Not having seen Thelma and Louise, I can’t honestly
comment about the similarities between it and this apparently
Argentinean version. Two lesbians dressed as ten year-old boys,
one of whom complicatedly argues she is not a lesbian despite
wanting to shag her ‘love at first sight’ from the
moment she saw her, proceed in kidnapping the female ‘soul
mate’. Marcia, played by Tatiana Saphi. Marcia is
potentially the most ‘normal’ person in the world,
lives at home, alone, eats pancakes all day and eats, thinks,
dreams in food. There is obviously a point in calling the two lesbians, Lenin
(Veronica Hassan) and Mao (Carla Crespo). However, I just
don’t see that point, unless it is in the communal attempt
of sharing Marcia’s body. A road trip ensues leading them
all to Lenin’s Aunt’s (Beatriz Thibaudin) home. Lenin
has not spoken to her mother since an argument several years
back. She also knows that her Aunt and Grandma did not speak for
years before her Grandma died. There is a point to the parallel
tempestuous relationship between the two different generations of
the same family, but again I don’t know what it is. Marcia and Mao get their lesbian embrace, spied upon by Felipe
(Marcos Ferrante), a lodger at Blanca’s home. Then an
unspoken coldness rises between Mao and Marcia, leading Marcia to
seek solace in Delia (María Merlino), another lodger; revealing
that she had been mislead by a man she hoped to marry. Again,
touching, but I don’t get it. I don’t think I would be giving the crux of the film away
if I chose to tell you the end, as the feature to this feature
presentation is in the silence and the images. Shot in black and
white, Diego Lerman mixes an unsentimental script, of which the
majority is silence, with the captivating looks and expressions
of his talented cast. The angst-ridden Lenin, perhaps, has the lead role, in that
her character changes through nothing more than softened glances
and losing her flick knife. This film looks like a series of film
posters; every shot is artistic and inspiring, and, combined with
the silence, the film penetrates deeply even though it is unclear
how. I was deeply stirred by this film. Not through the average
bittersweet content, but by the artistic nature of it. Despite
not seeing the point of most of it, it is worth seeing purely for
its aesthetic value. No moment was wasted, and I was captivated to the last. A
truly perplexing film, it must be seen, pondered over, and seen
again.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004
Suddenly
