Medianeras

In an effort to learn Spanish, I've been watching a lot of Spanish- language movies, and not worrying too much about the quality. It was nice, finally, to watch one that is quite well done. This little Argentinean, romantic comedy is philosophical, charming, and visually beautiful.

Martin (Javier Drolas), an agoraphobic website designer and Mariana (Pilar Lopez de Ayala), an underemployed architect, live on the same street in Buenos Aires. Both are depressed and lonely. As both go through a series of futile dates, we come to see that they would be perfect for each other, but of course, the odds of the two of them meeting in such a huge city are not good. The city has ways of putting up barriers between people, and the theme of the film is that successfully making a life in such a place requires physically and mentally breaking through those barriers.

Meanwhile, the camera lingers on the skyline and the individual buildings of Buenos Aires, gray and inhuman. The variety of buildings is endless, and many have blank, windowless sidewalls, called medianeras. These blank spaces are used for billboards, an ugly alternative to what could have been light-bringing windows, and many apartment- dwellers rebel by chipping through the concrete to place unauthorized windows.

Despite the urban philosophizing and beautiful cinematography, "Medianeras" does not demand to be taken too seriously. It's a fun, optimistic, romantic comedy which declares that, as one of the songs in the film puts it, "true love will find you in the end." Amen to that.

Medianeras, directed and written by Gustavo Taretto, is an Argentine romantic dramedy that explores loneliness, disconnection, and urban life in Buenos Aires. Through the parallel stories of Martín (Javier Drolas) and Mariana (Pilar López de Ayala), the film reflects on the search for love and human connection in an environment that, paradoxically, seems designed to make them harder to find.

One of the film's central themes is loneliness in the metropolis, where high population density contrasts with emotional disconnection. Martín and Mariana live in nearby buildings but have never met, illustrating how architecture, technology, and the fast-paced nature of the city contribute to isolation. The dependence on technology for communication is a recurring theme: Martín is immersed in a virtual world, highlighting how modern technology can serve as both a bridge and a barrier in personal relationships.

The film makes poetic use of Buenos Aires' architecture, not just as a setting but as another character. The city's symmetry and verticality are reflected in the visual style, with shots that play with the asymmetry of the protagonists' lives. Images of windows, crowded streets, and structures that separate rather than unite symbolize the physical and emotional barriers that prevent human connection. Additionally, the soft color palette and carefully composed cinematography enhance the film's melancholic yet beautiful aesthetic.

Taretto also raises important questions about how modern architecture and technology impact our lives and relationships. The use of voiceover to comment on these themes is well-executed, offering an intimate and poetic reflection that complements the visual storytelling.

Ultimately, Medianeras is a film that sensitively and humorously captures contemporary loneliness, exploring the longing for connection in an increasingly fragmented world.

Its maybe strange to title the comment on this way, but this beautiful movie made me exactly that impression. Watching this movie from second grade European country was enlightening thing to do. It show me that on a different continent on different hemisphere on planet Earth, but in a same time, people live with a very same problems as I and my countryman do. Everyone become more and more isolated, people get estranged, while we more and more zip ourselves in our concrete beehives. And a exit from that darkness is simple. We need more light. Not of those artificial but those natural, God given, Sun light. There was a lot symbolic in act of braking a hole in a wall in one movie segment. Best recommendations.

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.

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.