Lost Embrace

This movie was very intricate, to the point that I was confused at times, especially in the beginning. There was very little use of music also, which made the majority of the movie feel empty in a way. I think that it perfectly paralleled Ariel's feelings toward his estranged father. He felt a lot of animosity toward his father because it seemed like he left Ariel and his mother without a valid reason. Since Ariel was the main character in this film, it caused the viewers to take his side, and sympathize with him. That is why I found myself feeling hatred toward his father as well, and when he appeared at the race, I felt that something terrible was going to happen since I viewed him as a bad guy. This opinion of him was formed too prematurely, and at the end when I discovered the truth about Ariel's father, I felt remorseful. It is definitely important to keep an open mind when you are watching the movie, especially for the first time.

"Abrazo Partido" is one of the better Argentine films that have reached us. Not having a market in the USA, if they are not shown in a film festival, they are not seen at all. The director, Daniel Burman working on the screen play with Marcelo Birmajer, shows he is a talent to be reckoned with.

The movie presents us with a small mini mall that one encounters all over Buenos Aires. The story is about all the operators of the tiny shops in the complex, but focuses on the Makaroff family. Elias Creations is operated by Sonia, a woman whose husband has deserted her and the two small sons. Elias, the husband has gone to Israel to fight in one of the wars and never returned. His memory looms large, especially in the case of Ariel, who secretly loves him, but resent the abandonment of the family.

The camera work is incredible. The director gives us an excellent idea of the area of the neighborhood that at one time was dominated by the European Jews that emigrated to Argentina.

Daniel Hendler, does a wonderful job in portraying Ariel, the young man who wants to do just the opposite of what his family did: return to Poland. The family left the horrors of their country by settling in the friendly atmosphere that Argentina offered at the time. Now, during a difficult time, the grandson of the original family wants nothing of his precarious life. His dream is to try his fortune in Europe, Poland, only being the excuse for getting an European passport that only his grandmother can provide, having been born there.

Adriana Aizemberg plays the mother, Sonia. Ms. Aizemberg is wonderful as the mother who is so full of life and suddenly sees the world, as she knew it, coming apart. The grandmother, Rosita Londner, is also appealing.

A new talent emerges in Argentina.

I thought this movie was a delightful surprise. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I was charmed and moved by the story of this young man searching for his identity when everyone and everything around him seems to dictate who he should be and how he should behave. It is funny and touching in the way real life is -- and all the characters of the movie are so real. I felt like watching a Woody Allen movie -- without the bourgeois New-Yorkers' concerns but with more humanity. Maybe the movie should have been less fearful of its characters' inner feelings -- sometimes the director chooses to just play for laughs when the storyline should go deeper within the emotions and contradictions of its characters. But all in all, it is a beautifully crafted piece of entertainment. Plus, it feels so good to watch a movie from a country that gives us so few occasions to travel in its cities via celluloid.

Actually I'm from Lithuania and I was interested in this film, because from the film synopsis and credits I have learned that it shows lives of Eastern European immigrants in Argentina and Lithuania belongs to Eastern Europe. Maybe you don't know, but in first part of XX century there was big flow of emigration from Lithuania to South America. So I was very surprised, when I saw girl from Lithuania in film speaking ... Russian when film credits indicate that she is speaking ... Lithuanian. Next thing, her name is Vilna and there is no such Lithuanian name. Perhaps it was made up from name of Lithuanian capital Vilnius or misspelled from Vilma. In America, especially USA, people from Lithuania are regarded as being Russians, and for Lithuanians who were occupied bu Soviet Union it is an insult, but it does not relieve director or script writer from responsibility to check about subject depicted. Especially when film pretends to be in reality style. Cinematogapyhy and storyline is good, I do not argue, but poor analysis of the details casts doubt about reality value of this film and its pretensions to social criticism.

I have seen the movie several times now, and keep loving the very porteño lines, the perfect way in which the filmmaker captures the unique setting of Once (and a little of Abasto), as well as the tone of 2002/2003 there in Buenos Aires. The delicate portrayals of emotion and spirit are heart-rending and hilarious together. For anyone who knows Buenos Aires beyond the bullshit vended to you by some tourism operator, this film will delight you. It also has enough appeal and quirkiness to charm broader audiences that have some curiosity about slice-of-life films from elsewhere. If you have seen Berman's film "Esperando al Mesías," many people will look familiar in this movie, but it's only the actors, not the characters who are the same, and even though only a few. Like that other movie, there is also much emphasis on Argentine Jewish everyday life, but not in a way that is insular at all -- bringing in, instead, the rest of life that can combine effortlessly or create the conflicts and commotions that keep life and culture vibrant. Berman also seems to show a strength across his movies in grappling with the importance of longer-standing histories in their very simple, quotidian upcroppings. In all, an excellent film by an excellent filmmaker.