Gigante

With few images and a strong impression of calm the director depicts how love can actually arise from a very simple relation. The simplicity of the characters is actually what make this relationship so beautiful. The shyness of the principle character is greatly interpreted and does match really well with the social context of Montevideo presented as a very quiet city. The movie relies mostly on the suspense regarding the expectation from the principle character on his love that he only sees through the glass of a modern and inhuman computer.

The movie depict really well the social context of Uruguay: it's a wonderful immersion in the city of Montevideo and a great opportunity to discover a wonderful country which cinema appears to be both pretty rare and developing a great artistic quality.

It starts off with a bang, the opening credits you see the title of the film GIGANTE playing to a hard rock tune and as it peters out, you see the protoganist of the film 'Jara' on the bus going to work with a set of big headphones stuck to his head, lost in his own world.

He is big and mean looking, a bruiser who earns a living being night security at a supermarket as well as a nightclub bouncer his looks are deceptive - he is quiet and shy. A lovable lump who dotes on his nephews - he has a huge crush on one of the night cleaners at the supermarket but he has no idea how to approach her, so he starts to follow her movements because that is the only way he knows how to learn more about her.

And it is with that he plays a part in her life without her knowledge, saving her more than once with his actions without her knowing anything about it. It is only at the end we realise she knew he was there all along. How could she miss 'gigante' he isn't the most inconspicuous man in the world but because of his lack of self confidence, he thinks he is.

A wonderful film, well worth a watch.

Set in Montevideo, Uruguay, Gigante carefully unravels the story of Jara, a heavy metal-loving, lionhearted security guard who works the graveyard shift at a grocery store. As he fights the boredom and monotony of a job monitoring the store via surveillance cameras, he begins to fall for a janitor named Julia. Too shy to approach her, Jara dotes over her from afar following her to and fro around town. When he begins to gain the courage to make contact, competition rolls in.

I knew nothing about Gigante when I began to watch it other than what the short plot summary on IMDb.com describes. The tempo of the film is a bit slower, but steady and the unknowing of what lies around each corner snagged me in and held my attention through-out. It was easy to relate to Jara, a very likable character, and the agony of his obsession for Julia and one cannot help but develop a fondness for her as Jara becomes more and more familiar with her.

Gigante isn't for everyone, but if you have ever become enamored with someone, but lacked the self confidence to act on it, I think you will appreciate this film.

The movie is about a huge, introverted, good-hearted young man named Jara, whose main job is night-guard at a big supermarket in Montevideo, Uruguay. On his lonesome and monotone night-shifts in the surveillance room staring at the monitors one night his attention is aroused by Julia, a young cleaning-woman, and bit by bit he falls in love with her. Unfortunately he is too timid to speak to her, so he just watches and even follows her at daytime (like some kind of guardian angel). What then underlies till the end of the movie is the crucial question: Will he be courageous enough to eventually speak to her and reveal his feelings? I found this movie refreshing, slow paced, realistic and romantic. I could very easily identify myself with Jara, because I also have problems to tell women who attract me my feelings. In my opinion the ending was satisfying, too. I recommend this movie to everyone who likes true, profound, subtle love stories about lonesome and timid people.

Coming from Uruguay Gigante is a masterpiece of low-scale artistic cinema. How this slight story about a metal-loving night security guard stalking the girl of his dreams turned out to be my favorite romantic movie of 2009 lies within its refreshing approach artfully implemented with a dead-pan precision and confidence. Gigante's director Adrien Binez uses the voyeuristic tone of the movie not to oppress viewers, but to enchant them. The movie happens to be sweet when we watch Jara, a large, quiet soul following Julia, an accident-prone cleaner wherever she goes and whatever she does. It abounds with numerous wonderfully observed scenes that abandon the dialogue almost entirely. My favorite scene involves visiting the cinema where Jara has difficulty deciding which movie has been chosen by his love-interest, a love story or a horror movie about a mutant. Guess which one it was. As regards acting, Horacio Camandule provides a sharp and totally likable performance, while Leonor Svarcas is convincing even though her part is limited. Overall, Gigante may be too slow-paced for some, but for me it happens to be an endlessly engrossing miracle of a movie. 9/10 (A-)