Familia rodante

As it happens with any road movie, road, cars, and landscape are excuses for developing a story; the road chosen could not have been better, landscapes are superb, and the caravan they travel with is a gem on its own!

Each of the 12 people on this caravan had a story to tell and Trapero managed to thread them together very well. True, acting could have been a bit better, but I took it as part of the essence of this movie, adding for a natural freshness of the plot.

Human relationships and family business are taken to the core of this family during the trip with a good balance of drama and comedy. The movie is flooded with touches of Argentinian customs along the movie that also come as a bonus.

Highly recommended movie!

Unusual, fresh, entertaining and interesting would be the words to describe this movie. It isn't a classic, but it IS a good watch. As I've never been to Argentina, I think it says a lot about the film's quality that it was able to evoke a strong sense of place, and of Argentinian life, and I felt as if I was there.

I see some of the other commenters have complained there was no development or drama - and to some extent they're right, but they're also missing the point that this movie isn't about thrills and surprises Hollywood-style. It's about one normal family doing something unusual, and how they deal with the various problems that occur on the way. That was incredibly enjoyable, not to mention very involving. Lots of humour, some very moving scenes, great direction and acting - it's all good, really. Highly recommended.

There are certainly some wonderful interesting roads in this movie and they certainly do engender the desire to get in a car and drive from Buenos Aires to Misiones; but really at core, this film is about interpersonal family dynamics. This movie is so beautifully observed and dare I say it, made with 'a love of family' perspective probably impossible in the UK. I found it utterly spellbinding. Call me an old soppy but just the opening shot of the great grandma sitting on her bed looking through her box of family photos had me sobbing tenderly. OK there was drama and incident along the route, but the way the family accepted each others foibles and gave each other space, seemed totally magical to me. I know they probably did know each other well in non-film reality, but the way it has been captured on screen is almost visceral. Hey man it was like you were there! I hope Mr Trapero goes on to make more Cool-Greatgrandma pictures and never hands over the casting of his films to an agency.

This Argentinian film follows a large family from Buenos Aires as they make the thousand kilometre journey to a remote village in Misiones Province. They are making the journey because eighty four year old Emelia has been invited to be maid of honour at her niece's wedding. Four generations of the family pack into a camper van for the journey. Along the way various things occur that effect the family. Some of these are comic, others lead to tension and there is even romance... between two teenaged cousins.

I found this film to be a real delight; it might not be full of action or hilarious moments but the characters feel real... not in the common sense of film/TV characters being described as 'real' just because their lives are miserable but because they are a fairly ordinary family. The journey in the cramped van provides some tensions but nothing excessive. The way director Pablo Trapero films the characters in the van adds a sense of claustrophobia but this is lightened by the outside shots of the various characters during the occasional forced stop. The cast, many not regular actors, do an impressive job. Overall I'd say this won't be for everybody but if you are looking for a relatively low-key film with humour, pathos and 'real' characters then I'd certainly recommend it.

These comments are based on watching the film in Spanish with English subtitles.

It had the potential to be a good film but was let down on a few technical aspects.

1. He shouldn't have used too many hand held shots.

2. Should have used film stock rather than electronic. Poor colour separation.

3. Far, far too many close up shots. If you are going to make a 'road film' then its a good idea to see the characters within a location. There were just not enough. Okay, one could argue that he tried to convey a feeling of claustrophobia but we don't need the entire film to tell us it's claustrophobic inside a camper. Surely if it was mad hot they would all want to be outside on every opportunity?

4. The kissing young couple. Sorry but very basic and primitive. It would have been better for them to be seen sneaking off into the woods then we could use our own imagination.

5. The dialogue with non members of the family with other people were few are far between. The only worthwhile example I can recall was the police roadblock and the man with a spare gasket.

There are too many 'road movies' and to stand out from the rest you really do need to be original - this wasn't.

And lastly, I thought it could have been improved with a large injection of humour or real pathos.