I Don't Want to Talk About It (1993)
"De eso no se habla" (original title)

Leonor, a widow in a small South American town, gives birth to Charlotte, a dwarf. The mother not only provides a rich childhood for her daughter, she erases any clues her daughter might ... See full summary »

Director:

María Luisa Bemberg

Writers:

María Luisa Bemberg, Jorge Goldenberg (dialogue),

Stars:

Marcello Mastroianni, Luisina Brando, Alejandra Podesta

7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Ludovico D'Andrea
Luisina Brando	...	Leonor
Alejandra Podesta	...	Charlotte
Betiana Blum	...	Madama
Roberto Carnaghi	...	Padre Aurelio
Alberto Segado	...	Dr. Blanes
Mónica Lacoste	...	Sra Blanes
Jorge Luz	...	Alcalde
Mónica Villa	...	Sra Zamildio
Juan Manuel Tenuta	...	Police Chief
Tina Serrano	...	Widow Schmidt
Verónica Llinás	...	Myrna
Susana Cortínez	...	Sra Peralta
Martin Kalwill	...	Mayor's Clerk
Walter Marín	...	Mojame

Storyline

Leonor, a widow in a small South American town, gives birth to Charlotte, a dwarf. The mother not only provides a rich childhood for her daughter, she erases any clues her daughter might see that would lead her to think she is different (mother burns books such as "Snow White" and destroys lawn statues of gnomes). In short, she doesn't want to talk about it. The mother succeeds in creating a modern-day Rapunzel: Charlotte becomes an accomplished young woman who captures the heart of Ludovico. But then, the circus comes to town.

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Plot Keywords:

small town | title directed by female | argentina

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Argentina Italy

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

21 October 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Don't Want to Talk About It

Filming Locations:

Argentina

Box Office

Gross:

$249,530 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aura Film, Mojame S.A., Oscar Kramer S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember (1997)

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Soundtracks

"MARCHA NUPCIAL"
de Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (as Mendelssohn)
("Wedding March" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream")

User Reviews

A one of a kind film

A sweet, funny, odd, almost fairy tale of a film, with darker, tragic overtones. A mother reacts to the fact that her daughter is a dwarf by just refusing to deal with it herself, and forcing the town to ignore it, (as indeed they ignore all unpleasant truths), turning her into an educated, artistic fascinating young lady. Meanwhile an older playboy in town, suddenly falls for the young dwarf, seeing in her the woman that will finally make him happy. There are a few emotional and logic leaps here, and some parts drag, and some jokes (the senile, incomprehensible mayor) get old. But Marcello Mastroianni is so wonderful and human as the elder man trying to court this young girl that he makes up for a number of shaky moments. If the other leads had been up to his level, this could have been a much deeper film. But for me, Alexandra Poedsta who plays Charlotte, the little daughter, simply doesn't have the charisma or ease to make the love story really work. She has a slight uncomfortable awkwardness in front of the camera, that kept me always aware she was acting, and thus made it hard for me to fall in love with her along with Marcello. But it does get points, as Time Out puts it, for being a tender subtle movie that never romanticizes itself. It's certainly a unique, one-of-a-kind film, and we have far too few of those.