CULTURE-ARGENTINA: Crisis Not an Obstacle on Road to Oscars

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 12 2002 (IPS) - An Argentine film “El hijo de la novia” (Son of the Bride), has been nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film, giving the country a reason to celebrate in spite of the profound social and economic crisis it is suffering.

The film, directed by Juan José Campanella, will compete for the award from the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with productions from France (“Amelie”), Norway (“Elling”), India (“Lagaan”) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (“No Man’s Land”).

The news Tuesday brought joy not only to those involved in the production of “El hijo de la novia”, but also to the general public in Argentina, hit hard by an economic crisis that is manifest in a deep recession and unemployment reaching 22 percent.

The Argentine film industry had begun to gather momentum in the late 1990s, but the nation’s economic troubles paralysed dozens of projects that were slated to hit the big screen in 2001. They were unable to obtain loans to complete production.

“It is an extremely difficult category and some very good films were left out,” said Campanella, who watched the reading of the Oscar nominations on a cable TV channel in Buenos Aires, accompanied by producers, screenwriters and actors, who jumped with elation when they heard the name of their film read in English.

“Son of the Bride” stars Ricardo Darín, an actor with a long television career who has worked in Argentina’s recent box-office hits alongside Norma Aleandro and Héctor Alterio.

Aleandro and Alterio established their fame as protagonists of the only Argentine film to win an Oscar for best foreign film, “La historia oficial” (The Official Story), in 1986. The production, directed by Luis Puenzo, tells the story of a middle-class couple who adopted a little girl whose parents were “disappeared” by the Argentina’s last dictatorship.

But Argentine films have been in the running for the Academy Awards on several occasions, including “La tregua” (1974), “Camila” (1984) and “Tango argentino” (1999).

The creators of “El hijo de la novia” are not very optimistic about their chances of taking home the golden statuette, however, because of the fierce competition posed by the French film Amelie, which already appears to be the front-runner.

The Argentine film chosen Tuesday as a candidate for the Oscar, and whose fate will be known Mar 24, was a box-office success at home, but did not get good reviews from local critics, who tend to favour the so-called “new Argentine cinema” movement.

This movement came about in recent years, shaped by young, innovative filmmakers who seem unconcerned by box-office revenues, tend toward low budgets, experiment with the language of cinema, and tap actors who are not so famous – achieving some surprisingly polished results.

Such is the case of “La ciénaga” (The Marsh), “Silvia Prieto”, “Tocá para mí” (Play for Me), “Sólo por hoy” (Just for Today) and “El asadito”, among others, films that win applause from critics and make an impact at international film festivals, but whose public acclaim remains limited.

“Son of the Bride” had received three points out of a maximum of 10 from the film magazine ‘El Amante’, which considers it an announcement of the resurrection of Argentina’s mainstream film industry, which for several decades revolved around the now- deceased actor Luis Sandrini.

Sandrini utilised laughter and emotion in a balance that appealed to audiences of all ages, a style that maintained the prosperity of the film industry for several years and paved the way for exporting the works to other Spanish-speaking countries.

“Uncontrollably demagogical, aesthetically antiquated and ideologically reactionary, ‘Son of the Bride’ is a pre- announcement of the return to popular films, an appendage of television, which is contrary to the more reflective Argentine cinema that will never be nominated for an Oscar,” according to El Amante.

The journal highlighted Campanella’s previous work – “El mismo amor, la misma lluvia” (Same Love, Same Rain) -, which had ventured toward the new cinema movement, but added that with his latest production the director, in partnership with a television company, had taken a shortcut to quick success.

“El mismo amor, la misma lluvia” was chosen in 1999 by the Association of Argentine Cinema Critics as a pre-candidate for the 2000 Oscars, but that did not seem to pull much weight with the body in charge of making the final local nominations.

The rest of the judges, all linked to the film industry, opted for “Felicidades” (Congratulations), directed by Lucho Bender, a film that critics said better reflected what they called “Argentine-ness”. This time, “Son of the Bride” had that characteristic.

The jury considered it the most representative of Argentina because it portrays the ups and downs of a middle-class family with humour and irony, and for many it was important that moviegoers could leave the theatre with a smile.

But according to El Amante, the jury opted for “the most innocuous, the least daring, the most obliging and easily digestible for a conformist and undemanding audience.”

The magazine’s critics concluded that the criteria to promote “Son of the Bride” for the Oscars “is like the globalisation of ethnic food, in which flavours become diluted, standardised, and disguised so that they will be accepted by all palates.”