Lugares comunes

After seeing Martin (Hache), I was looking forward to seeing another film by this director. I was not disappointed. This film is every bit as good as Martin, and that is saying a lot. What a wonderful, touching, wise, and inspiring film! There are moments of such emotional intensity, I was often overwhelmed. Particularly in the scene where he meets Tutti, the writing and performances are so beautiful I found myself sobbing. And such marvelous, loving humor often accents the serious topics that the film touches on. And unexpected moments that make you smile after you gasp. It is such a shame that these films are not available in the U.S. I would so much like to see this one again and share it with friends.

Fernando (Federico Luppi), a Professor of Literature in his sixties in Buenos Aires and his wife Lili (Mercedes Sampietro), a social worker are respected in the community and loving partners. Their world is turned upside down however when Fernando receives notice that he is being asked to retire early. The enforced retirement, a result of the economic crisis in Argentina, comes as a complete shock and he and his wife are forced to make drastic decisions that threaten the foundations of their comfortable life. Based on the novel "The Renaissance" by Lorenzo F. Aristariain, Common Ground, the new film by Argentine director Adolfo Aristarain (A Place in the World, Martin), is a story about love, getting older, and discovering what is important in life. It is also an acid social comment on the current state of life in Argentina where thousands of Argentinans have had to face a similar end to their secure middle class existence.

Fernando and Lili have a son Pedro (Pablo Rago) who lives comfortably in Spain with his wife and two children. A leftist man of strong convictions, Fernando tells his son about his meager pension left to him by the university but refuses his assistance. Instead he berates him for abandoning his country and selling out to make money. When the couple returns to Argentina, they are forced to sell their apartment in the city, purchase a farm and bravely set out on a new style of living. Their adjustment to rural life has its moments of sadness but their striving to live out their lives with dignity and purpose is profoundly human. Though Common Ground does not reach the heights of Aristarain's A Place in the World, it is an honest film and one that celebrates the strength of a loving family.

Adolfo Aristrain is one of the best Argentine directors working today. As proved by his previous films, this director goes deep into the souls of the characters he paints for us on the screen canvas. Working on Lorenzo F. Aristrain's novel, in which he is credited with co-writing the screen adaptation together with Kathy Saavedra, the director achieves a tremendously appealing film that will resonate with audiences of all ages.

The story presents us with a university professor who suddenly loses his job at the beginning of the film. He is seen telling his students to be honest in whatever they decide to do in life. In a way, he is asking, perhaps, to emulate him, since he has given all the students his best and more productive years. Finding himself unemployed, and with no assets to speak of, makes him think about what to do with the new reality.

In another society, maybe, Professor Robles would have gone looking for another job, but in Argentina, without any other skills to account for himself, he is a casualty. Robles finds it difficult to confess to his wife his new status. Lili, a social worker, loves him and offers to sell her family's apartment, where the couple lives, as a way to get things under control. A visit to their son in Spain doesn't change anything for Fernando.

When the kind lawyer Carlos hears about a small farm for sale, he offers advice to Fernando that it might be the proper thing to do, as a way to reduce expenses and get out of expensive Buenos Aires into a more modest environment. In this country place, Fernando and Lili find happiness, but unfortunately, it's short lived because fate intervenes.

In Federico Luppi, director Aristrain has found the perfect actor to play Fernando Robles. Mr. Luppi captures the essence of this troubled soul in ways that amaze us. This actor is any director's dream! Having seen Mr. Luppi on stage, as well as in his many screen appearances, one can say he is an extraordinary actor.

Mercedes Sampietro, as Lili, compliments Mr. Luppi. Ms. Sampietro is excellent in her role and adds a layer to the texture of the film because obviously, she can relate to this woman. Arturo Puig as Carlos, the lawyer, and Valentina Bassi, as the younger Natacha, are perfect in their roles.

Ultimately, this is Mr. Aristrain's triumph for getting all these elements to work in such fine fashion. "Common Places" will touch the heart of the viewer.

How to start again when all the hopes are over? How to keep loving the same woman during all your life? How to change without loosing your ideals? How to get old and feel as the first day of your youth?

Basic questions, with basic answers that not everybody is willing to hear. Common places where most of us try not to go.

This film is poetry into a movie. One of the best scripts contents of the Latin American cinema. Aristarain shows one more time to be one of the best ever Argentinean directors.

Take your time to enjoy it.

In Buenos Aires, a few days before traveling to Spain with his beloved wife Liliana Rovira (Mercedes Sampietro) to visit their son Pedro (Carlos Santamaria), the leftist Literature Professor Fernando Robles (Federico Luppi) is compulsory retired in the University, and he concludes that it is impossible to live with his pension. The crisis in Argentina does not allow Fernando to get a new job, and his wife decides to sell her family's apartment and move to a small farm in Cordoba to reduce their expenses. Once in the country, while adapting to the new lifestyle, a tragedy happens.

"Lugares Comunes" is a very beautiful, critical, human, sensitive and real film about love, life, adaptation and convictions in the third age. The story takes place in Argentina, but could be in Brazil or any South American country, where in general people can not keep their status with their retirement pension, being forced to continue working to survive, or to fall from middle-class to very poor class. This touching narrative has a perfect pace and flows naturally, supported by the impressive performances of Federico Luppi and Mercedes Sampietro. All the characters are credible and beautiful (with the exception of the head of the university), and this movie is a gem. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Lugares Comuns"("Common Places")