Showing posts with label ARGENTINA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ARGENTINA. Show all posts

Monday, 11 February 2013

SF INDIEFEST 2013: THE INTERNATIONAL SIGN OF CHOKING

A scene from The International Sign of Choking.
The Other opportunities
 
By Don Simpson
 
While Josh (Zach Weintraub) has presumably traveled to Buenos Aires to shoot an undefined video project, he seems much more interested in tracking down a woman named Martina. From what we can piece together, Josh has been to Buenos Aires at least once before and Martina is a woman with whom he enjoyed a fling or a crush or something. Then again, the past does not matter nearly as much as the present, which is essentially a collection of Josh’s failed attempts at tracking down Martina.
 
Enter Anna (Sophia Takal), another United States citizen who is staying in the same boarding house as Josh. Anna is not nearly as fluent in Spanish as Josh, thus establishing him as her a de facto translator. They begin to hang out more and more, but then Josh gets weird and pushes Anna away. It is incredibly fascinating to observe Josh’s on-again-off-again feelings towards Anna and how his wishy-washy, nonchalant attitude and overall indifference visibly makes Anna frustrated and upset. And who could blame her? Josh seems to be purposefully torturing Anna (as a consequence of his inability to track down Martina?), using her to quench his loneliness with sex one minute and pushing her away the next.
 
As a film that is essentially about the disassociation and loneliness of traveling alone to a foreign country, Weintraub’s The International Sign for Choking shows the passing-like-ships-in-the-night relationships that seem to go hand-in-hand with solo international treks. Foreign travel is often romanticized as an opportunity to enjoy love without attachment, but what happens when one is prone to becoming attached? We have no idea what Josh and Martina’s relationship was like, or how long ago it occurred, but it is fairly likely that it was similar to his relationship with Anna. Maybe Josh did not realize he liked Martina until after he left Buenos Aires, and by then it was too late? In which case, will he feel the same way about Anna in a few months (or years)? Will Anna be yet another missed opportunity, another woman whom Josh let slip through his fingers?
 
Weintraub creates two protagonists who are not typical American tourists — the kind that locals probably disdain (Josh and Anna meet some of those very types of tourists one night in a bar); instead, Josh and Anna strive to immerse themselves in Argentine culture, closely observing Argentine habits and idiosyncrasies. So, on one level, Josh might be an ideal tourist but, as far as relationships go, his inability to establish lasting connections is far from idealized.

Thursday, 28 April 2011

SFIFF 2011: ASLEEP IN THE SUN

Lucio (Luis Machín) in Asleep in the Sun.

Burning dreams

By Miranda Inganni
Director Alejandro Chomski's feature film, Asleep in the Sun (Dormir Al Sol), begins with a doggie-eye-view sequence of what turns out to be a Jack Russell Terrier delivering an envelope. While we have no idea what possesses this postal pup, he is clearly a dog on a mission. The recipient opens the letter and starts reading. And the story begins.
Set in 1950s Argentina, Lucio (Luis Machín), a watchmaker, and his not-so-happy homemaker wife, Diana (Esther Goris), enjoy a birthday dinner for Lucio. In addition to the family, there is an extra guest participating in the festivities: local pet shop owner "Professor" Standle (Enrique Piñeyro), a mysterious if not nefarious figure.
While Lucio and Diana are very much in love with each other, she suffers from a mild nervous disorder, pushing her away from her husband and toward the dogs at the Standle's shop. She is a woman possessed by the pooches. Standle points out to Lucio that his wife is clearly abnormal -- she spends time away from the house, she is incapable of bearing children, she visits with the dogs all day – and suggests she seek treatment at a phrenopathic clinic where "they get right to the point" on curing such disorders. Much against his better wishes, but at his wife's (and Stendle's) urging, Diana agrees to enter the facility. What follows is an absurd and charming story of misunderstanding, mistaken identities, missing brain matter and mystery.
Based on a story by Adolfo Bioy Casares, Asleep in the Sun is bizarre and silly, and very much like an episode from The Twilight Zone -- multi-layered, a love story and a thriller as well as a cautionary tale of blindly following the pack.