Martín (Hache)

Wonderful film that sadly was not released in the U.S. Beautifully written and acted character-driven piece about many things, among them the role of a parent in our modern civilization - and the role of the child as well; the relationships between men and women, and the friendships between straight men and gay men; the role of artistic expression in the lives of artists and in the lives of those who will never be artists. The film is also noteworthy for its portrayal of the hypocrisy of adults who impose upon their children "values" that they themselves reject in their day-to-day lives. The gay character is refreshingly unapologetic. And the female lead is heartbreakingly real, a brilliant and deeply moving performance by Cecilia Roth. If you ever get a chance to see this film, I highly recommend it.

Aristarain strikes back again.

After the beautiful "Un lugar en el mundo", he gives us this film which is nearly a theater work.

He repeats with two beasts of Argentinian's cinema. Cecilia Roth (whom half the Spanish talking world has been in love with), and one of the five best actors of all times, FEDERICO LUPPI.

It's impossible not to think about my own father seeing his personage, with this overwhelming love for his son and yet unable to communicate with. Maybe I've seen it over five times, and still I cry each time when Federico Luppi stands on the balcony talking about the desperation of life after the idea of loosing his son misunderstood. It's the nearest you will get to understand fatherly love if you don't yet have a baby.

The plot is banal, and the filming nothing complicated, just a camera fixed to let all the attention to actors........but then, the hit. What an acting!!!!!. You hardly are going to see something similar, Luppi is a monster, a giant, he fills the screen with a strength rarely seen away.

A must see in Spanish, where you can really judge their beautiful work. The pity is that it would surprise me a lot if the titles are able to reproduce all that complicated and quick talking.

After the kind and tender portrait of human condition made in so wonderful film as "A place in the world", the Argentine film-maker Adolfo Aristarain submerges again into the storming sea of human relationship, but at this time he does with a harder and scrawnier outlook in this "Martín (Hache)", played by a dazzling Federico Luppi, which character, marked by the contradiction between his longing of independence and solitude and his need of surrounding himself with his loved persons, swings in a continuing "pendulum" of affection and disaffection that marks deeply the life of two persons more important for him: his son, Hache (Juan Diego Botto), and his lover, Alicia (Cecilia Roth) -both in masterful performances, too-. And marks, of course, his own life, that he tries to do utmost in his working face but without getting it.

"Martin (Hache)" is the typical proof of the "cinema of the word", this cinema in which the script, strong and solid, is construed over a torrential, permanent dialog that the characters express what they feel, what they think, what they are in what they say...

19-year-old, Argentina-born Martin (Juan Diego Botto), nicknamed H, has a nearly fatal drug overdose. After that his mother sends him to Madrid, where his film director father (Federico Luppi), also called Martin, lives with his new much younger lover Alicia (Cecilia Roth) and bisexual actor friend Dante (Eusebio Poncela). Since no one knows for sure whether the incident was an accident or an attempted suicide, and since there is no place for Hache in his mother's life anyway, his father takes him to Madrid. The two try to bridge the obvious difficulties between father and son, and above all to fill Hache's life with new courage and cheerfulness.

The quartet of the great actors are wonderful: Juan Diego Botto as Hache, as those who know him call him, he is a young man who, after an almost fatal encounter, comes to Madrid to live with his father, stunningly played by Federico Luppi as a film director who has been in Spain for many years and who left Buenos Aires when he separated from his mother and does not want to return to his previous life or his country. His life is stable and without commitments with his lover Alicia, nicely acted by Cecilia Roth, and his best friend, the actor Dante, a splendid Eusebio Poncela. But his coexistence with his 19-year-old son will force him to face the problems that he had hidden behind a barrier of years. The film makes an introspective study of four characters, although throughout it we may seem somewhat pedantic, people who always have the word on point, philosophizing and giving opinions on everything and all around; however, finally we realize keep in mind that they are all imperfect people with their vital defects and failures in their actions. In such a way that as the film progresses it improves noticeably until reaching a sensitive and intelligent ending.

In "Martín (Hache)", the experienced filmmaker Adolfo Aristarain weaves a film whose plot unfolds above all through intelligently conducted, thought-provoking isssues and profound dialogues. The story focuses on the four protagonists, whose characterization becomes clearer and deeper as the plot progresses. Despite half-hearted attempts to break out of their current lives, they always return to the starting point remorseful. It is thanks to the outstanding acting performance of the actors that boredom does not arise at any moment. On the contrary, the dialogues captivate and fuel the tension until the decisive and unsettling finale. Many feelings are only hinted at, thus giving free rein to the audience's ability to interpret. "Martín (Hache)" has received numerous awards at international festivals, including the 1998 Goya Award for Best Female Actress for the terrific Cecilia Roth.

The motion picture was competently directed by Adolfo Aristaráin, At the same time, the director does not make the mistake of trying to describe everything down to the smallest detail in words. Adolfo has extensive experience as assistant director to Mario Camus, Sergio Leone, Lewis Gilbert and Melvin Frank, debuting as a director in ¨The Lion's Share¨ (1978) but that was a failure that led him to direct two bad films to survive: ¨The Beach of Love (1970)¨ and ¨ The nightclub of love¨. He returns to the detective genre with the attractive ¨Tiempo de revancha (1980) ¨and ¨Los ultimos Días De la Victima (1982) ¨giving a sordid portrait of Argentina during the military dictatorship. Later he made the TV series: ¨The Adventures of Pepe Carvalho¨ in Spain about the notorious detective written by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. He then films in English in co-production with USA three police irregulars: Deadly¨. The Stranfäger¨, and ¨Past Perfect¨. His best and most personal work is "A Place in the World" (1992), a heartfelt love story seen through the political prism with which he wins the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Festival. Later, he makes the irregular "La Ley de la Frontera¨ (1995), where he defends the cinema of love and adventure and the much more personal Martin (Hache) in which he narrates the tense relationships between a film director, his lover, his son and an actor. Rating: 6.5/10. Better than average.

At times I felt this film might have been adapted from stage-theatre, so good are the dialogues; scintillating, the right way to speak Spanish – if you will excuse the `porteño' accent so very necessary for the film. The old `maestro' Federico Luppi is about as good as in any other film I have seen him in, I suppose; Juan Diego de Botto is better than in other films of his that I have seen; but the real standing ovation is for Eusebio Ponce who plays very delicately and intelligently the philosophical homosexual, and Cecilia Roth is outstanding as the film-director's girl-friend. Though I must say that I am beginning to get accustomed to Cecilia Roth being outstanding in everything she does.

The direction is right – spot on; tight, befitting the excellent playing out of the dialogues and demanding great skill with the camera and later the person with the scissors. Adolfo Arastarain worked hard for this one: the result is a hugely satisfying piece.

Once again, as erstwhile said elsewhere in IMDb, for those who like real character-driven pieces with intelligent dialogues, this film is highly recommendable. However, for those of you with a fair knowledge of Spanish, if you are not used to the Argentinian (porteño) accent you may well have problems, such that you will need the subtitles. It is worth the effort, I can assure you: just over 8 out of 10, which is pretty high on my scale.