London, Mar 31: Chilean director Cristian Jimenez is back with his second film ‘Bonsai.'
The film tells the story of two lovers Julio and Emilia. The narrative drifts in a dreamlike haze between the past and the present, Julio's first liaisons with Emilia, and eight years later to a new relationship with his neighbour Bianca.
In the present, Julio is in search of work and meets with an established writer in the hope that he will give him the job of transcribing his transcripts.
However, he doesn't get the job, but allows Bianca to think that he has. During the time when he should be working, he starts to write his own novel, musing on his relationship eight years previously with Emilia.
The most poignant scenes show flashbacks to Julio and Emilia's more intimate moments, merely spending time together or reading aloud to one another. Jimenez focused on the theme of love because he felt it was one that appealed to universal audiences and people could see elements of their past relationships in those moments.
“There are always connections with the audience that go beyond the exact fact, whether you live it like that or not. I think it is a peculiar love story but I guess there is always something universal behind two people that are young trying to find out who they are and what they want,” he explained.
The intersecting of the stories allow the film to jump between two cities and two different women, and Jimenez admitted that this was a very important way of telling the film's story.
“I wanted to use contrast as a method to tell the story, contrast between the moment where Julio is in college, when he is already facing adult life. Two cities, two different women and I think through that in a way we are putting the relationship between fiction and life in the heart of the film. That is the way I am interpreting this story and putting it forward,” he said.
