Treating an emotional and shocking subject matter with respect and subtlety, Colell and Cadena have created a poetic and beautiful film. The young Elisa’s childhood, accompanied by a Beethoven score and shot in sepia-filtered black and white, hides a terrible event that she suppresses deep in her subconscious. Fourteen years, four months and a few days later, the images spring into colour as the repressed memory comes flooding back with a vengeance.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize 2010 at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, and a finalist for this year’s Goya Award for best adapted screenplay.