Through its principal character, Dr. Arturo Fernandez, a pathologist in the city morgue of Quito Ecuador, this moody, atmospheric film holds life and death in a delicate balance between isolation and the joys of life and human connection. In My Time Will Come, suspense and revelation combine to bring Fernandez to terms with death, life and his own inner demons.
A diverse array of initially separate characters and stories artfully intertwine as the film unfolds, in a manner pleasantly reminiscent of Crash, the 2006 Oscar winner for Best Motion Picture, Screenwriting and Editing. Cinematogrpaher Daniel Andrade's noirish, gritty mixture of interior, daylight and night time elements recalls Chinatown, while capturing the expanse and energy of Quito.
But this film is not a knock-off - My Time Will Come clearly has its own absorbing signature. Filmmaker Victor Arregui paints an Altmanesque picture of life and death in Ecuador's capital city that is both dark and oddly uplifting: a serpentine but sympathetic portrait of one man's solitude set against a richly-textured rendering of bustling Quito.
MY TIME WILL COME(Cuando Me Toque A Mi) Suspense
Director Víctor Arregui, 2008, Ecuador, 90 min, in Spanish; English subtitles. [NR]
SUNDAY OCT 18, 6:30 social hour at 5:30
TUESDAY OCT 20, 7:30 social hour at 6:30
NOTE: This early version trailer contains no subtitles, limited color correction and does not match the quality you will see in the theatre.
Festivals & Notable Screenings
CAST
Arturo Fernandez ... Manuel Calisto Sánchez
Cáceres ... Ramiro Logroño
Eulalia ... Randi Kraup
Jorge Fernandez ... Juan Martin Cueva
Campos ... Jose Alvea
Rogello ... David Nieto
Alina ... Catalina Cardenas
Carlos ... Erick Chiriboga
Maria Augusta ... Isabella Parra
Sra. Campos ... Pilar Olmedo
Taxista ... Edison Guerra
CREDITS
Director ... Víctor Arregui
Writers ... Alfredo Noriega, Víctor Arregui
Executive Producer ... Paul Venegas
Producer ... Isabella Parra
Cinematographer ... Daniel Andrade
Editor ... Alex Zito
Sound ... Juan José Luzuriaga
Music ... CODA producciones, Felipe Terán
Distributed by The Global Film Initiative
My Time Will Come opens with a predawn murder that sends a body, and introduces us, to pathologist Arturo Fernandez. As the opening act develops, we anecdotally learn that Fernandez was raised in an upper-middle-class home in Quito Ecuador and that he was pushed by his father to take up a career that would bring him wealth and power. Yet, after studying medicine, Fernandez followed an opposite path, taking a position as a coroner in the morgue at the city's busiest hospital.
Estranged by his father's relentless ambition and hounded by his mother's constant urging to marry, the lonely bachelor Arturo found solace in the company of the dead. He became a reclusive man who related to his "patients" better than he did most living people and seemed to prefer his self-imposed isolation from the world around him. Always present as the recently deceased make one last stop before the grave, we see that the indelible taint of death is slowly replacing his soul with a brooding cynicism.
The predawn murder that starts the film sets in motion a series of events - seemingly unrelated tragedies and desperate acts that ultimately interlock via nexus at the morgue overseen by Dr. Fernandez. These same events induce a change in Fernandez, forcing him to confront his own desperate existence and emotional isolation. Circumstances awaken a desire to rediscover his connection to the living and he develops an oddly intimate relationship with the personal lives of his cases.
In a dramatic but believable evolution in character, Fernandez is inspired to take his investigative skills into the field, traveling the city to examine the crime scenes and relationships connected to the recent influx of bodies at the morgue. In the process, the city of Quito becomes a living entity unto itself, as its energy and expansive sprawl offer a compelling visual survey to the viewer. The well-developed characters, excellent cinematography and the aching strains of the theme music combine to provide a poignant, poetic ode to Ecuador's capital city.
Dr. Arturo Fernandez, the man who works with the dead, learns some unexpected lessons about life, wrestles with his personal demons and comes to terms with the dead, and the living.