Todo Cine Prods./Sophie Dulac Prods.
PALM SPRINGS -- At the center of "El Cielito" (Little Sky), the extraordinary new feature from Argentine writer-director Maria Victoria Menis, is an unlikely pair of soulmates: an orphaned teen boy and a 10-month-old baby (first-time actors both). The film achieves exceptional eloquence through spare dialogue and fluent imagery, and with its full-blooded portraits earns the devastating impact of its final scene. The film bowed stateside as part of the Palm Springs International Film Festival's new Cine Latino section.
The drama, inspired by a news item, revolves around Felix (Leonardo Ramirez), who's at loose ends but too full of youthful resilience to feel desperate. He arrives by train at Rio Tala looking for work and meets Roberto (Dario Levy), a laid-off factory employee with an easy charm. Roberto takes a paternal interest in Felix, offering him a job on the small farm he's inherited. Roberto's wife, Mercedes (Monica Lairana), oversees the preparation of salsas and jams they sell at a roadside stand.
The remote plot of land and rustic house provide a kind of rural idyll, and the natural soundscape -- wind rustling through leaves, birds singing -- heightens the powerful sense of place. Close-mouthed Felix quickly becomes an essential part of the household. He observes the adults with a certain wariness, but his connection with Baby Boy Chango (Rodrigo Silva) is immediate and profound; they respond to each other with sheer joy. When the tranquil refuge dissolves in the marriage's dark undercurrents -- Mercedes withdrawing into her sorrow and Roberto into his bottle -- Felix becomes Chango's surrogate parent, eagerly embracing the sense of purpose.
The final sections of the film, which find the two sweet-natured country boys on the rough streets of Buenos Aires, build with a terrible sense of hope and dread. Amid the cacophony of urban bustle (again, natural sound speaks volumes), the only friends Felix finds are those who have learned to survive at any cost.
Menis and co-scripter Alejandro Fernandez Murriay never force their observations about poverty, disenfranchisement and unconditional love, instead relying on the pitch-perfect performances and director of photography Marcelo Iaccarino's expressive imagery to convey the themes with immense power.
PALM SPRINGS -- At the center of "El Cielito" (Little Sky), the extraordinary new feature from Argentine writer-director Maria Victoria Menis, is an unlikely pair of soulmates: an orphaned teen boy and a 10-month-old baby (first-time actors both). The film achieves exceptional eloquence through spare dialogue and fluent imagery, and with its full-blooded portraits earns the devastating impact of its final scene. The film bowed stateside as part of the Palm Springs International Film Festival's new Cine Latino section.
The drama, inspired by a news item, revolves around Felix (Leonardo Ramirez), who's at loose ends but too full of youthful resilience to feel desperate. He arrives by train at Rio Tala looking for work and meets Roberto (Dario Levy), a laid-off factory employee with an easy charm. Roberto takes a paternal interest in Felix, offering him a job on the small farm he's inherited. Roberto's wife, Mercedes (Monica Lairana), oversees the preparation of salsas and jams they sell at a roadside stand.
The remote plot of land and rustic house provide a kind of rural idyll, and the natural soundscape -- wind rustling through leaves, birds singing -- heightens the powerful sense of place. Close-mouthed Felix quickly becomes an essential part of the household. He observes the adults with a certain wariness, but his connection with Baby Boy Chango (Rodrigo Silva) is immediate and profound; they respond to each other with sheer joy. When the tranquil refuge dissolves in the marriage's dark undercurrents -- Mercedes withdrawing into her sorrow and Roberto into his bottle -- Felix becomes Chango's surrogate parent, eagerly embracing the sense of purpose.
The final sections of the film, which find the two sweet-natured country boys on the rough streets of Buenos Aires, build with a terrible sense of hope and dread. Amid the cacophony of urban bustle (again, natural sound speaks volumes), the only friends Felix finds are those who have learned to survive at any cost.
Menis and co-scripter Alejandro Fernandez Murriay never force their observations about poverty, disenfranchisement and unconditional love, instead relying on the pitch-perfect performances and director of photography Marcelo Iaccarino's expressive imagery to convey the themes with immense power.
- 1/11/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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