| Index | 7 reviews in total |
Wow. This film made me want to go back to Argentina, my birth country.
(My family emigrated to the US when I was a small kid and I haven't
been to visit Argentina since the early 80s.)
This is a beautifully crafted little story. The effective use of
white/snow gives the story a purity and sweetness that enhances the
feeling of loss and sadness that the main characters feel. I adored
every minute of it. The main character is so cool. You have to speak
Argentinean Spanish in order to really appreciate how adorable he is.
I love how this movie shows a different side of Argentina yet it's an
Argentinan picture through and through. (The guy who rips off airplane
parts is a classic example.) Even the "small" characters in this film
are engaging. The nurse, the tour guide/stripper, the taxi driver. (A
nod to Argentina's Jewish population.)
This movie would be a great double feature watched with the original
Insomnia.
I particularly enjoyed this movie. It came to a film festival close to where I live and although it was a very simple movie, it had a light-hearted yet meaningful feel to it. Sometimes simple is the best way to make a movie. Some movies are just too complicated nowadays. You can't have heavy, drama-filled movies all the time, this was a nice change of pace. I also enjoyed the semi-cynical view of death and the suffering that unsatisfied love brings to a person. I don't believe I've ever seen a movie quite like this one and since my primary language is English, it was truly refreshing to see an international film with such content.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Ushuaia, at the extreme south end of Argentina is the setting for this
story, which starts in Buenos Aires. It involves a chance meeting
between a man and a woman who don't know about each other's existence,
but fate will bring them together to this remote part of the country,
where Teresa, the flight attendant, has a layover. Julian, a taciturn
doctor, will meet the love of his life in Teresa. They will have a
night of love and then go in different directions. They will come
together at the end, when we see them on a flight where Teresa is just
another passenger.
Director Daniel Burman's film is a strange one. The screen play, which
he co-wrote with Emiliano Torres, a frequent collaborator, bears no
similarity with his previous films which have the urban setting of
Buenos Aires as the background. By bringing Teresa and Julian to this
forgotten town in the middle of the winter, the director gives us a
strange story that flourishes in this most hostile, yet gorgeous,
environment.
Where Mr. Burman succeeds is in the way he uses his actors to give
wonderful performances. Ingrid Rubio, a Spanish actress who has worked
in Argentina before, is wonderful as the flight attendant. Same goes
for Alfredo Casero, an actor who exudes kindness as he and Teresa fall
for one another. Even the supporting players add to the story. Emilio
Disi is the mechanic who steals parts from the planes he services at
the local airport in order to build his own dream craft. Valentina
Bassi is also effective. Daniel Hendler, in a small role as a taxi
driver, has two excellent scenes in the film. Norma Aleandro, one of
the best actresses from Argentina appears briefly as Teresa's mother.
This film shows a mature Daniel Burman doing what he does best.
It may be set on a different world within Argentina, but that doesn't
take way the fact that it is a well-made movie and runs very well
within the context, characters and most beautifully the settings.
You can fell for both Teresa and Julian and their lives especially
Teresa. There is a real-life and complex life behind that smiling face,
which we tend to not even think of.
Ushuaia has become my dream destination ever since. The people that
come into the movie are equally important to the central characters and
the story showing how things/places/persons you meet on your way can
change and influence your lives.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
After viewing the film, I have to say that I sat thinking for a while,
and
decided that I kinda like it, but not much. I'm quite fond of recent
argentinian cinema, and I try to see as much of it as possible. This one,
starring the (much more than beautiful, I'm in love with her) spanish
actress Ingrid Rubio (delivering a very credible argentinian accent, as
she
did in "El faro del Sur") and that big bear named Alfredo Casero takes
place
in a place out of the world, the end of the world, Ushuaia. The
landscapes
are amazing, and gives you the sense of loneliness the characters are
going
through.
(***spoilers from here on***)
Ingrid lends her eyes express the pain of being alone when she notices
she's
pregnant. Alfredo's pain is much deeper, as he's lost his wife and is
taking
her ashes to Ushuaia, where they first met, and then commit suicide as he
finds no reasons to live. Ingrid is the stewardess of Alfredo's plane,
and
their paths are going to meet, as Ingrid's character feels there's also
no
reason to live in a world where no one cares about you and she's also
going
to commit suicide. They'll meet at this point, and their lives will
change
forever.
The players: I think Ingrid has been very well casted. You can feel what
she
thinks through her very expressing eyes. Alfredo, on the contrary,
doesn't
deliver much more than a single face throughout the whole
movie.
The movie: The plot is not much deeper that what I've explained before,
but
there are touches of "realismo magico" (magic realism) which are fun and
always nice to have. The photography is great, the landscapes amazing. Is
a
simple love story in which the only believable moments are the ones with
Ingrid on screen.
To summarize,is a simple movie with simple ideas, a love story nicely
shot
but does not move you at any moment, easy watching, and with a beautiful
and
talented actress that is always worth watching.
Really groovy, gloomy movie peripherally about the world's southernmost town, beautiful Ushuaia, Argentina, where I just visited two months ago. Just that setting alone was enough to get me to see it. Unfortunately, a small nightclub, U! Bar, where one of the scenes was shot, no longer exists (I went looking for it). However, a great Irish pub, Dublin, does exist in Ushuaia and totally rocks with the bartenders playing chillout CDs and replicas of R2D2 and C3P0 lean against the corner near the restrooms. There are also great parillas (stakhouses) there, there are great chocolate shops and Tierra del Fuego National Park is nearby. In the summer (January) it doesn't get dark there until nearly midnight. This movie's not bad, either, but really is a nice introduction for anyone wanting to travel to southern Argentina.
Simplistic and predictible plot. I was hoping for an unexpected twist until the end. Burman says that he wanted to make a movie not related to the current situation in Argentina. He succeeded. However, is this goal worth a movie?
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