Shakespeare and Victor Hugo’s Intimacies Yulene Olaizola, Mexico

“None of them had the talent to make me laugh. And then there was the guitar, and later the painting…” These words are spoken with melancholy by the grandmother of director Yulene Olaizola, in her debut feature Shakespeare and Victor Hugo’s Intimacies. The anything but camera-shy Rosa is talking about her former lodger - very close friend and eccentric artist Jorge Riossa - whose ghost lies all around the house: in paintings, in words, even in the cushioned sofas.

Twenty years have passed since his sudden and mysterious death, but the story is still crisp in the memories of Rosa and her housekeeper Florencia. While Rosa was enamored with her former best friend, who was homosexual, Florencia’s more distanced view gives balance to the story.

This well-structured film has many twists, which make Olaizola’s debut artistically inspiring. The lodge house situated at the intersection of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo streets in Mexico City - hence the bombastic-sounding title - is the starting point of a story full of dark secrets, hidden lives and relationships that develop on the margins of social conventions. We gradually discover that the two elderly ladies share a doubt which casts a shadow over Jorge Riossa – one which only makes the figure of this poet and artist even more fascinating.

Olaizola has crossed all boundaries of documentary filmmaking by transforming a story she knows well into a suspense thriller for the audience. But she also manages to pull off something much bigger. The film is definitely more than just a narrative – it discusses moral values and how personal relationships can sometimes seem to oppose them.

Most people don’t often get the chance to discuss secrecy, sexuality and the different forms of love with their grandmother. This film is in every sense a direct result of the relationship between Yulene and Rosa - from the very first scene, Olaizola exploits the trust and familiarity, and we the audience are shamelessly invited to watch it.

The best point of Olaizola’s directing is her playfulness: the story lies between reality and fiction, but then why shouldn’t it?

Lura Limani