MOVIE REVIEWS |
INTERVIEWS |
YOUTUBE |
NEWS
|
EDITORIALS | EVENTS |
AUDIO |
ESSAYS |
ARCHIVES |
CONTACT
|
PHOTOS
|
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
MOVIE REVIEW
Puzzle (Rompecabezas)
Finding The Pieces To Fit Family,
Friendship, Food And Middle-Age Together
María Onetto (center) as María del Carmen in
"Puzzle" (Rompecabezas), directed by Natalia Smirnoff.
IFC Films
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Beautiful, rich and bursting with sensuality and enchantment, Natalia Smirnoff's
"Puzzle", a drama from Argentina, is a vivid, intimate adventure of middle-age
and discovery via jigsaw puzzle-solving, a hobby that becomes much more to an
Argentina housewife (played by María Onetto) who has just turned 50. Ms.
Onetto, so memorable in Lucretia Martel's "The Headless Woman", gives a quiet,
wonderfully nuanced performance as María del Carmen, a mother, wife and baker
who cooks up delicious, mouthwatering foods for her husband and two sons, who
are loving and appreciative but take her for granted.
At her 50th birthday party María makes a wish. Later she drops a plate and
looks for its pieces. This symbolic breaking of domesticity propels her to
take up puzzle-solving as a pastime, bolstered by a birthday gift of a jigsaw
puzzle set. She studies. She buys more puzzles, and is great at
solving them. María takes days out of a week to practice for a
puzzle-solving tournament with puzzle maestro Roberto (Arturo Goetz).
Meanwhile, María's interest in puzzles is scorned and upbraided by her spouse
Juan (Gabriel Goity).
"Puzzle" is a showcase of identity and belonging and asks us where María fits in
life and her numerous occupations. Parts of Ms. Onetto's body are glimpsed
as if puzzle pieces of their own: her neck, feet, legs, ankles, knees, face,
eyes, hands and fingers. These shots are different sides of María, puzzle
pieces of her multifaceted life as a woman, wife, mother, baker, lover and
friend. The shot-making in "Puzzle" is a distinct recipe in its own right,
in direct contrast to Ms. Martel's drama, where Ms. Onetto's character's head
was constantly truncated and whose body was often in silhouette or shadow.
Ms. Smirnoff's film is about ingredients, the journey to completion and the
spices that form feminine existence and its often inherent conflict or tension
with a male-dominated society. In a sexist, chauvinistic world María is
expected to cook, clean and play second fiddle to the desires of her sons, one
of whom wants to go to India. "Puzzle" isn't a political drama but the
politics of sex, sexism and gender roles exist. There are allusions to
Nefertiti, the ancient Egyptian ruler queen who made religious reforms that were
not well received by men. The film, gentle and aspirational, forges a link
between María and Nefertiti, as much isolated figures as silent warriors.
Though often claustrophobic with its array of tight shots and aggressive
physicality, "Puzzle", aka its original title "Rompecabezas", takes time to
smell the roses and aromas of life, transition and beauty and witnesses the
awakening of a middle-aged woman whose potential is greater than the present
existence she enjoys. María wants and yearns for more, and makes reforms
in quiet, affirmative ways. She wants to take her rightful place in the
world as a full-blooded person, and measures herself up to Nefertiti.
Puzzles round out and insert her into the center of her own life, and not solely
in the lives of the men she cooks or practices for. "Puzzle" is a sweet
daydream, one of the year's best and most heartfelt enjoyments.
Filled with joy, warmth and a tinge of tragedy and melancholy, "Puzzle" is an
exciting archaeological story of a woman tapping into a broader identity to
unearth greatness as a builder of family, foundation and love. The jigsaw
puzzle is a metaphor for the true picture of who María is or could be, one that
may never fully materialize or which she may be forced to relinquish. Ms.
Smirnoff directs and adoringly frames Ms. Onetto in the center of a flavorful,
pungent and organic exploration and achieves a sexy, passionate and memorable
film that is a feast for the senses -- easily the year's most sensual. The
final image is a complete picture of a woman who breathes freely.
(Opens in San Francisco on Friday at the S.F. Film Society New People Cinema.)
With: Henny Trayles, Felipe Villanueva, Julian Doregger, Nora Zinsky, Marcela
Guerty, Mirta Wons, Mercedes Fraile, Denise Groesman, Jimena Ruiz Echazu.
"Puzzle" (Rompecabezas) is not rated by the Motion Picture Association Of America.
The film contains sensuality. The film is in the Spanish language with
English subtitles. The film's duration is one hour and 29 minutes.
COPYRIGHT 2011. POPCORNREEL.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
FOLLOW
MOVIE REVIEWS |
INTERVIEWS |
YOUTUBE |
NEWS
|
EDITORIALS | EVENTS |
AUDIO |
ESSAYS |
ARCHIVES |
CONTACT
|
PHOTOS
|
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME