Las Enfermeras de Evita (Marcelo Goyeneche)
The film ‘Las Enfermeras de Evita’ by director Marcelo Goyeneche follows in the footsteps of Leonardo Favio’s ‘Sinfonía de un sentimiento’, sweeping viewers into the magical populist realism of Peronism. This documentary recounts the rise and fall of the free nursing school established by the Eva Perón Foundation during Perón’s first presidency through the voices of four of the school’s graduates. Goyeneche cleverly combines a plethora of film archive material from the period with black-and-white film clips that provide a fictionalised visual to the story of how these women came to nursing: María Luisa saw an ad in the paper, Lucy did a first aid course at the company where she was working, María Eugenia was moved by a sick young girl she saw at a local hospital, and Dolores was encouraged by her sister. In portraying how these women’s lives were changed by their career, the film hints at a much-neglected topic in relation to Peronism: the empowerment of women at the personal, professional and political levels.
Unfortunately, instead of dedicating more time to this fascinating aspect of the story, Goyeneche opts to add an off-kilter Hollywood musical element to his film, splicing in scenes of four young women dressed in crisp nursing uniform from the period doing musical numbers about Peronism. Now, we all know that Peronism had plenty of its own kitschy songs back in the day (La Marcha Peronista and others—like the march of the nurses that the four elderly women struggle to remember on camera), so was it really necessary to come up with modern-day songs that rehash Peronism? Goyeneche appears determined to let viewers know how decidedly pro-Peronist the film is through these musical scenes; he would have done better to let the story speak for itself.
Still, seeing the film is a worthwhile endeavour, especially since it is only showing at that nationalist bastion, Cine Gaumont, where a film can be seen for a very reasonable $8. On a Saturday night, the audience booed and hissed when former dictator Aramburu appeared on screen and cheered on anyone onscreen making pro-Peronist commentary; it was like a nationalist criollo version of the Rocky Horror.
For more information on where to catch Las Enfermeras de Evita, visit their facebook page.
El 5 de Talleres (Adrián Biniez)
This film tells the story of Patón Bonassiolle, the captain of a minor league football team–not Talleres de Córdoba, but Talleres of the province of Buenos Aires—when he comes to the realisation at age 35 that it’s time to give up on soccer. The film stars Esteban Lamothe, the up-and-coming actor who starred in Santiago Mitre’s brilliant film ‘El Estudiante’, and his real-life partner Julieta Zylberberg (one of the stars of the Oscar-nominated ‘Relatos Salvajes’). With some great footage of all of the action surrounding the game, ‘El 5 de Talleres’ sets out to be a novel twist on the usual story of the rising football star (or “crack”) that dates back to ‘Pelota de Trapo’, a classic from the golden age of Argentine film.
However, when it moves off the field, the film turns somewhat lacklustre. Patón’s character is trapped within an infantile version of manhood associated with football—an inability to control his temper, express his emotions, or think of anyone but himself. In addition to plenty of preening and fist pounding, Patón is plagued by regular prank calls from the anonymous fan of another team. The caller taunts our number five as Patón swears, insults and challenges the caller to a face-to-face encounter. The player’s flair-ups definitely leave the viewer wondering what a nice girl like Ale (Zylberberg) is doing with him. Of course, the looming question of the film is what Patón will do with himself once the season has ended. I’ll toss in a mini-spoiler: the answer has something to do with salami, which I guess is the director’s tongue-in-cheek way of suggesting that Patón’s manliness will remain strongly intact after he has hung up his cleats.
To find out where to watch El 5 de Talleres, visit their facebook page.
El Gurí (Sergio Mazza)
Set in a drab little town in the province of Entre Ríos, ‘El Gurí’ is the story of ten-year-old Gonzalo and his baby sister. Their mother has left on a journey from which she may never return, leaving them alone with their great-grandmother. As the film plods forward, we eventually learn that the mother is gravely ill and has chosen to die alone, leaving the fate of her children in the hands of a former lover who may or may not be their father. The one lesson that the film seems intent on sharing is that its characters, stuck in this middle of nowhere either by fate or by chance (like Lorena, played by Sofia Gala Castiglione, who runs over a dog and is stranded in town until her car can be fixed), can only depend on one another: the state is notoriously absent from everything that occurs, especially in relation to the two children and who will eventually take responsibility for them.
According to director Sergio Mazza, the making of ‘El Gurí’ involved less visual exploration than his earlier films ‘Graba’, ‘Gallero’, and ‘El amarillo’, and more personal reflection on his own childhood in the care of a grandmother after his own father passed away. Unfortunately, the film falls short of transmitting this emotional charge to the spectator.
To find out where El Gurí is showing, visit their facebook page.
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