Discovering Julio Torres' work this year has irrevocably changed my life. I'm not even joking.
This year has been one of great transformation for me. It's been full of peaks and valleys, of inspiration and incredibly intense creative lulls. Overall, it's been a year that's allowed me (and at times forced me) to be introspective and led to many personal revelations, and it feels like this year specifically a large swath of movies released that speak to me in a way I haven't felt in a while.
Problemista is one of those movies you watch and walk away from knowing you are different. It's wholly original and full of some of the most striking visuals I've seen but it also tells the universal story of what it's like to be a creative in a unique way. The story follows Alejandro, a twenty something immigrant living in the city with dreams of becoming a toy designer at Hasbro. It follows him as he looses the 9 to 5 that was sponsoring his stay in the states and has a month to find a new job to keep his dream in reach.There are so many strong themes weaved into the tapestry of these complicated characters, chief among them being that your dreams are as real as you make them. You simply need to have the audacity to chase them.
In Ale's desperate search to find work he connects with Elizabeth (played impeccably by Tilda Swinton), a firey, unreasonable woman who is on a misson to mount an art show for her frozen husband's egg paintings (a sentence I will not explain any further because I need you all to watch the film yourself). When she offers to sponsor Ale if they succeed in securing a show, the two forge a bond that propels them both toward their goals.
The detail of Elizabeth's phone flash always being on... perfection, literally such good charcaterization
The minute the credits rolled on this movie, I was struck with a familiar feeling. In college I had two professors in particular that were kind of insane. Both small statured white women with hair that had completely succumed to grey, both incredibly neurotic and particular they were borderline impossible to work with, and both incredibly knowledgable and talented that they inspried me to become a better actor/director. While neither was perfect, I knew that a lot of their behavior, specifically their expectations of us as students stemmed from the passion they harbored for the craft. I learned over the years, that almost absurd attention to detail and meticulous nitpicking was forcing me to do some of my best work. Would I advise all professors treat their students with such fervor? Probably not. Do I think their practices were always effective? Not at all. But I know my time with them has undoubtedly made me a smarter actor and that the critical eye and focus on specificity I honed will help me in all my future endeavors.
Watching Ale and Elizabeth, him trying to appease her, constantly worried about this woman losing her mind at restaruant workers while also admiring her tenacity and ability to advocate for herself and those around her reminded me so much of those college courses. But Ale gained more than inspiration from his time with Elizabeth, they fostered a connection. They were both incredibly desperate to achieve their goals--Ale his toy making, Elizabeth her husband's show--and were both having to work toward them while seperated from their other half. Elizabeth did things for Bobby, in his stead, in order to prepare the world for his triumphant return. Ale was forced to grow up, he could no longer live in the safe and comfortable castle his mother had built for him, he had to solve his problems on his own.
Ale, grounded Elizabeth. He is one of the only people we see in the film ever challenge her or succeed in calming her down. He teaches her how to slow down, how to compromise. Elizabeth teaches Ale what it is to have a backbone, to stand up for himself and his work. She encourages him to chase his dreams and to not just reach it, but to take it. And like Ale I think there are times I forget taking it is an option. Sometimes it feels wrong for things to come so easily, but that can be the difference between a dream captured and a dream deferred.
Ale's relationship with his mother also plays a pivitoal role, while Elizabeth fans the flames of his dream so they become so strong they engulf him, his mother nurtures it. Her love and encouragement a world away that ultimately makes Ale the famous toymaker he's always dreamed of being. Her love for him and belief in his abilities since he was young keeps the flame burning.
I made it a mission to watch this movie with my mom and dad, especially after having a conversation with someone recently reflecting on my own upbringing and how it shaped me. I am incredibly blessed to have creative parents that have always believed in me and strengthened my passions the way Ale's mother did. There's a moment before the third act of the film hits where Elizabeth has tasked Alejandro with overnighting CDs with catalogues of her husband's paintings, a task that proves impossible once Ale realizes his bank account is hundreds of dollars in the red. He calls his mom, venting about the situation, and his mother, not fully understanding how much trouble her son is in but wanting to help, sends him $40 "for the CDs!" It's a such a sweet gesture that was really touching to me. I feel like there were so many times in college I was texting my parents for support for some kind of advice or guidance and my parents would bring me a similar comfort. I'm grateful for it everyday.
The safe, beautiful, castle his mother built him <3
Fantasmas takes the work Torres did in Problemista and cranks it up to eleven. The conciet of the show is Julio playing a self named character who is trying to make his way through this heightened version of reality without compromising who he is. Thematically, there are a lot of similarities to Problemista: needing some kind of stress/pressure in order to create and feeling that soul crushing dread when you're forced to do something uninspiring or cooperate in order to navigate capitalism. In Problemista, Ale is offered a job at his immigration lawyers office as a paralegal. A job that would likely pay well and definitely lead to the sponsorship he seeks but would be boring and soulless to the point that he doesn't even really give it a second thought, and continues banking on the uncertainty Elizabeth brings because of how exciting it is to work with her. In Fantasmas, Julio is on a mission to escape the inevitability of having to attain an all encompassing identification card called "proof of existence." He discovers one loophole around conforming to the system is to get an exception, something only provided to someone famous, beloved, or wealthy. His agent (who is actually a performance artist, go watch the show) suggests many options including an incredibly corprate tokenizing credit card commercial that Julio continually refuses. Instead of biting the bullet and taking a job for having a jobs sake, he'd rather ride around in a Chester (again please check out the show it's so good) and muse about the letter Q.
As I get older and continue to figure out exactly where I fit in to the spaces I want to be apart of I learn more and more about what it takes to make art and what I need in order to create. There must be some level of controlled chaos for creativity to thrive. That desperate, starving feeling is what necessitates creation. It's the difference showcased in Problemista between Alejandro and the white, pretty boy, nepo baby interning for Elizabeth (played expertly by James Scully). Only one of them is actually hungry. I think without that hunger, things start to feel hollow. The need to create drives your passion and the passion pulls people in.
Chester !!
Both pieces also explore the idea of not wanting to conform and every artists dilemma of not wanting to compromise your vsion, but needing to relenquish some control if you ever want to be able to share your work. In the mounting of Elizabeth's frozen husband's show, Thirteen Eggs, the duo must choose between putting up an exhibit that compromises the integrity of his vision, or never showcasing his art to the public. In Fantasmas, Julio is stuck in a similar situation of selling his trauma to create a show that would guarantee him an exception or of applying for proof of existence conformist way. It's an interesting question that I love seeing artists grapple with, Torres himself being someone I feel makes incredibly authentic art. He always has a litany of girls, gays, and theys front in center in his work. The sheer amount of trans and queer actors I adore the pop up in Fantasmas made my heart happy, not to mention all the new actors I've been introduced to. He also has a very distinct surrealist style and while I'm sure he's had his own concessions he's had to make and will continue to have to make as his career progresses, I love how distinct and unique his art feels.
I am Martine's biggest fan
At their core, I think both works remind us that there is always an audience for the things you want to create. You just have to put it out there, be authentically you, and the people will find you. The thought of Ale in Problemista desperately wanting to work at Hasbro to make toys that center less on fun is absurd and hilarious, but it doesn't negate the fact that it works. That one of the executives resonated so much with the idea it became a huge hit at their company, and that by the end Ale is able to achieve his dream. Similarly, in Fantasmas Julio consulting with Crayola about needing a clear crayon or spinning stories about how radical the letter Q is. By the end of the show, all of the characters he's touched with his unique perspective are essentially paying homage to his art, bringing it to life.
Things resonate differently with everyone, and a story that may seem insignificant or small to you could be someone's everything. At its core, art is about connection. About understanding. The life of someone determined to create is messy and nonlinear and uncertain but that's what makes it rewarding. Julio's work was such a breath of fresh air, something new and exciting that's pushed me to think about my life and what I need to do in order to keep my fire burning. That's why I'll continue down this path, though I'm unsure exactly where it'll lead.
Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed my stuff feel free to check out my Substack :)
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