The Life of Fish

A peaceful and poignant drama from one of the main guests at this year’s Films From the South. Matías Bize proves to be a brilliant observer of relationships and missed opportunities in his new film The Life of Fish, winner of the prestigious Goya Award for Best Spanish language foreign film in 2011.

33 year-old writer and travel journalist Andres has been living in Germany for 10 years. He is rootless and constantly on the move to ever more exotic destinations. Now he returns to Chile to bring closure to his past before settling for good in Berlin. The attempt to find a foothold culminates in a friend’s birthday party where Andres rediscovers the world he has left behind. The causes of Andres’ rootless behaviour are circled in as we follow him on the labyrinthine journey through the party and the night. A reunion with his long-time love Beatriz and a confrontation with tragic events hidden in the past bring Andres to reconsider his life choices and explore which directions life could have taken. The Life of Fish reflects upon the fear of commitment, double standards, wasted chances and is a poignant study of the insurmountable gap between present and past. red