --> 01:04:23.211
If you think about it, he had no roots from anywhere.

01:04:23.211 --> 01:04:31.344
He was born in San Luis Potosí, but his father
sent him to Switzerland to be educated.

01:04:32.137 --> 01:04:34.723
So he grew up without his father.

01:04:34.723 --> 01:04:38.894
His father went to see him every 4 or 5 years.

01:04:40.312 --> 01:04:43.940
So his father figure was his uncle

01:04:44.441 --> 01:04:47.819
who gives him his first camera

01:04:49.196 --> 01:04:57.662
And this seed caught on in Arnoldo because when
he is about to come of age, he wants to study art.

01:05:00.916 --> 01:05:05.837
But his father wants him to do his
military service in Switzerland.

01:05:07.797 --> 01:05:12.260
And when he finishes it,
the idea of studying art hasn't gone,

01:05:12.469 --> 01:05:21.269
but his father has other plans and again he forces
him to come to Mexico to learn the printing business.

01:05:21.895 --> 01:05:23.939
Until he went to New York.

01:05:28.818 --> 01:05:34.824
Even there, his father blackmails
him or plays the victim

01:05:35.367 --> 01:05:41.623
so that he returns to Mexico to take care
of the business which is what he finally did.

01:05:42.332 --> 01:05:44.584
He ended up dedicating himself to
something that he didn't wanted.

01:05:47.295 --> 01:05:55.762
And his great misfortune is that he was very
clear that he didn't want to become his father,

01:05:55.762 --> 01:05:59.015
he didn't want to make the
same mistakes as his father.

01:05:59.599 --> 01:06:02.352
But in the end he ended
up transformed into him.

01:06:20.120 --> 01:06:23.081
March, 1975.

01:06:24.416 --> 01:06:29.629
Dear Anita, yesterday we said goodbye
to Arnold who left to Mexico.

01:06:30.380 --> 01:06:34.384
We enjoyed very much the two
weeks he was with us in Bern

01:06:34.551 --> 01:06:37.846
and we sent some gifts for you and the children.

01:06:41.141 --> 01:06:46.855
I don't want to sound alarmed or worry
about something that may not be important,

01:06:47.272 --> 01:06:51.359
But I would like to tell you about two
episodes that we lived with Arnold,

01:06:51.568 --> 01:06:55.447
which left both Rolph and I worried.

01:07:00.035 --> 01:07:04.122
The day of his arrival we went to
the train station to pick him up.

01:07:04.998 --> 01:07:11.087
Rolf checked the arrivals board and we realized that
it had been an hour since Arnold's train had arrived

01:07:11.087 --> 01:07:12.756
but there was no sign of him.

01:07:15.717 --> 01:07:20.513
After 20 minutes we found him in the parking lot.

01:07:20.597 --> 01:07:27.062
And when we talked to him he didn't seem
to recognize us, he simply smiled confusedly.

01:07:28.480 --> 01:07:34.110
After a few hours and after lying down
for a while he woke up well and lucid.

01:07:34.110 --> 01:07:38.365
So we thought it would have
been a passing episode.

01:07:40.950 --> 01:07:45.497
However, days later he went out
with Rolph to see a house for sale,

01:07:46.039 --> 01:07:51.544
since Arnold had told us that he wanted
to move soon to Switzerland for good.

01:07:53.213 --> 01:07:59.844
Both of them were walking around
downtown when Arnold was suddenly lost.

01:08:00.679 --> 01:08:08.353
He spent hours looking for him until he found
him wandering around the Nydegg Bridge.

01:08:10.313 --> 01:08:16.027
When Rolph reached him Arnold was
not talking nor answering his questions,

01:08:16.736 --> 01:08:22.283
He brought him back to the house and the
next day he was as if nothing had happened,

01:08:23.827 --> 01:08:30.709
When I asked him why he separated from Rolph
he just smiled and changed the conversation.

01:08:32.961 --> 01:08:39.592
Anyway, I hope he was just tired but
I thought it was the right thing to tell you.

01:08:40.593 --> 01:08:45.765
You know how much I love my cousin and you,
and we care about his health.

01:08:47.392 --> 01:08:50.019
I hope you will come next time,

01:08:50.395 --> 01:08:52.647
With love, Anne Marie.

01:11:32.307 --> 01:11:37.312
Not only he did not recognize anyone,

01:11:37.312 --> 01:11:40.607
but he also began to lose the Spanish language.

01:11:42.400 --> 01:11:47.113
He only remembered words in German
and no one could understand him.

01:11:53.828 --> 01:11:59.667
The last time Arnoldo took a movie camera was
to film the birthday of one of his grandchildren.

01:12:03.254 --> 01:12:06.132
The images show a disoriented cameraman,

01:12:06.925 --> 01:12:12.472
lost among a stream of childish faces that does
not let him guess which of them is the correct.

01:12:21.773 --> 01:12:23.232
Before the end of the reel,

01:12:23.650 --> 01:12:28.237
Anita must have realized that, so she pointed
him in the direction of her and her grandson.

01:12:33.117 --> 01:12:36.079
Was Arnoldo aware of who he was filming?

01:12:36.371 --> 01:12:40.708
Or did he simply point the camera in the
direction a stranger encouraged him to do?

01:12:50.927 --> 01:12:55.181
Since all the children had already left,
Anita was alone with him.

01:12:58.559 --> 01:13:02.355
And with Ico, the only one who had stayed.

01:13:06.317 --> 01:13:10.780
Ico had studied to be a pilot but he never
ended up practicing his profession.

01:13:11.155 --> 01:13:15.743
And what he ended up doing
was being Arnoldo's caretaker.

01:13:19.831 --> 01:13:29.966
To lighten Arnoldo days as he was locked up,
Ico encourages him to take pictures.

01:13:34.637 --> 01:13:40.476
So he spends his days photographing his garden,

01:13:42.020 --> 01:13:44.313
it was the only thing left to him to portray.

01:13:50.903 --> 01:13:52.822
Federico stays at home with my parents,

01:13:53.448 --> 01:13:56.617
during the time my dad got sick.

01:13:57.285 --> 01:14:00.455
And Federico was the one who
took care of him and his needs.

01:14:01.831 --> 01:14:02.832
Until...

01:14:03.750 --> 01:14:05.752
Federico died.

01:14:06.461 --> 01:14:07.462
Drowned.

01:14:30.318 --> 01:14:34.405
Ico is invited to sail On a Christmas Eve.

01:14:36.240 --> 01:14:39.827
That day was very windy and cold.

01:14:41.496 --> 01:14:43.331
The sailboat capsized.

01:14:49.629 --> 01:14:55.009
I went to Mexquitic and I said to myself: he
surely came out of the ice water like a madman,

01:14:55.384 --> 01:14:58.262
and got lost in the bushes.

01:14:58.554 --> 01:15:01.265
So I walked the dam and found nothing.

01:15:01.265 --> 01:15:04.060
I asked what had happened and they
told me that the sailboat capsized.

01:15:05.144 --> 01:15:08.439
Ico decided to swim to shore,

01:15:09.190 --> 01:15:10.191
and he just...

01:15:10.691 --> 01:15:12.443
and he doesn't arrive.

01:15:12.443 --> 01:15:14.529
Instead, he drowned in the cold water.

01:15:18.032 --> 01:15:23.287
So he stays in the water during
the 24th, the 25th, the 26th,

01:15:24.205 --> 01:15:27.208
and in the 28th I think we found him.

01:15:27.750 --> 01:15:30.002
We got him out of the water,

01:15:30.545 --> 01:15:35.091
When I saw him he was
completely blue from the cold.

01:15:35.466 --> 01:15:39.679
So we put his body in the ambulance
and they take him to the Red Cross.

01:15:42.098 --> 01:15:47.103
I went to your grandparents' house and
asked your grandmother to give me a suit.

01:15:47.895 --> 01:15:49.897
We dress Ico.

01:15:50.481 --> 01:15:57.071
Until they came for him to take
him dressed to the funeral home.

01:15:58.990 --> 01:16:00.783
They take him and that's it.

01:16:02.618 --> 01:16:03.703
That's the end of the tale.

01:16:07.039 --> 01:16:11.961
The dinner table at my house
stayed set for more than a week.

01:16:12.712 --> 01:16:15.631
No one cleared the Christmas dinner table.

01:16:24.056 --> 01:16:29.187
There is no film that captured the dark
anguish in family conversations,

01:16:30.021 --> 01:16:32.899
the incessant hammering of the
telephone in the living room,

01:16:33.316 --> 01:16:37.445
the unbearable parade of neighbors,
onlookers and policemen.

01:16:40.656 --> 01:16:44.327
We treasure thousands of images that
illustrate our passage through this world,

01:16:44.827 --> 01:16:48.414
but as we leave it the only
witnesses to our departure,

01:16:48.581 --> 01:16:53.920
are a few documents signed by bureaucrats,
issued in a government office.

01:16:57.381 --> 01:17:00.551
But these administrative papers that we despise,

01:17:00.927 --> 01:17:05.765
show without any filter what
the image is terrified to portray.

01:17:13.856 --> 01:17:21.155
Coincidentally, the last reel on the 16mm
Bolex was film made by Ico.

01:17:28.246 --> 01:17:36.045
Like his parents, Ico films a scene played by an actor,
in this case a builder who does the cement.

01:17:38.673 --> 01:17:41.550
He repeats the shot because a car ruined the first one.

01:17:46.180 --> 01:17:51.310
He collects out-of-focus images of his friends
in what appears to be a heated argument.

01:17:53.187 --> 01:17:58.234
He captures the light getting lost behind
the hills and the chimney of the zinc mine.

01:18:02.196 --> 01:18:05.741
And at the end of the footage, as if
hiding the background of a memory,

01:18:06.158 --> 01:18:08.286
the image of a woman appears.

01:18:15.084 --> 01:18:19.380
A leap into the void leaves a mystery
in a story impossible to reconstruct.

01:18:29.765 --> 01:18:33.436
My mom stopped painting her hair,
she stopped wearing earrings.

01:18:34.353 --> 01:18:35.980
She no longer left her house.

01:18:36.272 --> 01:18:38.482
It affected her greatly.

01:18:38.691 --> 01:18:39.442
Greatly.

01:18:39.442 --> 01:18:40.776
She was never the same again.

01:18:41.610 --> 01:18:42.820
She was never the same again.

01:18:54.415 --> 01:19:00.671
From then on, Anita decided not to celebrate Christmas
or birthdays again, neither for Ico nor for Arnold.

01:19:03.007 --> 01:19:08.262
And she was alone in the house,
it became very complicated.

01:19:10.097 --> 01:19:15.102
So she took a difficult decision,
to send Arnold to a nursing home.

01:19:16.562 --> 01:19:18.481
And sends him to the "Swiss House".

01:19:20.358 --> 01:19:23.903
Perhaps she choose that place so
that Arnold in his fantasy

01:19:23.903 --> 01:19:26.947
thought that he had finally
moved to Switzerland.

01:19:27.907 --> 01:19:31.202
And finally fulfilled the desire he
wanted for years and never could do.

01:19:35.915 --> 01:19:41.253
And that was the end of Arnold.

01:19:43.047 --> 01:19:48.344
Not only he died in complete solitude,

01:19:49.512 --> 01:19:53.933
but also in complete ignorance of his own reality.

01:20:17.998 --> 01:20:21.377
Hidden among my father's films,

01:20:22.128 --> 01:20:24.171
lies the last image of Arnoldo.

01:20:30.845 --> 01:20:33.264
It portrays to the day he left for the nursing home.

01:20:34.265 --> 01:20:39.270
My mother carries me in her arms in front
of the plane that will take him to Mexico City.

01:20:41.856 --> 01:20:45.401
For a very brief moment,
2 seconds and 20 frames,

01:20:45.985 --> 01:20:49.530
the actor who lived inside my grandfather
seems to come to life in a fleeting way.

01:20:53.576 --> 01:20:56.787
Ignoring the camera, he nods with a smile

01:20:56.954 --> 01:20:59.415
and throws out an indecipherable line of dialogue

01:20:59.665 --> 01:21:02.460
just like he did hundreds of times in his movies.

01:21:09.341 --> 01:21:14.305
Despite having visited him years later,
I do not keep any structured memory of him.

01:21:14.847 --> 01:21:18.767
I only manage to rescue the vague image
of a shadow in front of a white wall.

01:21:19.435 --> 01:21:26.150
an incomplete drawing filed in the confines of my
memory that is mixed with his films and photographs.

01:21:26.442 --> 01:21:29.069
from where I have tried to reconstruct his identity.

01:21:35.784 --> 01:21:40.956
And it is here, in this image, where
I think lies the secret of his character.

01:21:43.876 --> 01:21:49.089
Even though the shadow is projected to the left,
his shoe appears to be projecting it downward.

01:21:51.091 --> 01:21:57.014
Above, in the hand that holds the violin,
a strange silhouette runs through his hand,

01:21:57.056 --> 01:22:02.811
while on the other side, the bow
seems to fade to appear higher.

01:22:04.647 --> 01:22:11.237
Finally, the outline of his face is suspicious;
cut out, overlapped.

01:22:13.155 --> 01:22:17.576
Apparently, Arnoldo never became a
New York City orchestra director.

01:22:18.786 --> 01:22:22.623
Instead, he used the image to another story.

01:22:23.249 --> 01:22:25.209
A truth made of paper.

01:22:40.724 --> 01:22:45.020
I'm not sure that all this footage
accurately portrays its protagonists.

01:22:45.604 --> 01:22:47.982
Nor that there is any way to do it.

01:22:58.117 --> 01:23:02.580
In the end, the image is nothing
more than a mirage of ourselves.

01:23:02.621 --> 01:23:05.958
An illusion that insists on
telling a story to create truth.

01:23:13.632 --> 01:23:18.470
Perhaps the only really important thing
is the attempt to decipher this reverie.

01:23:18.929 --> 01:23:21.015
Not so much to find out who we were,

01:23:21.307 --> 01:23:24.101
but rather, who it was that we wanted to be.

01:23:46.665 --> 01:23:51.587
OUR HOME

01:24:09.104 --> 01:24:13.859
On February 20, 1951 Ico was born in this house.

01:24:18.322 --> 01:24:25.788
Venustiano Carranza 437, where the
Kaiser family lives very happy.

01:24:32.252 --> 01:24:34.004
Look how colorful!

01:24:36.882 --> 01:24:40.302
Here comes the king of the house with
his coat because it was quite cold.

01:24:43.430 --> 01:24:45.808
In that pool we swim at summer.

01:24:50.312 --> 01:24:53.816
It looks like a king's castle.

01:25:00.239 --> 01:25:02.574
The most beautiful rose is my wife.