Año uña (2007)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Jonás Cuarón

Writer:

Jonás Cuarón (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 November 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A love story between a Mexican teenager and an older American woman who meet one summer in Mexico. |

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Eireann Harper	...	Molly
Diego Cataño	...	Diego
Michele Alban	...	Grandma Michele
Cristina Orozco	...	Grandma Cristina
Mariana Elizondo	...	Mom
Pia Elizondo	...	Aunt
Emilia Garcia	...	Emilia
Mateo Garcia	...	Mateo
Jeronimo Garcia	...	Cousin
Paulina Lavista	...	Grandpa's Wife
Pablo Elizondo	...	Uncle
Katie Hegarty	...	Katie
Max Shmookler	...	Molly's Boyfriend
Jesús Ochoa	...	Additional Voices
David Lida	...	Additional Voices

Also Known As:

Year of the Nail (International: English title)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Certification:

Ireland:15A

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Esperanto Filmoj

An experience of time in a highly intimate and original style

Who said that one must have a screen play first and then add the images to make a film? How about having visual images first and then thinking about what narrative can build out of the images? Well, the Mexican director Jonás Cuarón's first feature AÑO UÑA is exactly such an experiment. This, however, is not the only refreshing aspect of this film. Unlike other experimental films which can be disturbing, AÑO UÑA demonstrates that an experimental film can simultaneously be light (a love story between a horny teenage Mexican boy Diego and a twenty-something American girl Molly) and personal (Diego is Cuarón's younger half-brother and Molly Cuarón's girlfriend). With thousands of pictures he took during a year of his life but no prewritten script, Cuarón was totally free to compose the narrative. Viewers have to remain patient for the first few minutes (as the film begins slowly with a sequence of his beautifully shot photos) before the story gradually unfolds. By literally imposing a fictional narrative onto reality (spontaneous slices of daily lives), Cuarón's AÑO UÑA makes us rethink the relationship between fabrication and reality. Composed of only photographs and dialogues, AÑO UÑA is probably not considered a film. Strictly it is not a film. It is more than a film, as it offers us an experience of time in a highly intimate and original style. The delightfully funny comments about the cultural differences between America and Mexico as well as about growing up are assets of the film.