El hijo de la novia

Son of the Bride

When I read the short description of this Argentinean film, "Son with broken marriage deals with his dads desire to renew marriage vows with his wife with Alzheimer's" I hesitated to watch it. I down loaded it to my Tivo because of it's three star rating, but had no great desire to re--live my mothers long decline into that particular abyss.

We had just started to watch "Out of Sight" a Hollywood product that had George Clooney meeting his co-star "cute" in the trunk of a getaway car. A contrived vehicle for brand name stars that delivered the audience and made a buck for the investors. That's the American way. We cut it off after twenty minutes and decided we may as well give this one a try.

Nobody met "cute" in this film. There is a son with a broken marriage and barely tolerable relations with his ex whom he kept in contact with over the shared love of their daughter. The demented mother, was depicted with just enough realism to give a taste of the true sadness of this disease, while not overwhelming the film with despair. Maybe it was extra meaningful to me, since my Mother was like her, the rare person who did not suffer from her illness, but bathed in some blessed contentment.

I will not try to go into detail why this film was so beautiful. When everything works perfectly, the writing, directing and the acting; all you have is the unfolding of the story on the screen. There is nothing to say about the people or their interactions--- they are just being themselves. In real life, we don't have heroes. The strongest people are those who can make the people around them feel good about themselves. If they are gorgeous they don't wear makeup to accentuate it. If they are rich they talk about a cheap meal they had a restaurant. And if they are very smart, they talk sports.

So, by watching this film, you get to spend a couple hours with these people. Nothing will be more enjoyable. And stay through the titles that roll at the end, there is one final joke that completes the experience.

In 'El Hijo de la Novia', director Juan José Campanella tells the story of a workaholic 42-year old divorced father who has unstable relationship with his daughter and girlfriend and who's father, after 44 years of marriage, wants to remarry his mother who's struck by Alzheimer's disease. But things take a different turn when he has a stroke. Campanella tells a sweet tale of self discovery or rather self rediscovery accompanied by a playful score. He does present the culture quite well as one does get the feel of the local Argentinian life. Héctor Alterio and Norma Aleandro give very spirited performances and they are a treat to watch. Ricardo Darin is adequate while Natalia Verbeke and Eduardo Blanco are very good. In spite of gaining widespread acknowledgement, 'El Hijo de la Novia' remains a small humble little film. I liked how the relationships were portrayed and how the characters and problems were very recognizable. Nino's love for Norma was very moving. The only quibble for me was that the pacing was very slow midway so it requires some patience from the viewer but in the end es una película divertida que eleva. Make sure to watch it through the rolling end credits.

My wife 'found' this film, of which I hadn't heard, in our local video shop and I'm so delighted she did.

The central performance of Rafael was a tour de force - this actor stands very strong beside the likes of Pacino, and I can imagine him in many of the earlier 'gangster with hidden depth' roles the latter excelled in. He was so believable as the 'godfather' neighbourhood restaurateur. The other principal actors were also brilliant, although in my opinion Eduardo Blanco as the comedic interest overegged and hammed a little too much in a couple of scenes, eg as bogus priest. But that is nitpicking in one of the most memorable romantic films I've ever seen.

I totally agree with one of the reviewers who compared and contrasted to the dreadful film travesty made of 'The Notebook'recently which missed all the buttons around Alzheimers and real people with real believable feelings and reactions. I also agree that while if this product had been American with J Nicholson, etc it would have been a surefire Oscar winner, it would actually have been ruined by the Hollywood treatment...

Thanks you Argentina, and I hope to see much more of Senor Darin before long.

Very sweet mid-life crisis movie from Argentina starring the brilliant

Ricardo Darín from 'Nine Queens'. Darin plays Rafael, a driven

restaurant owner who's stressed lifestyle and continuous intake of

ristrettos and cigarettes earns him a heart attack. Lying in his

hospital bed he resolves to start 'a new cycle', simplifying his life.

This proves harder than he expects. Gorgeous younger girlfriend

Nat wants commitment, ex-wife Sandra heaps scorn on his

neuroses and his dapper father wants financial help in enacting a

touching gesture to his wife of 44 years: a proper wedding

ceremony.

Rafael is assisted in meeting these challenges by the appearance

of an old friend, Juan Carlos. Played with memorable comic

energy by Eduardo Blanco (a kind of Argentine Roberto Benigni),

Juan Carlos' loyalty and friendship - and the story of his own

triumph over tragic life circumstances - helps Rafael understand

the treasure he possesses without appreciating it: family.

It may sound kind of soppy, and at moments 'Son of the Bride'

does teeter into sentimentality, but on the whole this is a

consistently entertaining movie, the best of its kind I've seen in a

long time. The film's script is very nearly brilliant, stuffed full of bon

mots and witty asides, from the Padre describing his new speaker

system as 'omnipresent' to Juan Carlos' Jesus-Christ-as-

Maradonna joke.

But its quality lies in more than just a list of gleaming one-liners

and 'zingy' exchanges. There's acres of depth here too, in passing

observations about the universality of corruption in modern day

Argentina, to wry observations about the hypocrisy of the church.

Campanella covers a lot of bases - much more so than comparable comedies from the US - without ever losing his

lightness of touch. It's this that raises 'Son of the Bride' above the

mass and makes it a movie that I'm actually very keen to see

again.

Impossible not to like, then, and if the ending doesn't leave you

with a tear in your eye, you're a heartless swine.



I actually caught 'Son of the Bride' last night in a double with 'Nine

Queens'

Rafael Belvedere (Ricardo Darín) runs a restaurant started by his parents, Nino (Héctor Alterio) and Norma (Norma Aleandro). While he has made it a success, a corporate buyer who wants to buy the restaurant observes that the extreme effort required to keep all of the plates spinning is like running a marathon. He is divorced and, with the constant cell phone calls and sleepless nights, doesn't seem to have much time for his daughter or girlfriend, although he seems to have genuine affection for both. He hasn't visited his mother Norma, who is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's, in a year. As the previews and the title reveal, his father Nino decides that what he wants most of all is to give Norma the church wedding she always wanted, although many wonder if she would even notice due to her mental state.

The wedding and other story turns which I won't give away help the film turn gracefully from mostly a comedy in the early going into an outstanding drama in the later parts of the film. The performances are excellent by all of the actors, helping to make all of the characters seem real. While the photography is often attractive, I would not be surprised if the film was shot on 16 mm film or even high definition video and transferred to 35 mm film for exhibition.

This film was nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film, which should have given it a higher profile than it seems to have gotten. It is highly recommended, and should not lose too much seen on home video, assuming it eventually shows up there.

Note that the star, Ricardo Darín, also stars in "Nine Queens," which is opening very soon in the United States.