Luna de Avellaneda

A group of people from a neighborhood come together in the midst of their many troubles in order to attempt saving a sports and social club which they have been a part of for most of their lives. Things get complicated as the economy takes a hit and people fight through their own struggles on the side. Juan Jose Campanella places us, the viewers, right in the middle of the many problems which exist in the lives of all the people who share the commonality of being on the board of the CLA. Each one of the characters is both emotionally torn due to family or relationship issues, and in big financial need. Although the club is a large part of the reason for so much financial instability, it also seems to serve as the fountain of energy and inspiration for all of the characters. The story demonstrates clearly how society has changed and how difficult it is to move past economical issues, even when it means throwing a lifelong tradition to the side. Furthermore, it does paint a beautiful picture of finding hope and passion in the memory of how things used to be and how they could be once again with some time investment and sacrifice.

At once universal, in its complex Dickensian portrait of a society, and extremely timely - narrating in microcosm the recent economic crisis in Argentina - Luna de Avellaneda is a beautiful, eloquent film that will resonate deeply with both Argentine viewers and audiences worldwide. Very funny and very moving, the film is rich in human drama, its characters ranging from a small boy whose braces are killing him to an old man on his deathbed, with all sorts of variations in between - a man who discovers his wife is having an affair, a son who wants to escape the catastrophic situation by emigrating to Spain, a drunk who falls in love and tries to reform, a girl from a shanty town who wants to learn ballet. Small miracles occur throughout the film. The dialogues are brilliant, the acting consistently strong. As in reality (though not often depicted in films), economic concerns are never far from anyone's mind, yet at the same time the emotional life persists. Rarely have I seen such a felicitious melding of the two, as when the central character, Roman, whose marriage is failing, goes to buy cologne to try to spice things up and, after perusing the range of possibilities, can only afford the cheapest, and most acrid-smelling, scent on the shelves. Or when a still infuriated divorcee invites her ex to a romantic dinner in a five star restaurant and, after ordering numerous bottles of the best champagne, then slips away leaving him to foot the bill. I cannot recommend this film highly enough.

"Luna de Avellaneda" it's a good movie. Sometimes it reminds some Italian ones where "nostalgia" was used. The idea of the movie -talking about a social and sports club as a symbol of the Argentinian situation during the 90's is good, specially if it takes human feelings to explain the loss of some people values in the last decade. Exploring in feelings and contradictions of the human being is one of the best characteristic of Campanella's movies. Ricardo Darín, Mercedes Morán y Eduardo Blanco are very good in their characters specially Blanco. It's not a depressing movie although the topic can be sound like that. Actually, it has a hopeful message that tell us: "Never say that everything is lost". Nevertheless, "Luna de Avellaneda" isn't the best Campanella's movie. It repeats some concepts we saw in "Son of the Bride" or "Same love, same rain" -perhaps the best one.

This movie reflects the reality of a decadent Argentinean present, after the golden year when immigrants would find a land full of opportunities. "Luna de Avellaneda" is about the neighbors of a club(very popular social recreational Argentinean icons) in the suburbs of Buenos Aires trying to save it from an becoming a casino. The characters will have to decide whether they let the club (and its history of prosperity) go in order for them to have a job opportunity.

This film reflects the sad moments Argentina is going through, and the despair of a group of people trying to hold back their dignity. As an Argentinean I cannot help having a bittersweet taste after watching this excellent movie.

Luna de Avellaneda is a 70 years old club, in the good ol' days it had more than 8.000 members. There they teach ballet, you can play basketball, you can chat with your friends... In short: it's your family out of your family. Now, times have changed, things are getting hard and people don't have much money. The club has nowadays less than 300 members, and has lots of debts. They're going' to have to sell the facilities, they say they're gonna build a casino, they say there will be a job for everybody, they say prosperity will be back in town... they say...

This is such of a metaphor of the whole Argentinian situation. He uses this club to represent the reality of a country that's been hurt very deeply, surrounded by looters and sick of promises. A country which uses the sense of humor and the sarcasm as a medicine.

Two hours of rage, love after love, and tons of hope... (we really need that) *My rate: 8/10