I mentioned Nana in one of my Everything Will Be Fine reviews, so I thought I’d better post about it. Diego Luna wrote and directed this short as part of the Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge. Despite its brevity, it still offers something poignant about a subject that doesn’t get a lot of play in media.
Not even a day in the life, this is a morning in the life of Josefina. As a nanny, she spends every morning saying goodbye to her own child to take a lengthy commute and care for someone else’s.
I watched Nana after seeing Everything Will Be Fine and the first time, and it’s no wonder that I’m reminded of Idalia and her relationship with her young charge Andrea. It bears some thematic threads with Roma as well, though it’s obviously far less sweeping than that film. But the idea of a working-class rural woman being a fixture in the home of a family whose circumstances are vastly different than her own, scarcely being able to spend time with her family so that she can provide for them—all that rings with those other works.
Honestly, Everything Will Be Fine helps me to better see what Luna is doing here. Because it’s so quick, right around six minutes long, this is kind of a “vibes only” short that almost suggests the story more than it tells it. Josefina is pretty no-nonsense as she makes the legs of her morning commute, but you can feel a blank sort of sadness in it, the feeling of someone who doesn’t have time to deal with their heavy heart so they just keep going. Seeing a character like this drawn out much more fully across the eight episodes of Everything Will Be Fine helps me recognize the meaning that Luna infuses into slight moments.
The direction is unobtrusive, very indie. It feels like the camera is making Josefina’s trek along with her. One thing that’s interesting about the film’s structure is that the short is bookended by brief talking heads from Josefina sharing a little about her experience being a nanny. Because of these segments and the naturalistic film style, I wasn’t sure at first if I was watching a documentary or a fictional narrative, not until I reached the end credits and saw the cast list. It’s an interesting device, because the rest of the short doesn’t explicitly lean into a “documentary-style fiction” aesthetic—mockumentary would be the wrong word here—but it does carry this feeling of realism that makes you feel like you’re watching a person rather than a story.
Recommend?
In General – I might. I’d have liked it to be just a bit longer, but I think this is nicely done and highlights a character that doesn’t normally get a lot of focus in film.
Diego Luna – I think I would. Again, it’s super quick, so it’s not a big investment, and it’s intriguing to see what Luna does with such a limited runtime.
Warnings
Thematic elements.
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