José and Pilar (2010)

Jose Saramago: They asked me: "And now that you have everything...the Nobel prize, glory, fame, this, and that, and whatever--what more would you like?"

And I answered: "Time".

By Miguel Gonçalves Mendes
With João Afonso, Àngels Barceló, Pilar del Río

It's a strange coincidence that the last thing I reviewed here was Raymond Chandler's collected poetry. The spirit of his wife, Tess Gallagher shone through the book. In the last poem of the book, Late Fragment, there is a line: "And did you get what you wanted from life? / I did" which in this documentary, Jose Saramago repeats again and again--not in words, always, but in gestures. And the spirit of Saramago's wife, who is also the translator of his work, Pilar del Rio, glows.

I didn't know anything about this documentary before seeing it. For me this is strange because I often read many reviews or at least take a glance at reviews, see the casting, make sure that the film is something I want to see. I have never even read but one of Jose Saramago's work -- a short story titled The Tale of the Unknown Island. But what a beautiful tale it was! It was only because I loved that story and that I read this was a documentary detailing the last few years of his life, that I decided to see it. I didn't know that it was really him on screen, and that it was really his wife.

It's a beautiful documentary. There is no plot, of course. There are moments though which happen naturally and which pile together, and the truth of those moments makes this a pleasure to see. Moments like Saramago waiting for his laptop to open up, and that sound of Windows welcome screen. Moments where he climbs a mountain. Sick moments when he is frail and feels he is closest to death. All throughout, the small gestures he shares with his wife, cupping the back of her head, ruffling her hair as they walk. This documentary is said to be a love story and I can see why. There are no long and passionate kisses, no sex, no convoluated chase as he tries to "win" her over -- instead, this is a story of two people in love twenty years after their being together. The small ways in which they know each other through and through. The nightmares he has when he thinks he will die -- they are not about death, or fear of death/retribution -- Saramago is famously and outspokenly an atheist -- but rather calling out for Pilar, and being unable to reach to her. 

For a Nobel prize winner, it can be expected how busy Saramago and his wife's schedules are. Yet what bothered me at first seeing this documentary was the kind of distaste he had for his fans. One of the scenes in the beginning were of Pilar sorting through his mail and tearing up most of the fan mail which they get in bulk nearly every week while making sarcastic comments about them. He hates being photographed or autographing yet goes again and again to events which he knows will require that of him. To me it felt somehow ungrateful, as these readers were responsible for his work being known, published, loved and if he was unable to participate in the publicity he could simply decline coming to those events. 

Of course I can understand as well the need for his personal life, his private life. Nevertheless, the fact that this sort of elitist sentiment was so overt in the documentary balanced out the image of him. He isn't heralded as saint -- he's just a man.

The documentary also chronicles the process of him writing The Elephant's Journey one of the last books he wrote before his death in 2010, and the metaphor of the elephant whose journey would have passed by, anonymously, if he hadn't written about it felt to me a metaphor for his own life, for his own passing which would have gone by without event if it wouldn't have been for his work. Yet he is humble too, and reached international acclaim when he was in his sixties.  

I liked: Some beautiful quotes. Saramago often spoke of himself as a confirmed "pessimist" so his dry wit and sense of humor really made this pleasurable to see. Natural acting. It felt intimate, and special.

I disliked: For some moments it seemed to drag on a little too long. 

83/100

A beautiful and moving documentary about the life of a writer and the woman he loved. I think anyone could enjoy this. It's just a simple, well told and profound story.