El cielito

A young man is seen riding a train through the Argentine's interior. It's clear he has no money to pay for the fare, as we watch him taking his switch blade out when the conductor comes near him. But no, this young man is no criminal; the next thing we see him at the rear door jumping out.

Fate seems to play a big part in Maria Victoria Menis' surprising film, "El Cielito", shown recently on the Sundance channel. The director, who collaborated on the screen play with Alejandro Fernandez Murray, takes us along to follow Felix, the young man in the train, as he arrives at a remote town in Argentina.

Felix is a taciturn man who seldom speaks. Roberto, a man with a farm in the vicinity, discovers him at the train station, and offers him a job in his small farm. It's obvious Roberto hates working the land, leaving the hard work to his wife, Mercedes, a woman who appears to be of Indian blood, contrasting with Roberto, who we learn is the son of the European owners of the land, perhaps Italians. For that matter, Felix, like Mercedes, seems to come from an Indian background.

What Felix finds in that strange household is an abused wife, Mercedes, who is the mother of a toddler, Chango, an amazingly sweet boy. One day Chango is passed to Felix, as Mercedes attends to a chore, and the boy is in the way. Thus begins an uncanny relationship between Felix and Chango. Both the young man and the boy become almost an inseparable duo. Felix needs to love someone, and Chango takes to him, sensing perhaps the tension between his parents.

"El Cielito" is a film that shows a promising new voice in the cinema. Ms. Menis' film concentrates in Felix, who is a kind young man in spite of our early suspicion that he was bad. His love for the boy will make him take charge of a situation created by the drunken Roberto and his long suffering wife, Mercedes. It is his love for Chango that will prove to be his undoing as he and the boy come to Buenos Aires in search of a better life, but everything turns out wrong.

Ms. Menis got excellent performances of her cast. Leonardo Ramirez, who plays Felix, is an intense and natural actor who gives a convincing portrayal of a man who loves Chango. Dario Levy is Roberto, a man whose love for a drink makes him a brute. Monica Lairana is also convincing as the abused Mercedes. Little Rodrigo Silva, who is seen as Chango is a boy that steals our heart because of his sweet disposition and the way he loves Felix.

The director ends her film with an dramatic twist which we, as viewers, are not prepared to accept, but nothing in life is easy, as proved in "El Cielito".

I can't remember the last time I saw a film where I thought about it so much after. How a father can neglect a child, how a mother can abandon a child and how a stranger who had the luxury of neither could care so much for a child. Having a first child I suppose around the same age as the baby in the film myself this has biased me a little but even so only a person with a heart of stone could fail not to shed a tear at some point in the movie. Beautifully shot, well acted and wonderfully atmospheric. I felt that the way it was filmed reminded me of a dream, with the windy sunny days and hazy sunhine, which only added to the atmosphere. Recommended.

This movie is beautiful; a real tear jerker. An eye opener as to how most of the world struggles with daily life, and the power of love between a child and his guardian. This movie will make you appreciate all that you have and take for granted. It speaks volumes about life without saying much to do it.

Amazing is the beauty of Latin America. Sad is the poverty so prevalent. If you have family or friends who have never traveled south of the United States, if you have family or friends that are caught up with what they have or don't have in this material world, show them this movie and bring them back to reality. I recommend this move for everyone. It's a lesson in unconditional love.

Donn- San Diego

I have seen this film in San Sebastian Film Festival where he got 4 awards. I Knows it has been selected in several festivals where he got others awards. Maria Victoria Menis had made a very nice and sensitive work to direct this film on a difficult subject: todays childhood in Argentina, a country in a terrible social and economic crisis. The baby (Chango) who plays the main part is incredible and the other cast, acting with a great simplicity and few word, are what we want to be part of this story about pursuit of life and love "El Cielito". A different cinema who offers us a new breath in Nowadays Cinema monolithic style and subject. A film to see...

The ongoing menace of political and economic turbulence in Argentina, although it of course affects daily life for every Argentinian citizen, does not play a noticeable role in this film, which focuses upon the loneliness of the main characters and the seclusion of the setting.

The isolated, dust-blown house is where much of the action takes place. It is made to look archetypal: such a tragic humanistic scenario as we see unfold could believably happen in any part of the world. (The only mention of a place-name is when Felix mutters his hometown, Paranà.)

Powerful visual elements are contrasted with careful use of sound, to superb effect. For example, scant dialogue forces the viewer to observe the characters' behaviour especially attentively: the less the characters say, the more closely we are forced to read into body language, gestures, and facial expressions. This aspect of El Cielito is reminiscent of Iranian and Afghan cinema. I also think that the film could be very well adapted to the stage.

Yet more incisive use of sight and sound comes in the evocative still shots of buildings and landscapes (both from afar and close up), complemented by minimal use of music and sound effects. It gives the film a pared-down, uncluttered feel, this further strengthened by the humanistic linear plot - and its woeful, sobering end.

Boredom will no doubt be inspired in some viewers; hopefully awe and emotion in others.