Archive

Puchon Choice: Features

They re Watching Us

Noberto Lopez

Spain2001 105min 35mm Color Asian Premiere

Synopsis

Juan has been working in the police force for twelve years, and he is working on the case of Barreiros, who disappeared three years ago. He examines all the cases of missing persons for the last ten years in order to find clues in this unsolved case. In the process, Juan recalls the case of his younger sister, Sarah, who disappeared as a child. The painful memory that hovers his present leads Juan into an uncanny situation. His wife Julia, his two children Alex and Laura, and his mother are all worried about the changes in Juan. is a film about the relationship between the dead and the living. Such films as and have dealt with similar subjects, but is somewhat different in its plot and mood. Juan, the policeman working on a missing person case, is responsible for the disappearance of Sarah (the film suggests that it was due to willful negligence on Juan’s part). As he investigates further into the cases, Juan learns that missing persons still roam the world in the present, sometimes putting people in danger. In addition, he learns that the dead had provoked him when his sister disappeared because of his negligence and that the present brings the past back while past cases affect the present. is not so much a thriller as it is a drama about how painful memories from the past buried deep in the subconscious can be the source of tragic consequences in the present. The case in point becomes clear when the truth about the Barreiros case is revealed. Amidst the balance between madness and tension that characterizes the film, the memory of a remorseful past makes the story rather mournful.(Lim Ji-soo)

Diretor

Noberto Lopez

Norberto Lopez made a dozen documentaries (from 1991 to 1999) and several commercials (from 1994 to 1995) and has produced numerous TV programs (since 1994). He has also directed a few shorts such as, and and has written the script for two long features. is his first feature film.