Medianeras

This is a movie about life and solitariness in modern capitol of Argentina. Urban chaos, modern way of life and new technology keep people apart which was the first point of the movie and title "Sidewalls" is just metaphor for those things. Sidewalls describes main protagonists lives of loneliness, displeasure and endurance. In the end Internet unites them and sidewalls lost its purpose which was the second point of the movie. Maybe the end is in some kind of way like in Hollywood style but it is not very bad flaw. This movie has in my opinion artistic qualities 'cause production, direction and acting really worked here. Storyline was good as well.

A Spanish 500 Days of Summer mixed with a more urban and up to date You've Got Mail. I liked this film a lot. I watched on a whim, this being the first movie I've actually watched fully subtitled and I've got to say, personally it made the experience of the movie that much more enjoyable.(I think it added a feeling of being connected, seeing that there are people out there from a different culture feeling and hurting and living just like me) Now even though dialogue is primarily in Spanish, English songs are used and this also brought an even more familiar tone to the movie as a whole. I connected with both the main characters in the film. Their feelings of loneliness on the inside, yet, still going on with their day to day all while being mixed with their phobias, longings, quarks, and vulnerabilities. This movie works, it works on every cylinder. Beautifully shot and beautifully written.. Watching this will not be a waste of your time.

Sidewalls (2011)

A wonderful, heartwarming, smart and funny film. Anyone would like this, so see it.

Two lonely young people in two nearby apartments in Buenos Aries are everything in this fairy tale feel good romance. A romance where the two characters have never met.

The city is lovingly brought to life through its buildings, most of them ordinary big city buildings much like the two characters are ordinary inhabitants. And the title, sidewalls (which is medianeras in Spanish for this home-grown Argentine movie), refers to the tall and often windowless side facades of the structures, including many apartment buildings, including the two where our hero and heroine reside.

So what goes on? You see the almost painfully lonely lives of two really likable people, wishing they could somehow meet. They have similar interests, they live near to each other, and they are both looking for love. Small things happen in the movie, little asides, but really the whole things is just this gradual accumulation of expectation. They really should meet, somehow, cross paths and recognize their parallel needs. The audience is totally convinced they are perfect for each other.

If only life would comply.

Director Gustavo Taretto, who also wrote the sly monologues and voiceovers for the movie (there is almost no dialog), originally made this as a short in 2005, running at half an hour, and it got rave reviews and won a slew of awards. So it was expanded here, and somehow it doesn't seem stretched too long even though the idea is the same (and the same lead actor was used, with a different lead actress). If there is any drawback to the movie, however, it is a slowly growing feeling that there is just this one clever situation at hand and it needs to resolve, or end, or something, to keep the incredible magic of the first half going.

Not that it exactly flags. The fairytale aspects get slightly improbable (as fairy tales do) by the last half hour, but it's exactly what you need. And then it's done, a fun and funny gem. It fits into a category of independent features worldwide using small casts, young actors and simple bright ideas. This is one of the best.

Martín and Mariana are slightly damaged people who live in buildings just opposite one another. Both are afraid of the outside world. While they often don't notice each other, separation might be the very thing that brings them together.

The film opens with a Manhattan-like montage showing the many buildings in Buenos Aires, a monologue from Martín (played by Javier Drolas) describes how architecture is the ultimate human expression and a mirror-accurate reflection of how we are – disorganized, contradictory, chaotic and disconnected. Martín states that his entire life is in his apartment: he works, sleeps, eats, has sex (with himself) and entertains himself there. He blames architects because they have designed the outlines of his life. Modernity has made our homes so comfortable that being outside and interacting with other people now seem daunting.

The characters are quirky but realistic. We are presented with their inner monologues along with animations visualizing their inner thoughts. It is never quirky for the sake of being quirky. Let's just say if Zoe Deschanel suddenly manifested in this movie, she would have been quietly escorted out by Latino security guards. No seriously, Martín and Mariana's quirks come from a real damaged place of hurt, heartbreak and a loss of faith in people. Something that felt really real for me was how Mariana likes to lean on a specific spot in her apartment -a wall besides the 5-step walkway up to her bedroom area. It does not look particularly comfortable or anything special, but she leans there and uses it like a place of safety. That hit me on a personal level.

Sidewalls provides a precise portrayal of isolation and loneliness and underneath asks some challenging questions. Why is all this interconnectivity setting us apart? How can someone feel alone on a subway full of people? Is love the answer? It might be the answer, but it's goddamn hard to find amidst all this interconnectivity. Suffice to say, Martín and Mariana do get to meet potential lovers and it is interesting to see how they play out and how it affects the two protagonists. There are many whimsical moments and I smiled through most of the film. It gets a bit dark at times too. Mariana purchases a mannequin and interacts with it in all sorts of ways and I hoped that her condition wouldn't worsen into anything darker. For that, I think actress Pilar López de Ayala has the meatier role. After this film, I think I have a new crush.

I liked what the film had to say about urban loneliness. I liked and cared for these characters and wanted to see them together. It's a nice charming gem of a love story. I would have wanted to see more interaction between the two characters, but maybe that's a good thing. It left me wanting more.

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Two young adults live lonely, isolated existences in modern Buenos Aires and repeatedly fail to meet each other despite living on either sides of a street.

Javier Drolas is a web designer living in a cluttered, one room apartment. He doesn't like to go outside and only does for his therapy appointments and to walk the dog his American girlfriend left with him when she returned home for a visit and never came back. He has a brief sexual relationship with a young, emo dog walker, but it's not very satisfying.

Pilar López de Ayala is a young architect working as a window dresser. She has a series of unsatisfying relationships and is happier relating to the mannequins she keeps in her apartment.

The film teases several meetings between these two, but along the way, muses on life in modern Buenos Aires, a city that has grown so fast that it's a mishmash of haphazard architectural styles and most people live in tiny apartments in giant high rises. The growth of online relationships and slow death of personal, physical ones is killing the romantic lives of young people like our protagonists.

It's a very slight, but quite engaging film. You never doubt that a film with this light a tone will end with these two meeting, but it's a pleasant journey. Gustavo Taretto telescopes his indebtedness to Woody Allen by having our protagonists both watching the climax of "Manhattan". This film is more like "Annie Hall" with a steady narration by both leads and a blend of many styles ... animation, on screen graphics and many other gimmicks are dropped in.