January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
BIFF competition feature reviews
Hermanas, translated ‘sisters’, is a poignant drama from Argentina about two sisters separated by political turmoil.
For the last eight years Elena and Natalia lived separate lives in different countries, their relationship strained after a military dictatorship comes to power in their native Argentina in 1976.
Elena is a politically active student and a member of an Argentine leftist-military group.
She is nearly captured by the government and consequently forced to flee abroad.
Natalia is more concerned about starting a normal life and moves to the United States with her husband and son.
Eight years later Elena flies to Texas to visit Natalia and her family.
Elena is also still searching for answers about a boyfriend who was captured by the government shortly before she fled the country.
Natalia, on the other hand, would rather forget the past and move on.
The story unfolds through a series of flashbacks showing exactly what happened in 1975 and 1976.
The tense love between the sisters is obvious, but the embedded problems within the relationship make the characters extremely believable and likeable. The pacing works well.
The film divulges only bits of information at a time, which means you’re happy to continue watching in order to figure out what’s going on in 1984 and what happened in 1976. (And who can deny the appeal of the 80s-era costumes?)
The climax and conclusion are slightly predictable but good nevertheless.
The West Wittering Affair: Bit slow but worth a look if you’re a fan of low budget Brit flicks
There’s a distinctly British feel to The West Wittering Affair — a romantic-sexcomedy of errors about four confused love-hungry Londoners for whom life can never be the same after one crazy weekend in the country.
Basically Kath — a girl desperate to get laid after a long barren spell who charts her success on a video diary, invites Jamie — an anally-retentive chef who likes to think of himself as a decent, faithful sort of guy, to a cottage in West Wittering for a weekend.
She also invites her two dating friends, the selfish actress Natasha and her sexually inadequate and manipulative psychiatrist boyfriend, Greg.
However, prior to the weekend, Greg invents an affair to test Natasha — who responds in rage and goes to the country by herself.
A drunken night ensues during which Jamie sleeps with each of the women and incurs their wrath.
Racked with feelings of guilt, when Jamie returns to London he decides to see a psychiatrist…and you’ve guessed it, it’s Greg.
The ensuing revelations as the four try and sort out the mess they’ve made slowly make events spiral out of control and it’s in the end only a pure hearted two-year-old who brings them to their senses. All four characters are acted to a T by the talented cast and there are plenty of scenes that hit a nerve.
It’s humouress in parts — particularly in some of the character assassinations the scriptwriter has gone in for — but it’s not really a ‘laugh out loud’ sort of film (more smirk-to-yourself) and I expect some people will find it a little slow moving. On the other hand, if you’re usually a fan of British independent films then this is worth a look.
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