Herencia

I have to see this film again. I saw it in Valencia, Spain, and cried my eyes out, maybe because of (at the time) my over sensitiveness about its content (the older Italian woman, owner of a humble neighborhood restaurant (superb nostalgic working class location!) dreaming of, after 40 years, going back to her native Italian village... (I was in that situation myself!!!) but leaving my personal feelings aside, this film perspires such enormous doses of humanity that only in the old Italian neorealism one could find something similar.

This is a characteristic of all Argentinian films (and its people!) when I came back to Argentina after too long a period of absence, I was overwhelmed almost to tears by the friendliness that I encountered in every place I went, being offices, restaurants, cafés, libraries, etc. Why are Argentinians so agreeable? a mystery. Because people that have suffered for so many decades from horrid politicians, military dictatorships and all sorts of corruptions, should be too embittered to have that sweet disposition of character.

Well, I got sidetracked from talking about the film. The film is...GORGEOUS. Do not miss it please, at the end of the viewing you'll feel a much better person.

Olinda is the owner of a simple restaurant, the center of a small community of regulars, in a residential neighborhood of Buenos Aires. One day a young German man who came to Argentina looking for a lost love, the same reason Olinda herself came from Italy four decades earlier, walks in the door. What follows is a sweet film about friendship, emigration, dreams, with a lot of sensitivity and some touching dialogue. Assuming you enjoy films that don't rely on non-stop action, superstars, special effects and intricate plot twists I am sure you will like this one.

We've lived in Buenos Aires, the location for Herencia, for almost two years, and enjoyed watching this film. Besides the short scenes where Peter and Luz visit the sites of the city, the film keeps itself to some of the lesser known, even seedier sections of the city, giving the viewer a different picture of this world class city.

One of the opening scenes is humorous, where Peter, following the address on the letter, arrives to find his lost love, only to find out that she lives an hour away....not unusual in a city of 12 or so million where many streets and areas have the same name. This happened recently to me: I followed some directions specifically, only to find out that another area, with the same names, was the area I needed.

Peter is also humorous trying to speak Spanish. He mixes the formal "you" or "usted", with the informal "you" or "tú", and then adds the informal Argentine "you" or "vos". He does this in the same sentence, to the same person! Ah, the joys of language learning.

BA is an international city, so unlike the traditional Latino world pictured by many of dark skinned, dark haired, Andean mountain type people. The story of two foreigners arriving to find new lives, new loves, and new pain, is common. One touching scene has Olinda finding an Italian newspaper and savoring an hour reading her native language.It eventually leads her back "home" to Italy, though much of her remains "porteño" (a resident of Buenos Aires).

I recommend this film. It is well scripted, directed and shows human compassion between two people making a new world their own.I walk the streets of BA every day, always feeling that I belong, and always feeling a bit foreign. At their core, so do Peter and Olinda.

What happens when two people from different generations but looking for the same thing in life... a second chance meet each other? What would you do in their position? The way I found this movie was a very weird or lucky one depending on your point of view. This movie (DVD) was given to me at a movie theater for free and the young man didn't have an idea of how good it is. After watching it one thing that crossed my mind was that I wished I could have watched it in a movie theater. Is a very well made movie that you could watch and see that wherever we are from or how different we think from one another you'll never know how similar and human we are... Enjoy it.

Frankly, I must tell that I felt jealous. I have forgotten this feelings. For a long time I am organizing film festivals and watching more then 250 films per year. Few of them made me feel like this. It was very touching indeed. If I were a film director I would like to direct such a film. It was modest, emotional, simple and at the same time complicated, very human. I may say the same things for the story and for the directors attitute. Framing and the movements of the camera was harmonious with the story it self.

Don't miss it. If you have the chance watch it. We need to remember these feelings.