Recently, while talking about the Netflix film titled Let Go, I found myself very conflicted about the use of cancer as a plot point in films and TV shows. Unless you and everyone around you is unnaturally healthy, I’m sure you must have some idea of how cruel the disease is. And regardless of how closely you’ve witnessed its effects, the on-screen portrayal of cancer usually feels manipulative or gimmicky. I think films like 50/50, Ikiru, Our Friend, The Fountain, and, of course, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl have dealt with it in a heartfelt and sensitive fashion. But then there are examples like Forrest Gump, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Thor: Love and Thunder, and the Saw movies that have done the same pretty distastefully. Hence, you can only imagine my skepticism when I learned that the topic of today’s discussion, Speak Sunlight, is a coming-of-age story that uses the fatal illness to bring about change in its protagonists. Where has it landed on the spectrum of good-to-bad films on cancer? Let’s find out.
Carol Polakoff’s Speak Sunlight (whose Spanish title is La Voz Del Sol) tells the story of an elderly couple, Maruja and Manolo, who work for Senora Jolis in Paris. They don’t have children of their own, so they treat Alanito, Jolis’ son, as their own. Now, Alanito is going through a rough phase because his grades are bad, his mother doesn’t give him the attention that he needs, he seemingly doesn’t have a lot of friends, and his hormones are at their peak. Meanwhile, Maruja receives devastating news that she is suffering from a terminal illness, and she has very limited time on her hands. So, she wants to wrong some rights while giving Alanito a taste of the life she had lived in Spain before coming to France. Of course, Alanito wants to party and partake in all kinds of debauchery, and the idea of spending his vacation with two elderly people doesn’t seem ideal to him. He experiences culture clash; the state of Francoist Spain gets on his nerves, and the initial reaction to Maruja’s reunion with her mother-in-law and her sister is, for lack of a better word, jarring. However, with each passing day, Alanito realizes that he is going through one of the most formative journeys of his life.
Speak Sunlight is certainly one of the better stories to have cancer as an inciting incident. Even though Let Go essentially did the same thing, since it used cancer as a plot twist, it just didn’t sit right with me. Polakoff sort of puts herself in a corner by revealing Maruja’s health condition right at the beginning of the story and then uses this revelation as the emotional undercurrent of every single scene. But the portrayal is never overly melodramatic because she doesn’t want Maruja to be defined by this one chapter of her life. Maruja has lived a life, and her whole journey is about finishing things on her own terms, and putting the spotlight on that is what makes the narrative tick. Juxtaposing Maruja’s journey with Alanito’s is quite interesting because he is learning about the complexities of death while also experiencing the joys of life, something which he wouldn’t have gotten in the sheltered way of living curated by his mother. And Alanito is a relatable character too because many of us have been privy to death at an age when we should’ve been YOLO-ing around. In addition to all that, the film is quite political. Maybe normies like me won’t catch all the references, but history buffs certainly will.
Talking about historical accuracy, I’m no expert, but it seems like Polakoff and the departments in charge of production design, set design, art direction, costume design, and location scouting have done a decent job of transporting us to Spain in the ‘60s. Of course, a lot of the ancient parts of the country have been kept that way for the sake of tourism, but it’s not like you can simply take a trip to those parts, plop your camera on the tripod, shoot a couple of scenes, and call it a day. There needs to be a mixture of choosing a site that’s sort of stuck in time and smartly using the budget to dress the people and the location in a way that, to the eyes of an amateur like me, the atmosphere feels authentic, and I think Speak Sunlight excels at that. Also, there’s something about Polakoff’s filmmaking that gives off this feeling that you’re watching an old Spanish film. She sticks to the basics, makes sure that the lighting and the framing are correct, and the pacing is just right, thereby allowing you to immerse yourself in the story in a way that modern movies don’t exactly allow.
The performances in Speak Sunlight are great. I always talk about how difficult it is to cast child actors in serious dramas, but with time, I am starting to understand that it’s even more difficult to cast teenagers. It’s just something about that age where your voice has cracked, and no amount of sound correction during dubbing can prevent you from sounding annoying. The actor has to thread the needle of seeming relatable to everyone who remembers being a teenager, even though they’ve known very little about life, or acting for that matter. So, with all that in mind, Matte Artunedo is excellent. I think this is his first acting role, and he is in charge of meaningfully portraying the youth of the late great Alan Jolis. I can’t even imagine how nerve-wracking this must’ve been, but he has aced it like a pro. Carmen Machi and Karra Elejalde are fabulous. I could’ve listened to them bicker all day. Their chemistry is perfect, as in you can genuinely sense the years they’ve spent with each other and the history and knowledge they carry on their shoulders. Ahikar Azcona is so charismatic and hilarious. Rebeca Montero and Atonio Duran, despite their limited screen time, are impactful. The rest of the supporting cast is good.
Speak Sunlight is a solid coming-of-age drama that balances the naivete and energy of one’s youth with the existential thoughts that cross one’s mind during their twilight years really, really well. If you cry easily while watching films, I’d recommend having a box of tissue paper at the ready because this’ll hit your tear ducts hard. I think there’s no harm in giving you all a trigger warning since it does deal with cancer. I mean, as I grow old and witness more and more people head to the battlefield with fellow cancer warriors, even the slightest mention of the disease gets my anxiety and depressive thoughts to spike. So, in case you are as sensitive as me, you’ve been warned. I suppose it’s a must-watch for history buffs, architecture buffs, and fans of Alan Jolis’ novels. I don’t fall into any of those categories, but I’m happy to listen to expert opinions on those aspects of the film. All in all, I think Speak Sunlight offers a bittersweet viewing experience and is definitely worth a watch!
