Halley

Comets that circle the sun in less than 200 years have a sell-by date. That also applies for Halley’s Comet, the best-known in our solar system, which was first described in 466 BC and which appears every 76 years. Until the sun swallows it up and its seemingly eternal life comes to an end.
Just like Halley, Alberto’s days are numbered. He has been dead for years, but can no longer hide the fact. Perfume and make-up don’t help to mask his physical decline; the end is now final for this silent zombie. He decides to withdraw from life, which for him primarily consists of working as a night watchman in a 24-hour gym and gazing at the TV in a cheerless flat. His manager Luly, however, takes an interest in him and takes him out. The rather stiff friendship that emerges ensures an unexpected upturn in Alberto’s condition in the autumn of his undead existence.
At a fitting pace, Sebastián Hofmann shows us the world through the eyes of a zombie in decline, like a dislocating echoing-well filled with fading Christmas lights. There is not much contact between Alberto and his living neighbour. Yet Hofmann has no trouble in bridging the gap with the viewer. Halley is a contemporary Gothic story without spectacle, but with plenty of compassion. Also see Los micro burgueses in Signals: Changing Channels.

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