Vagón fumador

This Argentinian take on ennui among youth in the large city treads familiar territory. An urban semi-hipster sings in a band, but clearly isn't very motivated to practice or pick up on her bandmates vibes. She comes across two boys having sex in the ATM foyer, waits for them to finish & then goes in to take out money from her account. She is then accosted by the street hustler who seems to reside in foyer, waiting for opportunities to score cash the way he knows best.

The two are filmed on the bank's video camera & the dialogue in this early scene is clearly voiced-over. In this debut, Veronica Chen also uses some other interesting film techniques, including using grainy images, which break up and blend together, giving the viewer the feel of the pacing and mish-mash that makes up a city. However, despite the novelty of these devices, the film just doesn't hold up. So instead of seeming like listless Gen-Xers, the actors seem just even lazier at their trade than the characters they are representing. The end result makes the film looks more like the aftermath of a Diesel jeans photo shoot than a slice-of-life glimpse into the world of street kids. The music that is used (to excess) in the film is just as random as the filming tricks and begins to tire the viewer a good third into the movie.

If you want to see better examples of the problems of street hustlers, check out "Midnight Cowboy" or "My Own Private Idaho". If you want to see a much better representation of the difficulties facing modern urban lovers see "Happy Together." Or, if you'd like to see some good films from Argentina check out "Nine Queens" or "Burnt Money" but save your money on this one.

...so i'm just shallow enough that when i buy a film where one of the co-stars is a male prostitute, i might expect to see some male body parts. we see EVERY body part of the female lead singer "Reni ", who is getting kicked out of a band, but we don't see any of the hustler's body parts; Leonardo Brzezicki is "Andrés", who Reni observes with a client in the ATM machine (several times...) In fact, they meet after Andrés has just finished up with a client in such a place. There don't seem to be any police in this town, with all this naughty night time stuff going on. Reni seems lost and rambling, and she insists that she doesn't pay for love, while Andrés is proud to get paid for things, and is confident with his place in the world. The editing and flashbacks leave us a little confused as to when things are really taking place, which is probably the intent of the writer/director Verónica Chen, but repeated use of fast/stop motion and numerous flashbacks are more confusing than they need to be. This was her eighth film, so she obviously has experience directing. Some cool night-time background photography of Buenos Aires - viewers will recognize Brzezicki, who was also in Testosterone in 2003, also filmed in Buenos Aires. If you enjoyed Smokers Only, see the film Ronda Nocturna, (Nightwatch), which also involves a male hustler in Argentina.

Vagon fumador is about a lady and a hustler well characterized by the actor's. She has a band of rock and he is doing sex for money on the street. They discover by chance. I don't know why people dislike this movie. Maybe it is too sofocating and that is correct but this is a story about OUTSIDERS and their behaviour in society. How the "UNDER"world works and behaves. If you want to know more go and see the movie. I saw it yesterday and I found good takes and not bad taste and the multicinema was not EMPTY besides of the critics stupid review. I consider this one a good movie and it is worth watching. Give it a try. Of course it is not a 10 it is a 7.