The framework of a marriage – the shared past, the certainties, even the love itself – is put under unimaginable strain when one half of it, former journalist and broadcaster Augusto Góngora, is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This tender, profoundly moving Chilean documentary is an intimate study of the strategies that Góngora and his wife, the actor and politician Paulina Urrutia, put in place to cope with the attrition of his memories. With warmth and patience, Paulina painstakingly walks her husband through the increasingly tangled mental maze of his past, signposting key moments and facts for him to cling to: his achievements as a reporter; his wide circle of friends and family (“They love me very much,” he repeats like a mantra, in an attempt to stave off the clouds of confusion).
The latest film from Chilean director Maite Alberdi (Oscar-nominated for her previous documentary, The Mole Agent), The Eternal Memory is a restrained, respectful piece of film-making that takes its lead from its two subjects. It’s wrenchingly sad, but also a testament to the love that endures, even as Augusto increasingly struggles to recognise his wife.
