Medianeras

A Spanish 500 Days of Summer mixed with a more urban and up to date You've Got Mail. I liked this film a lot. I watched on a whim, this being the first movie I've actually watched fully subtitled and I've got to say, personally it made the experience of the movie that much more enjoyable.(I think it added a feeling of being connected, seeing that there are people out there from a different culture feeling and hurting and living just like me) Now even though dialogue is primarily in Spanish, English songs are used and this also brought an even more familiar tone to the movie as a whole. I connected with both the main characters in the film. Their feelings of loneliness on the inside, yet, still going on with their day to day all while being mixed with their phobias, longings, quarks, and vulnerabilities. This movie works, it works on every cylinder. Beautifully shot and beautifully written.. Watching this will not be a waste of your time.

In an effort to learn Spanish, I've been watching a lot of Spanish- language movies, and not worrying too much about the quality. It was nice, finally, to watch one that is quite well done. This little Argentinean, romantic comedy is philosophical, charming, and visually beautiful.

Martin (Javier Drolas), an agoraphobic website designer and Mariana (Pilar Lopez de Ayala), an underemployed architect, live on the same street in Buenos Aires. Both are depressed and lonely. As both go through a series of futile dates, we come to see that they would be perfect for each other, but of course, the odds of the two of them meeting in such a huge city are not good. The city has ways of putting up barriers between people, and the theme of the film is that successfully making a life in such a place requires physically and mentally breaking through those barriers.

Meanwhile, the camera lingers on the skyline and the individual buildings of Buenos Aires, gray and inhuman. The variety of buildings is endless, and many have blank, windowless sidewalls, called medianeras. These blank spaces are used for billboards, an ugly alternative to what could have been light-bringing windows, and many apartment- dwellers rebel by chipping through the concrete to place unauthorized windows.

Despite the urban philosophizing and beautiful cinematography, "Medianeras" does not demand to be taken too seriously. It's a fun, optimistic, romantic comedy which declares that, as one of the songs in the film puts it, "true love will find you in the end." Amen to that.

As soon as the movie began, I was hooked. The gorgeous shots of the buildings of Buenos Aires had my eyes glued to screen. As the story began, I was welcomed into the lives of Martin and Mariana, two people living in isolation from the big crowded world just outside their door. With the comforting mood of the movie, I felt as though I was there with them, living a peaceful and quiet existence, completely cut off from the busy and fast paced world surrounding me. It was nice. I felt relaxed and at ease as I watched the two characters struggle with relationships, phobias, and just life in general. If I were to use one word to describe this movie, it would be beautiful, but not just because of the gorgeous cinematography. I thought the movie was beautiful because it was real. It told a story about two imperfect characters living imperfect lives in their imperfect homes because that's what life is, imperfectly beautiful.

Martín and Mariana are slightly damaged people who live in buildings just opposite one another. Both are afraid of the outside world. While they often don't notice each other, separation might be the very thing that brings them together.

The film opens with a Manhattan-like montage showing the many buildings in Buenos Aires, a monologue from Martín (played by Javier Drolas) describes how architecture is the ultimate human expression and a mirror-accurate reflection of how we are – disorganized, contradictory, chaotic and disconnected. Martín states that his entire life is in his apartment: he works, sleeps, eats, has sex (with himself) and entertains himself there. He blames architects because they have designed the outlines of his life. Modernity has made our homes so comfortable that being outside and interacting with other people now seem daunting.

The characters are quirky but realistic. We are presented with their inner monologues along with animations visualizing their inner thoughts. It is never quirky for the sake of being quirky. Let's just say if Zoe Deschanel suddenly manifested in this movie, she would have been quietly escorted out by Latino security guards. No seriously, Martín and Mariana's quirks come from a real damaged place of hurt, heartbreak and a loss of faith in people. Something that felt really real for me was how Mariana likes to lean on a specific spot in her apartment -a wall besides the 5-step walkway up to her bedroom area. It does not look particularly comfortable or anything special, but she leans there and uses it like a place of safety. That hit me on a personal level.

Sidewalls provides a precise portrayal of isolation and loneliness and underneath asks some challenging questions. Why is all this interconnectivity setting us apart? How can someone feel alone on a subway full of people? Is love the answer? It might be the answer, but it's goddamn hard to find amidst all this interconnectivity. Suffice to say, Martín and Mariana do get to meet potential lovers and it is interesting to see how they play out and how it affects the two protagonists. There are many whimsical moments and I smiled through most of the film. It gets a bit dark at times too. Mariana purchases a mannequin and interacts with it in all sorts of ways and I hoped that her condition wouldn't worsen into anything darker. For that, I think actress Pilar López de Ayala has the meatier role. After this film, I think I have a new crush.

I liked what the film had to say about urban loneliness. I liked and cared for these characters and wanted to see them together. It's a nice charming gem of a love story. I would have wanted to see more interaction between the two characters, but maybe that's a good thing. It left me wanting more.

For more reviews, please visit my film blog @ http://hkauteur.wordpress.com

Two young adults live lonely, isolated existences in modern Buenos Aires and repeatedly fail to meet each other despite living on either sides of a street.

Javier Drolas is a web designer living in a cluttered, one room apartment. He doesn't like to go outside and only does for his therapy appointments and to walk the dog his American girlfriend left with him when she returned home for a visit and never came back. He has a brief sexual relationship with a young, emo dog walker, but it's not very satisfying.

Pilar López de Ayala is a young architect working as a window dresser. She has a series of unsatisfying relationships and is happier relating to the mannequins she keeps in her apartment.

The film teases several meetings between these two, but along the way, muses on life in modern Buenos Aires, a city that has grown so fast that it's a mishmash of haphazard architectural styles and most people live in tiny apartments in giant high rises. The growth of online relationships and slow death of personal, physical ones is killing the romantic lives of young people like our protagonists.

It's a very slight, but quite engaging film. You never doubt that a film with this light a tone will end with these two meeting, but it's a pleasant journey. Gustavo Taretto telescopes his indebtedness to Woody Allen by having our protagonists both watching the climax of "Manhattan". This film is more like "Annie Hall" with a steady narration by both leads and a blend of many styles ... animation, on screen graphics and many other gimmicks are dropped in.