The Eternal Memory (12A)

★★★★ This moving and intimate documentary of a Chilean couple facing the tragedy of Alzheimer's is brimful with love and loss. ~ Radio Times.

Augusto Góngora, a veteran Chilean journalist and prominent chronicler of the crimes of the Pinochet regime, and Paulina Urrutia, actress, activist and politician, have been a tight-knit loving couple for over 20 years. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago, and now they both face the inexorable and accelerating descent of his physical and mental powers together.

Heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, the story of Paulina’s warm and uncompromising dedication and Augusto’s fierce fight to hold on to his identity is a deeply affecting testimony to their love.    

The Eternal Memory is both an inquiry into human dignity in old age and adversity and into the mechanisms of individual and collective remembrance. What – and who – do we recall from our past? Why do we forget or suppress certain memories, and what effect does this have, on a person as well as on an entire country? 

An uplifting yet heartbreaking love story that balances vibrant individual and collective remembrance with the longevity of an unbreakable human bond. 

.

Languages:
Spanish

Subtitles:
Full English