Wind in Our Hair

Argentine writer Julio Cortázar (1914-1984) was, together with Jorge Luis Borges, one of the supreme masters of the short story (the jury is out on his novels). He lived mostly in France and his influence in American (North and South) and European literature has been enormous. Not only that: he inspired/scripted such key movies as Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up (1966) and Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend (1967) among others.

Some of Cortázar stories are in the realm of the fantastic. Others are minimalist masterpieces where fascinating tales are woven out of everyday happenings. One of these is Final del Juego = End of the Game (1956) which is the basis of this movie. Four sisters live in a comfortable house in a relatively well to do suburb of Buenos Aires. They are on holiday. To pass the time they invent a game: to pose in costume as a statue in view of passing suburban trains (who does the posing is decided by a game of rock/paper/scissors). Passengers ignore them until they attract the attention of of a young man. The tale spun out of this is subtle and understated.

Director Lynne Sachs has shifted the time frame from its original fifties to recent times; the background is a farmer's strike with Buenos Aires overrun by tractors and demonstrations. Argentine nostalgics will enjoy details such as the bowl of facturas, assorted pastries that are usually consumed with afternoon tea or traditional mate (we see the sisters drinking mate).

I liked this movie. It has been filmed with extreme close ups and jerky camera movements that sometimes suggest Dogme 95 although the feeling is that a of a home movie made among friends where everybody is having a good time. It succeeds in giving us the feeling of Cortázar's world.