Familia rodante (2004)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Pablo Trapero

Writer:

Pablo Trapero (writer)

Release Date:

30 September 2004 (Argentina)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A wedding invite from an estranged sibiling inspires a grandmother to assemble her family and embark on a roadtrip in a broken down caravan.

Plot Keywords:

Grandmother | Car Breakdown | Tango | Trailer | Son In Law

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Graciana Chironi	...	Emilia
Nicolás López	...	Matias
Liliana Capurro	...	Marta
Ruth Dobel	...	Claudia
Marianela Pedano	...	Yanina
Bernardo Forteza	...	Oscar
Elías Viñoles	...	Gustavo (as Raúl Viñoles)
Carlos Resta	...	Ernesto
Laura Glave	...	Paola
Sol Ocampo	...	Bebé
Leila Gomez	...	Nadia
Federico Esquerro	...	Claudio

Also Known As:

Rolling Family (Canada: English title) (festival title) (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Família Rodante (Brazil)
Familia rodante - Argentinisch reisen (Germany)
Familia rodante - Reisen auf argentinisch (Germany)
Familie auf Rädern (Germany) (TV title)
Villa (Argentina) (working title)
Voyage en famille (France)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Argentina | Brazil | France | Germany | Spain | UK

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:12 | UK:12 (DVD rating) | UK:15 (original rating) | Argentina:Atp | France:U | Netherlands:MG6

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Lumina Films S.L.

Soundtrack:

Familia Rodante

Oh my goodness

I honestly wanted to like this film. I love Argentina and I like quirky films where not all that much happens. But I am sorry to have to report that this is one of the worst, most excruciatingly dull films I have ever seen. There is absolutely no plot and absolutely no character development. What happens (to use the term loosely) is that a Buenos Aires Grandma decides that her whole family will drive up to Misiones for a wedding and the film shows us what happens on the trip. Which is nothing. Except lots of incidences where the van breaks down which means there are lots of shots of engines and carboretters. We find out very little indeed about any of the family who go on this trip except that one of the men is having an affair with one of the women. Sometimes with road trip films at least you get some lovely shots of the countryside, yet even here the film fails, making the pampas look about as dull as the subject matter.

I actually found it remarkable that this film is presumably a work of fiction. The fact that somebody would bother to make up a story where absolutely nothing of interest occurs and where there is no character development or humour is actually remarkable. And the fact that a film company thought that it would be a good idea to buy the story is equally astounding.

I occasionally have a problem on my machine with DVDs skipping. And whenever this normally happens I go hopping mad. I have to tell you however that when my copy of La Familia Rodante started jumping I was actually relieved that it meant I would have to endure less of the awful banality that was proceeding in front of me. Honestly, the only people who would like this film are mechanics and even they would get bored after the first breakdown.