The Eternal Memory (2023): review

The Eternal Memory is an intimate documentary portrait of Augusto Góngora and Paulina Urrutia, directed by Maite Alberdi. Their love and their struggle with Augusto’s Alzheimer’s disease are placed alongside Chile’s political history, giving the film additional depth and significance.

Love against forgetting

Its emotional power comes from a sensitive approach to the disease. This is both an affecting love story and a plea against forgetting, personally and collectively. I was particularly impressed by Alberdi’s delicate direction, which allows the couple to tell their own story and makes the experience profoundly personal.

Private footage

Private footage recorded by Urrutia during the pandemic’s isolation gives the film access to intimate moments that would otherwise have remained unseen. Its combination with professionally filmed material creates a compelling meeting of personal and public memory.

Personal and collective memory

Augusto’s illness and his work against the erasure of the Pinochet regime’s crimes create two connected levels of storytelling. The film asks us to consider the relationship between individual memory and a country’s remembrance. It reaches beyond one couple to examine identity, love and the power of remembering.

Verdict

The Eternal Memory is a tribute to love and human resilience, and a reminder of the importance of memory in a world quick to forget. It touches the heart and encourages thought, leaving a lasting impression through its attention to affection, identity and the passage of time.