El abrazo partido (2004)

Director:

Daniel Burman

Writers:

Marcelo Birmajer (writer)
Daniel Burman (writer)

Release Date:

25 March 2004 (Argentina)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

In Buenos Aires, the twenty and something year old Jewish-Argentinean Ariel Makaroff has left the University...

Plot Keywords:

Gallery | Passport | Yom Kippur War | Ex Girlfriend | Grandmother Grandson Relationship

Awards:

10 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Daniel Hendler	...	Ariel Makaroff
Adriana Aizemberg	...	Sonia Makaroff
Jorge D'Elía	...	Elías Makaroff
Sergio Boris	...	Joseph Makaroff
Rosita Londner	...	Abuela de Ariel
Diego Korol	...	Mitelman
Silvina Bosco	...	Rita
Isaac Fajm	...	Osvaldo
Melina Petriella	...	Estela
Atilio Pozzobon	...	Saligani Papá
Mónica Cabrera	...	Saligani Mamá
Franco Tirri	...	Saligani Hijo
Luciana Dulizky	...	Saligani Hija
Eloy Burman	...	Saligani Bebé
Juan José Flores Quispe	...	Ramón

Also Known As:

Lost Embrace (International: English title) (USA)
El abrazo partido (Spain)
El abrazo partido: L'abbraccio perduto (Italy)
Le fils d'Elias (France)

Runtime:

Argentina:99 min | USA:100 min

Country:

Argentina | France | Italy | Spain

Language:

Spanish | Korean | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Canada:PG | UK:15 | Belgium:KT | Australia:M | Denmark:7 | Japan:PG-12 | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:14 | France:U | Italy:T | Poland:15 | Spain:T | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:AL | Chile:14

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

BD Cine

Trivia:

It is Argentina's official choice for the 2004 Oscar Awards, Foreign Language film category.

Goofs:

Factual errors: There is no Lithuanian language in the film. The girl from Lithuania named Vilna (Lithuania's capital name is Vilnius) is speaking Russian, not Lithuanian. The words Vilna says when she first meets Ariel are "Tvoi drug Ariel. Chto s nim sluchilos?", what means "Your friend Ariel. What's wrong with him?"

Movie Connections:

References Zelig (1983)

Soundtrack:

I Libe Heim

Disappointing Little Personal Drama

In Buenos Aires, the twenty and something years old Jewish-Argentinean Ariel Makaroff (Daniel Hendler) has quited the architecture university and spends his time wandering through the downtown gallery where his mother has a lingerie shop and his brother runs an importation business; shagging the owner of a little Internet business; and trying to get his Polish passport and move to Europe. Ariel has never understood why his father left him when he was a baby to fight in the Yom Kippur War in 1973. When his father returns to Buenos Aires, Ariel discovers the reason why his father left his family.

"El Abrazo Partido" is a disappointing little personal drama with uninteresting and dull characters and awful camera work. The lead character Ariel is an alienated shirker and his motivations in the story are never clear, since he does not study and has no work; no religion in spite of being Jewish; no sense of nationalism; no girlfriend (he left Estela without any reason); no respect or feelings for his family; no nothing but intercourse with the next door neighbor in the gallery Rita and an apparently interest in having an European passport. His mother, his grandmother, his brother, his father, the neighbors in the gallery, none of these characters is interesting. The style partially recalls the Danish filmmaker movement Dogma 95, since the movie is done on the location; with ambient sound; use of hand-held camera; colored with no use of filters; very realistic plot; etc. However, the hand-held camera work is awful, recalling "The Blair Witch Project" or "Cloverfield" and the division in parts with subtitles seems to be a pretentious trial of intellectual style. But the acting is great and my vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Abraço Partido" ("The Broken Hug")