There are certain people who pose a very calm, attentive and sincerity for a long time. When there is an encounter of people who lighten up the uptight in most of them, we see those rarely expressive jump in jubilant. Martha (Mirella Pascual) is one of those who find the rare joyous cheer Herman (Jorge Bolani) ignites in her. Jacobo (Andrés Pazos) on the other hand is severely rigid and emotionally monotone. The connections and detachments in between these three people form a subtle short story of art for this sweet matured movie.
We see the routine life both Martha and Jacobo go through. Both are in the age when loneliness seems to be too lonely or too independent. Jacobo seem to be the guy who was busy in taking care of his mother to miss his own personal life. Jacobo opens his socks factory early in the morning while Martha waits at the shutter entrance. She is the supervisor cum assistant for Jacobo. There are two other girls who come later who work under Martha. Jacobo is a lonely man. A year earlier his mother died. They are raising a grave stone a year later for which he calls his brother Herman from Brazil.
Jacobo asks the help of Martha to help him at home during Herman’s visit, reluctantly and she accepts. When we think it is for help, it turns out to act as Jacobo’s wife for the time period Herman comes in. How Martha understands it or is it been done previously by them is not known. Herman is the connecting chain in between these two. They are professionally related but Herman might just form a bridge in between these or may be some other weird thing might happen which the story calculatedly shows for open interpretations.
Directors Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll manufactures the routine Jacobo and Martha go through in series of repetitive scenes. It does not seem these are taken once and ran twice but genuinely shot twice. The routine is same but the small changes like Martha’s new hair style are noticeable. Martha is shy but showing signs of some attention to gain some. She respects Jacobo but seems to expect more from it. She eagerly waits the opportunity to be with this straight faced lonesome guy. Herman on the other hand is cheerful. He understands Jacobo and wants to entertain Martha. The entertainment is nothing but to talk nicely. Create conversations to make Martha comfortable.
Herman did not come for the funeral when their mother died. This forms Jacobo’s resentment towards his brother. More than not lending a helping hand in dire situations, it is the loss of his personal life which marks the frustration. This cold tension between these two never lets to go down. Jacobo at the same time wants to show his brother he is as settled and having a family life that of his brother. Herman does not even show traces of jealousy or competition. While it is not justifiable to miss his mother’s funeral, he seems to understand the effects of it and want to make peace. He offers money which might seem crude but genuine. He knows the financial constraint Jacobo went through. He also offers to help him in the factory. Jacobo refuses as expected.
Martha likes Herman. There is flirtation but only to break the awkwardness and loosen up rather than intentions. Herman is a happy father. Martha is eager to get some kind of signs from Jacobo. There is a moment wherein Martha goes to Herman’s room. She enters while he is busily seemed to be talking with his wife over the phone. They do not show what happens. No one knows but there is an intelligent guess we can make understanding the characters. The story takes the audience for this assumptions and study they make to end the story as well. I can see various stories leaving the ending for interpretation but this does some thing different. If you want you can interpret but if you do not, it ends as a beautiful fragment of a short story. This characteristic of moulding as per the viewer’s choice is clever and subtle.
“Whisky” in Spanish or Portugese (not sure!) is to give the photographic smiling face as that of “cheese”. It symbolizes the fake relationship these two put in. It also marks that Jacobo smiles when there is no attachment and everyone knows it’s fake. Martha cherishes that moment even though it is fake but wants it to be true. Herman is the genuine person who really smiles for this reunion and welcoming a member in this family. I hope Jacobo starts smiling for real without saying “Whisky”.
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