Valentin

Valentin, the young boy living in the Buenos Aires of the sixties, is a kid that is more mature than what his tender age shows. He is articulate, wise and knows a lot about the life of the astronauts he hears about. In fact, he has built a lot of facsimiles of the space ships and even has his own version of a space suit.

What Valentin doesn't have is parents. We see him living with his older grandmother in a residential area of the capital. There isn't much money, so their lives are not exactly what one might call it even middle class. Yet, the grandmother is a loving woman that cares intensely for her little charge. It's never clear what happened between the parents, but it appears Valentin's mother was abused by the womanizer husband.

Alejandro Agresti's film, which he also wrote, was shown briefly in a commercial run here, but disappeared quickly, so we never got around to it. It came as a total surprise when it was shown in one of the cable channels in its original version.

The film is worth seeing because of Rodrigo Noya, the sweet Valentin of the film. Valentin is the narrator of the story. He amazes us with the way he looks at things and his understanding of what's going on around him. This young actor made an excellent contribution to the film without ever being bratty. Our hearts go to the poor little boy that fate has abandoned and is even lonelier after the sudden death of the grandmother.

Carmen Maura, as the grandmother, is a joy to watch. She plays a Spaniard who has emigrated to Argentina. Julieta Cardinali is seen briefly as Leticia, a beautiful blonde woman who Valentin would like to be his new mother, hoping his father will marry her. When the relationship ends, Valentin is miserable, but Leticia, seeing the goodness and loneliness of the young boy stays by him. Mex Urtizberea plays Rufo, the pianist neighbor who is kind to Valentin.

"Valentin" was a surprise that brought joy and fun at the same time.

On 1969, in Argentina, the eight years old Valentin (Rodrigo Noya) is a boy that dreams to be an astronaut. He is raised by his poor widow grandmother Abuela (Carmen Maura), and is totally abandoned by his parents. His mother has apparently forgotten him, and his stupid father does not pay much attention on him. The smart, but needy kid missed his mother, and when his father introduces his new girlfriend Leticia (Julieta Cardinali), Valentin has a strong connection with her. Meanwhile his grandmother gets sick, and the boy tries to resolve all his family problems using his persuasion and viewpoint of life.

"Valentine" is a sweet, cute and delightful tale of a young negotiator that wanted to be an astronaut. I am not sure whether Rodrigo Noya is a great actor or not, but in this particular and peculiar role he is simply amazing. Carmen Maura is fantastic as usual, and the unknown Julieta Cardinali has a very beautiful participation. The story makes the viewer laugh and certainly will bring tears so touching and sensitive it is. This movie was one of the greatest good surprises for me and I really loved it. The scene of Valentin negotiating with the doctor in the hospital to see his grandmother in the market is one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen in cinema. Unfortunately life is not as beautiful as pictured in this remarkable scene. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil) "Valentin"

This is one of the very few movies I really love these past couple of years. Rodrigo Noya's Valentin is such a smart, funny and sad 8 year old boy. Everything he says gives you a smile and a little twist in the heart. He's like the old lady who lives alone and says she doesn't mind being alone but asks you to stay a little longer because she's baked dozens of cookies which nobody will eat. Rodrigo Noya is such an excellent actor that every nuance is caught thought his expressions, body language. The adults around him all act selfishly, but it's so realistic because we all are self-centered beings, and children sometimes are just treated like things that happened to be there. I love this movie so much I am recommending it to every people I know.

Little Rodrigo Noya fulfills his task completely, carrying this movie all by himself. He plays an 8-year-old boy, raised by his grandmother, surrounded by problems in his family he finds only himself capable of solving.

Dutch Art Director Floris Vos performs great, creating the perfect setting for this film in '70 Argentina.

I didn't suspect this movie to be good, because the dutch producer Laurens Geels produced it and I usually don't like his films. But this one was a sweet surprise! The whole film has this brilliant feel-good-movie athmosphere...and you just don't want this film to end. Rodrigo Noya is one of the most brilliant young actors among us, I was totally crazy about his character. I can't wait to see the next Agresti film! By the way, this is an absolute OSCAR-winner for this year!(or maybe Goodbye Lenin?)mmmmhhhh.....we'll see!