L'homme d'à côté

Forgive me the flippant title but... The two young Argentine directors behind this movie have served up an interesting, stylish, oddly provocative film using what Argentina is rather good at... a keen interest in all things foreign. The film could well have been a British class-clash movie. It has all the controlled tension and violence of a British movie. BUT... it's more attractive, more quirky, and more cosmopolitan. It seems to tell us that however much mankind tries to adorn the ANIMAL within.... it is ALWAYS there, looming, and ready to pounce. Socialy the film is a slice of 'state.of-the-art' Argentina (a country which is in constant mutation, like a huge anaconda shedding its skin). But a New Yorker or a Londoner, o even a Parisian would undoubtedly feel very well represented by the subject matter and milieu. One protagonist is a '"succesful Modern man", an interior designer, living what looks like a perfect life, but , as the film progresses, reveals itself to be an angst-ridden nightmare. The OTHER is a psychotic freak.... or is he? The way our points of view are manipulated to shift, as the film unravels, is very amusing, and revealing. Are we ALL a bunch of brainwashed bigots? A good question, from Argentina. MUY BIEN, AMIGOS!

From the very beginning, the film starts with a split screen, the left side light and luminous, the sun hits directly a white, solid wall. The right side of the screen is the same wall, but viewed from the interior, very dark, no light whatsoever.

Someone is hitting the wall from the inside with a sledgehammer, trying to open a hole, blow by blow. The hole gets larger and larger. On the left, sunny side the wall starts to crack, soon it crumbles and the hole is opened.

Light starts lighting up the dark interior. And here starts the film, with the opening of an illegal window on a party wall. But not only that window is illegal, it opens facing its neighbor, the only house that Le Corbusier built in all Southamerica, in La Plata, capital of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. (This house can be seen in Wikipedia and we see tourists coming from different parts of the world to see it, to photograph it and even to ask permission from its owner to visit the interior!!).

The premise couldn't be simpler and its the only premise of the whole movie, but... what a movie! I don't remember seeing another movie with that particular stylishness in its look.

Every frame seems to have been designed by a designer of cool contemporary objects. The Le Corbusier house is perfection itself, and when we consider that it was built 80 years ago, its hard to believe it and even harder not to show deep respect for that genius of an architect.

The house seems built this morning and with the latest tendency in architecture. Two are the main characters, the refined architect and the coarse neighbor --perfect casting-- a neighbor guilty of breaking the law with his need to open a window because he "needs a bit of sunlight" in his dark interior.

I was mesmerized throughout the whole film. Excellent in the way it portraits social relationships among different classes and the inherent criticism of it. The ending is pure black humor on the surface, but a hard blow on our moral standards when considering on which side is our judgment in front of such behavior.

This film will certainly make you think. Do not miss the final credits because there is a touch of black humor during its run.

The film attempts to tackle a relevant theme but ultimately fails in its execution. The only part that truly stands out is the ending, which was fair, but it doesn't justify the time I wasted. Regarding the theme itself, it's frustrating to see how laws exist only on paper and are merely for show, which explains the perpetual stagnation of Latin American countries. While the characters and plot are believable, the repetitive cinematography and excessively long scenes make the film a tedious experience. Moreover, despite being marketed as a thriller, it's more of a drama with touches of comedy, one of the genres I detest the most.

I saw this movie about 10 years ago and Liked It very Much.

I rewatched It today and like It even more. It doesn't get older, it is truly alive., deserves more prestige.

It is an excellent hilarious drama turning around on a simple conflict (an ilegal window), in appearance! Because this is a story about the way the people defends their beliefs, their status, their contradictions (Leonardo hates and in the same time, admires Victor), their desires (Víctor Not only wants light from the outside, he loves to be aceptted as he is, in this other sophisticated world), the real value of things, the sensation of emptiness, the absurd success, and the power abuse.

Some people say scenes are slow, but in this film happens too many things and you never got quiet, you are Always with a 'what the f..k'? Question in your mind.

All the cast is great, but the Rafael Spregelburd performance is absolutely amazing, particulary the story he relates at dinner with some friends. Few times I've seen an actor with such a credible character. The scripy helps him: Duprat is a Genius writer, the dialogs are Always fluid, reliables, they Talk as real people, when most of the directors and writers fall in laziness checking the dialogues of the films; these NEVER happens here, all detalls are controllled.

Thank you Mariano and Gaston for this movie.

You made me happy -again- with this smart film.

Very original, ironic and thought-provoking movie. The film direction is amazing. The setting is the house built by Le Corbusier in La Plata.