Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Valeria Bertuccelli | ... | Son of Mr TV | |
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Alejandro Urdapilleta | ... | Mr TV |
Julieta Cardinali | ... | Nurse | |
Rafael Ferro | ... | The Inventor | |
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Florencia Raggi | ... | The Voice |
Sol Moreno | ... | Ana | |
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Jonathan Sandor | ... | Tomás |
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Raúl Hochman | ... | The Mouse Man |
Ricardo Merkin | ... | The Grandfather | |
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Carlos Piñeyro | ... | Doctor Y |
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Camila Offerman | ... | Fairy Girl |
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Alejandro Regueiro | ... | Silhouette Man 1 |
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Christian Amat | ... | Silhouette Man 2 |
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Federico Miri | ... | Silhouette Man 3 |
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Paulina Sapir | ... | Girl Dressed in White |
This near-silent black and white film from Argentina tells the story of a city that has lost its voice, stolen by Mr. TV, and the attempts of a small family to win the voice back. Similar in design to early German expressionist films.
I've seen this movie twice on Transilvania International Film Festival(TIFF), the movie is in competition and I really hope that Esteban Sapir will get one of the awards (at least the best image award).
As a silent cinema fan I'm interested in contemporary movies that quote or recreate the language of the yester-year cinema. The previous reviewer emphasized the quotes from Fritz Lang and Fr. W. Murnau. As I see it, the movie references directly Lang's Metropolis, and the allegorical-parabolic character of his plots. But I didn't see Murnau in it. There's a more obvious Melies-homage though: the Moon with a (here cigar-smoking) human face, and the paper-made, painted mountains and city-landscapes. I enjoyed the film mostly for its visuals, and in the meantime I found very interesting the story on muteness, and the creative means of communication used by the inhabitants of the voiceless city. From this perspective this movie is an unique reflexion on the muteness of the silent cinema, because in the films of the silent period one can hardly find stories with mute characters. In this case can be questioned whether the story on the stolen voices was the motivation for the silent film form, or there's an intention to play upon the muteness of the silent films. Another example of this kind of reflexion I found in Guy Maddin's Careful,where the inhabitants of a mountain-village have restrictions in using their voices. I intend to write a paper on it, if you know movies related to this topic, please let me know!!!
I highly recommend Esteban Sapir's film to every moviegoer (one of the critics called it: the jewel of the festival).
PS: Winners were announced, and the film won the award for best cinematography!