Netflix likes to innovate and bet on ideas that are sometimes good and sometimes not. But when you choose the challenge, the boldness of streaming in providing us with different experiences is surprising. the spanish series El Tiempo Que Te Doy comes in this non-standard footprint and the way the narrative was assembled is very touching and delicate. It is a hidden treasure among the famous productions. The work directed by Inés Painter, Pablo Santdrián and Pablo Fernández.
There are ten episodes, all 11 minutes long – the first work I've watched with that length, I never imagined seeing something like this -. Even with a shorter duration, the quality and richness of character details is incredible. The dynamics are very simple and very easy to understand. The series addresses the phases of a love relationship, that is, the beginning, middle and end. Therefore, the plot is divided between past and present. Following this dynamic between the two times portrayed, the phases of the relationship and the duration of the plot, in the first chapter we can see 10 minutes dedicated to the past and 01 in the present moment, in the second episode, 9 minutes in the past and 2 minutes in the present… and so on.
In the time i give you we follow the character Lina who is played by nadia de santiago (As Telefonistas), one of the creators of the series. Despite sharing the screen with Nico, the character of Alvaro Cervantes (Legacy in the Bones), the point of view is hers. When they meet and in the course of their first feelings, Nico is working as a biologist and diving instructor. Lina, on the other hand, dropped out of Economics and works as a waitress at the resort to pay for her nursing course. His study motivates the couple to move from the beach to the city, and from the evolution of the protagonist, the plot identifies the cracks in the relationship. However, intimacy, creating subliminal messages that only they understand, and choosing a favorite place and other things that make you a unique couple are shown in the plot.
It's no secret from the start of the series that we know they're breaking up and how hard it is for them to live together. The more she tries to forget about Nico in the present moment, the more the moment in the past is short... it's as if their memories together are coming apart, being erased so she can move on, as we see Lina's difficulty in resuming life after. the break up. The chemistry of the central duo and the charismatic supporting cast are positives. Photography is very interesting in that sense, accentuating the emotions of each moment.
The creative structure is very attractive, in addition to the short total duration that doesn't exceed 120 minutes… it's almost a movie. However, some defects are visible in the text, showing a little superficial at times like in the "DRs" with silly dialogues and the dramatic load that is kind of limited, showing a construction and deconstruction of a story without much depth, but this lightness is what makes the series captivate and be what it is. It is a story of love, separation and grief after the breakup and the way life is reconstructed after the chaos. It's a series that doesn't hide how imperfect the human being can be and that no pain, anger, hate, resentment, sadness lasts forever. It's a well-told plot that does what it sets out to do.
