La puta y la ballena (2004)

Director:

Luis Puenzo

Writers:

Ángeles González Sinde (writer)
Lucía Puenzo (writer)

Release Date:

1 April 2004 (Argentina)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A Spanish writer finds an old coffer with photographs of an Argentine man who fought and died in the Spanish Civil War...

Plot Keywords:

Patagonia | Female Nudity | Airplane | Female Full Frontal Nudity | Whale

Awards:

3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Leonardo Sbaraglia	...	Emilio
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón	...	Vera
Pep Munné	...	Jordi
Mercè Llorens	...	Lola
Martín Caloni	...	Juanito
Pompeyo Audivert	...	El gringo Orestes
Miguel Ángel Solá	...	Suárez
Nicolás Tognola	...	El Pibe Pedro
Belén Blanco	...	Matilde
Natalia Otero	...	Prostituta
Carola Reyna	...	Meme
Lydia Lamaison	...	Matilde
Óscar Guzmán	...	Urondo
Eduardo Nutkiewitz	...	Ernesto (as Edward Nutkiewicz)
Nina Krakoff	...	Prostitute

Also Known As:

The Whore and the Whale (International: English title)

Runtime:

Argentina:120 min | Spain:122 min | South Korea:127 min

Country:

Argentina | Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Historias Cinematograficas Cinemania

nice to watch but lacking originality

I never knew Patagonia was that beautiful. What a coast. I think I should include Punta Panorama on my priority list of must-visit places. This being said, I was rather disappointed by the lack of originality of the story. Intercutting a present day writer researching a novel playing in the past with the story of the novel is hardly an innovating idea. And the way the characters are slightly off and also their tangled relationships made me think of John Irving "light", with tango dancing instead of wrestling and a whale instead of a bear. The breast cancer story added an unnecessary additional plot line, probably to create a (false) impression of seriousness and depth. I wonder what Almodovar might have done with this, though. In spite of all the criticisms, the movie was entertaining and I considered my time in the theatre and my money for the ticket well spent.