Amor fati

People are constantly looking for their other half, which will make them complete, Aristophanes states in Plato’s Symposium. Amor fati starts where this spiritual search ends, showing the daily lives of a range of couples that includes a mysterious hermit and his white horse and two peroxide-blonde boys with a shared love of tattoos, wedding dresses and raves. These diverse portraits are painstakingly woven together to form an enchanting whole that revolves around simply being together.

For this poetic documentary, Cláudia Varejão spent two years travelling around Portugal, filming love in all shapes and sizes. Varejão’s painterly compositions and penetrating close-ups are not only attractive and intimate, but also add an appropriate touch of magical realism. Amor fati observes the universal yet unique entanglements of a host of different people without lapsing into romantic clichés. The familiar presence of another person makes the lives in Amor fati complete.