#alison mcalpine

Perfectly a Strangeness

In the late winter, the year he died, I took my husband to see this movie in the theater. He was reluctant. He was always reluctant with activities I'd suggest, but for this, it was especially so. We'd seen Antichrist and Enter the Void at the same art theater, ten years before. It was the beginning of our relationship when I still made enthusiastic suggestions, but these were both unpleasant and hard to watch. One was dark misogyny and featured the kind of violence neither of us was accustomed to seeing, and the other was a garish, head splitting, grueling fever dream of profane and ugly things. After the second one, he didn't want to go back. So we didn't. And he didn't want to go when I suggested we see Cielo, either, the memory of the other films still vivid for him. I also didn't want him to waste his time doing anything that wasn't worth the precious effort. But I had a feeling about it, and for this, on a night when there wasn't anything else to do, I pushed a little and he gave in.

It was gorgeous and without a doubt the love poem it was supposed to be. We were staked out under the Chilean sky, immersed in the juxtaposition of science and magical thinking, strangeness and beauty. Intersections that seem appropriate when approaching the night sky. Or living a human life. Or dying a human death. He was glad we went.

I want to say that nights like that one were rare. They FEEL rare when I remember them because there were so many difficult times. But they actually weren't rare. I can't think of anyone with whom I've had more quiet, tender moments of wonder, where we sat in the dark, hearts full and aching, nothing else mattering for a little moment.

El universo llega a la pantalla grande a través de los cielos de Atacama

Dirigida por Alison McAlpine, ‘Cielo’ retrata la inmensidad del cosmos y ofrece un registro asombroso de las estrellas y personajes que habitan el desierto de Atacama.

El film recibió el premio Kinema, de Film Commission Chile, que distingue a producciones audiovisuales que exaltan la belleza de nuestro territorio, además del American Cinematographer Award for Best Cinematography en Salem Film…

Cielo dir. Alison McAlpine (2018)