Burning Patience (Ardiente Pacie) is a Spanish-language film that revolves around two budding lovers Mario and Beatriz, who fall in love with each other through poetic exchanges. The movie is directed by Rodrigo Sepúlveda and written by Guillermo Calderón and Antonio Skármeta. Moreover, the total runtime of the romantic feature is one hour and thirty minutes.
The complete cast of the film includes Andrew Bargsted as Mario, Vivianne Dietz as Beatriz, Amalia Kassai as Clarita, Paola Giannini as Elba, Claudio Arredondo as Pablo Neruda, Giordano Rossi, Pablo Macaya, Ramón González, and Katy Cabezas. Furthermore, Maura Morales Bergmann serves as the cinematographer while Ana Godoy heads the editing department for the flick.
-Burning Patience Review Does Not Contain Spoilers-
The film begins on the shores of Isla Negra, a Chilean Island known for being the residence of influential poet Pablo Neruda. Set in 1969, the romantic drama makes use of the poet as a vital character in the love story of two local youths, Mario and Beatriz. The former initially works as a regular fisherman, along with his family, until one day he decides to turn himself into an alternate profession.
During one of his job hunts, Mario Jiménez (Andrew Bargsted) rides his bicycle past a popular cafe in the town, where his eyes meet Beatriz Gonsalves (Vivianne Dietz) for the first time. Even though the gazing contact lasts for only a minute, the damage of love gets done.
Eventually, Mario becomes a mailman for the post office and lands a chance to deliver letters for the town poet Neruda. This is where he forms a friendship with the master of delicate metaphors and learns about his own interest in poetry. Meanwhile, Mario also informs him about his wanna-be love interest, and his struggle to convince not only the lady of her dream but also her reluctant (and particularly poet-hating) mother.
The first half of Burning Patience (Ardiente Pacie) is so good, that it sets an impossible bar for the rest of the metaphor-drenched saga. It nearly aces everything at the start, with stunning visuals and innocent depictions, and almost forgets to keep up with the rhythm later on. The scenes where Mario attempts to vow to Beatriz are exceptionally done and somehow reminded me of the Taiwanese film Man in Love (2021).
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Apart from the soothing visuals of Isla Negra, the film also bounds you with a resonating soundtrack of Spanish numbers. The music of Carlos Cabezas combined with the visuals of Maura Morales Bergmann does an honest job of converting Neruda’s poetry into a scenic representation.
Moreover, the noticeable flaws towards the end are destined to leave you with a sour experience. They completely fail to do justice to the enthralling premise and end up adding several artificial scenes. Neruda’s friendship with Mario also feels a little too rushed and could have had its share of mature moments.
Burning Patience Final Thoughts
If you want to catch a glimpse of Pablo Neruda’s mesmerizing metaphors, picturised in the most elegant manner, then you should definitely give this flick a chance. However, I cannot say the same about the rest of the plot.
You can stream the movie on Netflix. Let us know your thoughts about it in the comment section below.