Lost Embrace (film)
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| Lost Embrace | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster |
|
| Directed by | Daniel Burman |
| Produced by | Executive Producer: Diego Dubcovsky Producers: José María Morales Amedeo Pagani Marc Sillam |
| Written by | Marcelo Birmajer Daniel Burman |
| Narrated by | Daniel Hendler |
| Starring | Daniel Hendler Sergio Boris Adriana Aizemberg |
| Music by | César Lerner |
| Cinematography | Ramiro Civita |
| Editing by | Alejandro Brodersohn |
| Distributed by | BD Cine |
| Release date(s) | Germany: February 9, 2004 Argentina: March 25, 2004. |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Argentina France Italy Spain |
| Language | Spanish Korean Lithuanian Yiddish |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lost Embrace (Spanish: El Abrazo Partido) is an Argentine, French, Italian, and Spanish, 2004 film, directed by Daniel Burman, and written by Burman and Marcelo Birmajer.[1]
The picture stars Daniel Hendler, Adriana Aizemberg, and Jorge D'Elía.
The film was Argentina's official choice for the 2004 Oscar Awards, Foreign Language film category.[2]
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[edit] Plot summary
The film depicts episodes in the life of a Jewish family in the Once neighborhood of Buenos Aires and the other shopkeepers in a low-rent commercial gallery.
The narrator, Ariel Makaroff (Daniel Hendler), is the son of Sonia Makaroff (Adriana Aizemberg) who was deserted by her husband (Jorge D'Elía) when he went to Israel in 1973 to fight in the Yom Kippur War. Yet, the father is in touch with Sonia via telephone weekly and supports Ariel and his brother Joseph (Sergio Boris). Sonia runs a lingerie shop in the gallery.
Ariel is a young man in a hurry without much of a sense of direction. He's having an affair with Rita (Silvina Bosco) an older woman, pines for his former girlfriend Estella (Melina Petriella), and fantasizes of emigrating to Poland, where his family came from during World War II.
He carps at his grandmother (Rosita Londner) for immigration documents that will support his claim to Polish citizenship as he wants to become "European." This forces his grandmother to remember her memories of Holocaust Poland.
At one point, the shop owners organize a race against another group of merchants. They hope to earn a cash purse and fix up the exterior of their gallery and install air conditioning.
Other characters include: a large Italian family whose noisy arguments drown out the radios in their radio repair shop; a quiet Korean couple who run a feng shui boutique; Mitelman (Diego Korol) who runs a travel agency, but which is really a front for currency smuggling; and a solitary stationer named Osvaldo (Isaac Fajm).
Right before the big race his father suddenly shows up in Buenos Aires. The father can finally enfold his son in a long-overdue embrace. And, Ariel finally gets to hear his father's story: why he left, and why he never came back.
The grandmother sings a klezmer song over the closing credits.
[edit] Background
Lost Embrace is part of a loose trilogy of films. The other two are: Esperando al Mesías (2000) and Derecho de Familia (2006). All were written and directed by Burman and star Daniel Hendler. They are largely autobiographical, dealing with the life of a young Jew in contemporary Buenos Aires.
[edit] Title
The name of the film in Spanish is an intentional pun: abrazo means "embrace" and does not make sense followed by partido "broken" or "gone", but the idiom a brazo partido, literally "with a broken arm", means "to fight forcefully, strenuosly". It could also be understood as "the halved hug," that is, an incompleted hug or made with just one arm.
[edit] Exhibition
The film was first featured at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 9, 2004. It opened in Argentina on March 25, 2004.
The film screened in many film festivals, including: the Helsinki International Film Festival, Finland; the Warsaw Film Festival, Poland; the Pusan International Film Festival, South Korea; the Chicago International Film Festival, USA; the Bangkok World Film Festival, Thailand; the São Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil; the London Film Festival, UK; and others.
[edit] Critical reception
The film was well received by film critics and at the various film festivals it was featured. Critic A.O. Scott, writing for the New York Times liked the direction of the film. He said, "Lost Embrace never feels strenuous or overdone. The tenderness of the family drama at its center, and the deep, hard-to-articulate feelings of a son for his enigmatic father and his heroically patient mother, emerge with a charming haphazardness. The sly artfulness is apparent only in retrospect. This is a small movie about a small world, but its modesty is part of what makes it durable and satisfying."[3]
Peter Keough, writing for the Boston Phoenix, also liked Burman's direction, though at times he said the film felt a bit derivative. He wrote, "Burman captures with an affection and an irony that match François Truffaut's, though his stylistic mannerisms can seem a little imitative."[4]
Writing for the Boston Globe, Wesley Morris, was impressed by the comedy. He said, "Lost Embrace has a novelist's human touch. Were it a book, it would go somewhere on the shelf with Jonathan Safran Foer and early Philip Roth. It also possesses traces of early Jean-Luc Godard and his wit with characters, as well as some of Wes Anderson's random silliness. But unlike in Godard and Anderson, an emotional undercurrent runs beneath this movie, and Burman makes that feel good without feeling strained."[5]
[edit] Cast and ratings
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Argentina: | Atp |
| Belgium: | KT |
| Brazil: | 14 |
| Canada (Maritime): | PG |
| Chile: | 14 |
| France: | U |
| Italy: | T |
| Netherlands: | AL |
| Poland: | 15 |
| Spain: | T |
| United Kingdom: | 15 |
| United States: | Not Rated |
- Daniel Hendler as Ariel Makaroff
- Adriana Aizemberg as Sonia Makaroff
- Jorge D'Elía as Elías Makaroff
- Sergio Boris as Joseph Makaroff
- Rosita Londner as Abuela de Ariel
- Diego Korol as Mitelman
- Silvina Bosco as Rita
- Isaac Fajm as Osvaldo
- Melina Petriella as Estela
- Atilio Pozzobon as Saligani Papá
- Mónica Cabrera as Saligani Mamá
- Franco Tirri as Saligani Hijo
- Luciana Dulizky as Saligani Hija
- Eloy Burman as Saligani Bebé
- Juan José Flores Quispe as Ramón
- Catalina Cho as Ho Kim
- Pablo Kim as Kim
- Wolfrans Hecht as Cónsul polaco
[edit] Awards
Wins
- Bangkok World Film Festival: Best Film; 2004.
- Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Berlin Bear; Best Actor, Daniel Hendler; Jury Grand Prix, Daniel Burman; 2004.
- Lleida Latin-American Film Festival: Best Director; Best Film; ICCI Screenplay Award, Marcelo Birmajer and Daniel Burman; 2004.
- Clarín Awards: Best Film; Best Film Screenplay, Daniel Burman and Marcelo Birmajer; Best Supporting Film Actress, Adriana Aizemberg; 2004.
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor; Best Supporting Actress, Adriana Aizemberg; 2005.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Lost Embrace at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ American Cinematheque. Argentina: New Cinema III, November 19, 2004.
- ^ Scott A.O. The New York Times, film review, "Resenting an Absent Father, Very Present in the Mind," January 28, 2005.
- ^ Keough, Peter. The Boston Phoenix, film review, April 1-7, 2005.
- ^ Morris, Wesley. The Boston Globe, film review, "Modesty is a virtue in Lost Embrace," April 1, 2005.
[edit] External links
- El Abrazo Partido at the cinenacional.com (Spanish).
