O Abraço Partido

I have seen the movie several times now, and keep loving the very porteño lines, the perfect way in which the filmmaker captures the unique setting of Once (and a little of Abasto), as well as the tone of 2002/2003 there in Buenos Aires. The delicate portrayals of emotion and spirit are heart-rending and hilarious together. For anyone who knows Buenos Aires beyond the bullshit vended to you by some tourism operator, this film will delight you. It also has enough appeal and quirkiness to charm broader audiences that have some curiosity about slice-of-life films from elsewhere. If you have seen Berman's film "Esperando al Mesías," many people will look familiar in this movie, but it's only the actors, not the characters who are the same, and even though only a few. Like that other movie, there is also much emphasis on Argentine Jewish everyday life, but not in a way that is insular at all -- bringing in, instead, the rest of life that can combine effortlessly or create the conflicts and commotions that keep life and culture vibrant. Berman also seems to show a strength across his movies in grappling with the importance of longer-standing histories in their very simple, quotidian upcroppings. In all, an excellent film by an excellent filmmaker.

I don't like Daniel Burman's movies. I don't recommend them. I solve my prejudice with this one. This movie is agile, simple and effective. This movie has a very good second part and increases the level towards the end.

The film tells the story of Ariel Makaroff (Daniel Hendler), Jewish, late twenties with a mentality of a teenager. He runs from one place to another and he his idea consists in going abroad with Polish documents. He is running from the crisis of the country and all the people seems to have no brain. His father left him when he was a baby to go to war. Apparently his father went abroad for a different reason that Ariel will find out towards the second part of the movie. Simple plot, great ending.

Performances are very good with an Oscar for Adriana Aizemberg who plays the role of the mother. I would like to thank Burman for solving my prejudice. A well received award in Berlin. I give this movie a 9 out of 10. Andrés.

I thought this movie was a delightful surprise. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I was charmed and moved by the story of this young man searching for his identity when everyone and everything around him seems to dictate who he should be and how he should behave. It is funny and touching in the way real life is -- and all the characters of the movie are so real. I felt like watching a Woody Allen movie -- without the bourgeois New-Yorkers' concerns but with more humanity. Maybe the movie should have been less fearful of its characters' inner feelings -- sometimes the director chooses to just play for laughs when the storyline should go deeper within the emotions and contradictions of its characters. But all in all, it is a beautifully crafted piece of entertainment. Plus, it feels so good to watch a movie from a country that gives us so few occasions to travel in its cities via celluloid.

"Abrazo partido" is a very subtle, true to life story about the middle classes in Buenos Aires after the economic crisis 2001. Those that have been to Argentina will undoubtedly recognize some of the beautifully stereotyped protagonists: the melancholic youngster, the budding bric-a-brac entrepreneur, the disillusioned pensioners recalling Argentina's glory days, the disrespected immigrant labourer. These characters make this idiosyncratic country, and indeed this movie, so likeable. Even the people's underlying optimism and the love for their country, which -in the light of Argentina's demise- may surprise visitors, shines through. I highly recommend the movie 9/10.

This movie was very intricate, to the point that I was confused at times, especially in the beginning. There was very little use of music also, which made the majority of the movie feel empty in a way. I think that it perfectly paralleled Ariel's feelings toward his estranged father. He felt a lot of animosity toward his father because it seemed like he left Ariel and his mother without a valid reason. Since Ariel was the main character in this film, it caused the viewers to take his side, and sympathize with him. That is why I found myself feeling hatred toward his father as well, and when he appeared at the race, I felt that something terrible was going to happen since I viewed him as a bad guy. This opinion of him was formed too prematurely, and at the end when I discovered the truth about Ariel's father, I felt remorseful. It is definitely important to keep an open mind when you are watching the movie, especially for the first time.