★★★
When Emilio is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, he and his family embark on a quest to reunite him with his childhood crush.
Classification: 15
Incredible lead performances from Oscar Martínez and Inma Cuesta as father-daughter duo Emilio and Julia elevate an already heartwarming but poignant tale of love, family and memory from director Maria Ripoll. Emilio, an irascible yet deeply intelligent University maths professor is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and seeks to reconnect with his most cherished childhood memory before he loses it forever; his first and true love Margarita. María Mínguez's script handles the progression of Emilio's disease tastefully and builds upon the frustrations and tragedies that Alzheimer's inflicts on families, the slow unstoppable course of a person disappearing and Martínez's performance is beautiful in its grace and candour. Emilio is a man of mathematics, unarguable logic of numbers and equations, defined by his sharp problem-solving mind and steel-trap memory and the film sees him through his fear lean towards the supposed "illogical" sides of emotion and how love in all ways defies that logic that tries to make sense of the world.
Despite the heavy subject matter, Ripoll's direction gives Live Twice, Love Once this life-affirming beauty to how love forms the strongest bonds between people as the family dynamics between the cast makes for delightful comedy and arresting drama. The idiosyncratic road trip structure the film takes on reminds audiences of Little Miss Sunshine through how Emilio's cross country quest forces his family to look at their own priorities of love, creating tension between his daughter, her husband and their daughter. Mafalda Carbonell as Blanca, Emilio's granddaughter is an amazing scene-stealer with great rapport with Martínez and Inma Cuesta. Cuesta herself who begins the film as a hardworking, tight-laced character gives Julia this blissful charisma that is awoken by the adventure as she does everything she can to keep her family from falling apart by having to face the realities she has been denying. The script feels very predictable in places but its the enthusiasm from Ripoll's direction and the gravitas Oscar Martínez brings to his role that has the whole film becomes a worthwhile journey to take.
The third act does become muddled when it concludes the road trip story, going from a rather charming tone to a more reality-driven, drama about Emilio's condition. Alzheimer's or mental illness is never used as a punchline for Emilio's character, Ripoll's respect towards the reality of the disease gives weight to the premise and does deliver a beautifully devastating final scene. Tonally however not everything flows together as well as it should but Live Twice, Love Once still does so much to make it a worthwhile story as so many elements work together in bittersweet harmony. Núria Roldos' cinematography captures the beauty of Spain and makes the journey elements of the film all the more enticing but also in how visual imagery is used to represent Emilio's plight. A mural of lovers fading in the rain as Emilio walks by as he's in the final stage of losing his memories may be an overt metaphor but still a powerful one in how Roldos' and Ripoll have built the character's cinematic steps.
It's a comedy with a great heart and even greater performances that take a somewhat predictable script and elevate to such an effective level. Ripoll along with Oscar Martínez gives this character an incredible life to share to the audience and how love truly transcends all rational boundaries. An exasperated daughter driving her ill father across the country on the slim chance to reconnect with a memory speaks to that ferocious love we all have for families and the romantic side of us that wishes we were brave enough to go after the one that got away. We are all connected by the love we have for one another and even in the face of tragedy and heartache, love always endures and Live Twice, Love Once is a beautiful celebration of that indescribable connection.
Director: #MariaRipoll
Release Date: January 7th 2020
Available to stream on Netflix
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from Netflix
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