Customer Rating: Summary: Wonderful! A celebration of being different! Comment: This is a delightful film by Argentine director Maria Luisa Bemberg (who directed her first film at age 56! - an inspiration to us all). The movie takes place in a small Argentine town by the name of San Jose de los Altares, some time in the 1930s. Like most small towns, it is a place filled with hypocrisy and gossip. When the movie opens, the camera catches the town priest without his pants (literally) in bed with his mistress, and we soon discover that the brothel is the place to go if you're looking for the mayor or other important town figures. Despite their peccadilloes, the town folk strive to keep up appearances. It is in this environment that Leonor attempts to "hide" the undeniable reality that her daughter is a dwarf. Leonor insists that it never be mentioned and attempts to compensate for Carlota's "defect" by giving her a superior education and upbringing. In order to repay her mother, Carlota does what she wants, including marrying the most sought after man in town (the now aging Marcello Mastrioanni - the legendary Italian actor best known for his roles in the films of Federico Fellini). However, the irony is that Carlota, unlike the others in San Andres de los Altares, is comfortable with who she "really" is, and is not interested in pretending to be someone she is not. In the end Carlota finally has to admit to herself that she would be happier in an environment where she can celebrate and show off her difference.
Although this movie is lighthearted, and very funny, it also has an important message for those of us who feel, and want to be, different. Definitely one of my favorite Spanish language films! Customer Rating: Summary: I do Comment: Dwarf romances are rare in the cinema. Even the 1938 Terror of Tiny Town was a midget musical western. Argentine director Maria Luisa Bemberg (Camila, Miss Mary) bases her tale on a short story by Julio Llinas. Marcello Mastroianni falls in love with and marries Charlotte, the piano-playing dwarf daughter of Luisina Brando, but the dwarf leaves him and runs away with a visiting circus. The title refers to Brando's refusal to highlight her daughter's condition. It is obvious but also never identified. Her revenge is to burn books - Tom Thumb, Snow White, and Gulliver's Travels. Bemberg's film is slow to start and lags after the wedding and before the circus arrives, but for the most part manages to sustain a mood of mythic wonder. The smashing costumes by Graciela Galan and the delicate photography, which employs a glowing haze white, contribute to the effect. Bemberg is not afraid to play on the weirdness of the concept and even gives Mastroianni a tiny pet monkey to complete the menage a trois. It's a relief when Charlotte's mother is brave enough to laugh at the sight of her daughter and Mastroianni walking down the aisle. What is disappointing is that when someone does an accurate and very funny impersonation of Charlotte, they get slapped down. As the androgynous Charlotte, Alejandra Podesta has the unfortunate bad luck of looking like the possessed Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Mastroianni manages to never look silly which is quite an accomplishment considering what he is called upon to do. Brando's performance is as masterly as her namesake. She displays a wonderful physicality in the opening scene when she destroys dwarf statues, and her resemblance to British comedienne Tracey Ullmann is both visual and in her sensibility. Her laugh, and her reaction to Marcello's request to marry Charlotte are pure Ullmann. Bemberg gives us a lyrical shot of Charlotte riding a white horse and uses this moment to reveal Mastroianni's lust. She cleverly films Charlotte's discovery of the circus at dawn with a subjective camera so that the lion and the elephant look straight at us. Those jumbo eyes speak volumes. Charlotte in circus clothes is pure Fellini and Bemberg also uses low humour with a running gag about the mumbling Mayor. At times her tone is wobbly and the tale becomes unnecessarily complicated but she ends it hauntingly and leaves the audience satisfied. Customer Rating: Summary: I don't want to talk about it Comment: This film is destined to become a classic. Amazing performances all around, great detail, and a wonderful theme--repression--perfectly executed. It bridges the gap between film and life. Deepens every time you see it. Not a false note in it. Not to be missed. Customer Rating: Summary: A Must see for Mastroianni Fans Comment: This is a gem of a movie. I highly recommend it. In addition the screenplay is fantastic. Customer Rating: Summary: A masterpiece Comment: I think Lenny Maltin should get a heart and a set of emotions...anyone who's ever felt themselves in any way "different" will understand this movie immediately and likely be moved. The only thing different about reviewers like Malten is that they view films on a dissecting table, rather than encounter the real emotions that make life strange, sometimes frightening and ultimately beautiful thru the art of film. The dedication at the beginning of the film said it all to me: "This film is dedicated to the people with the courage to be different to be themselves." It's a movie about courage and beauty and all the dreams we dare to dream. and sometimes summon the courage to live.
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