Torres Blancas
This story is deeply connected to the director’s personal experience. After surviving a lifechanging disease, she had to make peace with the scars on her body. This provided her with a unique perspective on the meaning of beauty. What does beauty mean in our times? Director Nina Aaldering reflects on this question through the story of an exclusive boutique in Madrid that sells recycled faces.
When you thinks of beauty, you can think of everything at once: freedom, creativity and obsession. It is as limiting as it is limitless.
Beauty is a polarizing subject, shrouded in taboos. Its polarizing character is the main theme of the story. Today, we live in a constant conflict with all the possibilities beauty has to offer. It has never been easier to buy a new face. You can choose your own beauty now. Still, we aren’t able to look at the choices people make without judgment.
Director Nina Aaldering sees the Torres Blancas building in Madrid is a physical representation of this limitless creativity. Designed by Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza and completed in 1969, this residential building is an experimental piece of work, which resulted in Oiza’s worldwide fame. The rawness of the concrete exterior is in stark contrast with the white marble interior, a sumptuous, almost lustful setting for the luxury apartments it hosts. A brutalist building that evokes similar reactions: a mix of fear, excitement, anger and desire. Looking at it scares you - and that’s exactly what makes it so beautiful.
Above this storyline lies a broader concept, that simply focuses on the idea of limitless possibilities in creativity. What effect does it have when you truly open your mind to everything that is possible without any fear?
If a disclaimer is allowed - the film isn’t about surgical intervention. This is just one of many tools available to change the way we look. In any case, this story invites the viewer to free themselves from judgment and regard beauty from a fresh perspective. How would that influence their behavior? How could it ultimately influence their life? And what is the price of beauty?
