User Reviews

"Whisky" (the smile-inducing word Uruguayan photographers will use, equivalent to the American "cheeeeese") is probably one of the ten best South American movies in recent years, which is saying a lot, since South America (especially Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay) is producing some of the most interesting films in the world right now.

Jacobo Köller, a terribly lonely middled-aged man, owns a falling-apart sock factory in Montevideo (Uruguay), which now is reduced to barely 3 workers: 2 girls and Marta, Jacobo's supervisor/ secretary, a terribly lonely middle-aged unmarried woman. Both Jacobo's and Marta's lives are plagued by the most painful routine, mirroring the drab, moribund sewing machines at the factory and Jacobo's agonizing old car.

When Jacobo's elderly mother dies, his younger, successful brother Herman, who lives in Brazil, comes to Uruguay to attend the Matzeivah. Jacobo, who has a distant and resentful relationship with his brother, asks Marta if she will pretend to be his wife for a few days so he won't have to cope with his brother all by himself. Marta agrees and this experience will be life changing for her.

"Whisky" is a 3-character movie in which you have 2 opposites that won't move (the two brothers) and one in motion (Marta). We see how Jacobo (the older brother) has trapped himself in rigidity, lack of ambition and shortsightedness. We see how Herman (the younger brother) possesses this most coveted "secret", that is, the ability to enjoy life even in negative circumstances (don't be afraid, he's no Pollyanna). But the film is really about Marta, who slowly realizes there's more to life than be stuck to the same exact routine everyday waiting for decay and death, and that machines and humans function differently.

"Whisky" is also a film about Uruguay, represented here in Jacobo's character. This once prosperous country, a stalwart of democracy, nicknamed "the Switzerland of South America", is now a country in dire need of technological updating, of restoration of its architectural treasures, and of serious political planning and execution of its economic and social future, and is paying high stakes for decades of unrealistic labor legislation and the aftermath of a traumatic dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. To prepare the future, one must take care of one's past, but also be prepared to bury the past when necessary (like the brothers have to bury their mother). There are no easy solutions.

The film is never obvious or boring, has a slow but skillful pace perfectly in tune with the characters' rhythms, and has a very becoming change of sets when the 3 characters go to a decadent seaside resort, Piriápolis, which is decisive for Marta's transformation. The editing is precise and the music well employed. The acting is no less than superb, all three actors OWN their characters and modulate in the subtlest ways, thanks to masterful script and direction. Of course, those characters have to be played by middle-aged actors with no face-lifts or botox, so a Hollywood remake is out of the question!

The warmest bravo, though, must go to the directors' choice of art direction and locations: they are priceless! Every location in this movie (the factory, the resort hotel, the Jewish cemetery, the soccer stadium, etc), every set, every decadent prop, sewing machine, car, table, elevator, computer, clock, typewriter, lamp, glass, telephone, radio or TV set, everything is both an incredible memorabilia of a "temps perdu" and a symbol of a technology long surpassed, "misfit", dead.

Perhaps the most original feature in "Whisky" is the way the film portrays Jacobo's character. We witness his total lack of ambition and real productivity, his overlook of labor rights (his employees work 12 hours daily!), his inability to perform the simplest tasks like washing dishes, having his car repaired or using an electric drill, and we initially tend to feel sorry for him, because he's apparently so harmless, helpless and unaggressive. But as the film unfolds, we see how his stubbornness may in fact be a sign of stupidity, how indifference can trigger sexism and fascism, how resentment turns into inflexibility, shortsightedness into blindness, and conformity into paralyzing rigidity, we realize this is one of the most appallingly cruel, believable and poignant movie characters in a long time. It's the humane but reckless portrait of a man who, by sticking to the past and refusing to change, contradicts the very essence of life itself: movement.

If you're in the mood of a sensitive, subtle, richly rewarding movie, don't miss this one - and it can be a life lesson too! My vote: a solid 8,5 out of 10.

This movie is a true gem. Perhaps not for everyone, but those who can appreciate subtle, sensitive films will not be disappointed. In fact, subtlety is the keyword in this film. Nothing is spelled out, nobody even raises his voice, and still the story is full of emotion. It's all about small gestures and unspoken words. Take the way the viewer initially discovers that Hernan is richer and more successful than his brother Jacobo. There's nothing about Hernan's clothing or his behaviour that suggests this, but Jacobo suspects that the pair of socks his brother gave him are more expensive than the pair Jacobo gave his brother. The movie is packed with these kind of small signals, and that is exactly its strength, together with the superb acting and the nice locations (the soccer stadium!). In that way, the movie is comparable to Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki's style.

A struggling Uruguayan businessman persuades his equally unglamourous assistant to pretend to be his wife in order to impress his estranged brother. If this conjures up thoughts of 'The Birdcage', or you imagine a riotous South American carnival of a film, you'd best prepare yourself otherwise, for 'Whisky' is characterised by almost exaggeratedly understated acting and a bone dry humour;, and its real subject matter is the psychology of failure. At start, it feels slow, but as one gets used to the characters, one sees more of the joke and sadness in the subtle plot. There are some resemblances to early Jarmusch, but even so, it's questionable whether one can make a wholly successful movie when quite so little explicit happens. In Uruguay, incidentally, they say "whisky" instead of "cheese" when a photograph is taken; but the deeper meaning of the film's title remains elusive at its end.

The weather can get cold in Montevideo. Yet, some people's life down there may a lot of fun, but life is certainly not a piece of cake for Marta. She's working in a run down sock factory, she has no social life or family. When her boss, Don Jacobo, asks her to pose as his wife for a couple of days, while his brother Hernan visits him from Brazil, she accepts immediately.

This movie is subtle, and thoroughly enjoyable. The performance of the actors is simply incredible. Marta is a demure middle-aged woman who probably has not shared much love in her life. You can sense her burning desire to settle down and to share love and shelter with a man. Jacobo and Hernan are two brothers with opposite personalities. They have never talked to one another, and it is probably too late now. Each of them is clumsy and unintentionally cruel in his own special way. The two directors did an amazing work in the script. So little is said, or even shown, and so much can be felt about the characters (the two brothers who failed to deal with their emotions, about Marta and her life). The movie is also a chance to see some of Uruguay, particularly Montevideo and the seaside. A very nice break from Hollywood well-formated products. We'll wait for the new opus from these two young directors with great anticipation.

Following the more crowd-pleasing blockbusting antics of the likes of City of God and Amores Perros, it came as quite a surprise for this quieter, more restrained example of Latin cinema to perform so well on the 2004 international festival circuit.

The Uruguayan directors Pablo Stoll and Juan Pablo Rebella, following their previous effort 25 Watts (2001), once again centre their story in the small, provincial town of Montevideo. Jacobo Koller owns a modest sock factory that employs a few local women, including Marta. A year after his mother's death, his successful businessman brother Hermann visits from Brazil to attend the memorial. Jacobo requests that Marta pretends to be his wife while his brother stays. After the ceremony, the three take an impromptu trip to a small seaside resort.

While this premise may sound overly familiar from a million-and-one lightweight US sitcoms, the delivery is never short of fresh and intriguing. It rarely approaches the sort of twee sentimentality we might expect after reading a short synopsis. Almost nothing is said for the first half of the film as we observe the characters' drab, innocuous lives. And yet, despite this, the film somehow succeeds in upholding a surprisingly light and comic atmosphere. There are genuine moments of deadpan humour. The actors (schooled in the reticence of the national theatre) never force the comedy, in fact it is more often the camera that delivers the punchline; the constant repetition and rituals, the framing of the lanky Jacobo and squat Marta and a sudden romantic karaoke sequence that is all the more touching for its spontaneity.

Like the titular drink, Whisky is warm, satisfying and definitely suitable for repeat viewings.

I recently saw this masterpiece of Latin American cinema. I've always taught that you don't need a big budget to make a big movie. Great movies relay on a great message, a solid statement. On this particular case "Whisky" from the beginning makes a point through its own images and pace. The viewer gets immersed in a routine, a horrible way of life of the main character (Jacobo Koller) that consists of living with no ambition, owning a horrible sock factory and going home with nothing... not a smile, not a desire, nothing, just the same routine over and over again. At the beginning when we see the same shots over and over, it seems like the movie is insisting upon itself, but is too important to state the point of the routine. We, as viewers get tired of watching this terrible life, imagine what it would be to live this life. When the main characters brother (Herman Koller) comes to Uruguay (a far more successful,and younger brother, that lives in Brazil), Jacobo asks Marta (an employee of his) to pretend she's his wife, probably to avoid criticism from his brother and to bare his brother's trip to Uruguay with someone else. Marta has the same features as Jacobo she lives a life of routine, with no surprises, nothing to take her out of her boredom. She's shy, and retrieved within herself, there will be a couple of scenes when we can see that probably Marta has been like this since she was a girl. Her relationship with Herman grows, she's in movement she wants something new. As for Jacobo he doesn't feel anything for life he's pessimistic, stubborn, a man with no dreams. The movie invites us to review our own life, are we going in a direction of routine and boredom? or are we looking for something new? Sometimes we can find that breath of life in the smallest of places, in the most unconventional of places, a book, a movie, a song, a trip, a person anything can give us something to live. Marta surely received that breath, and we all can.

Much nothing ever happens in your life.

You go through the routine of sleeping and waking at the same times, travelling to work on the public bus, spending your day at your job which doesn't give you any kind of immediate remuneration. Your mind idles off to whether the money for the job is worth spending your life on, then you take the public bus home again, looking out at the sights you are used to, listening to the music you feel the most comfortable in. And usually on this bus ride home, most of the angst you feel in the morning is replaced by a irrepressible fatigue that tells you honestly that life is not just about chasing pipe dreams; life is also about going through it as best you can and surviving.

And as this goes on you get used to not expecting much out of life, not expecting much out of relationships, because that's the easiest way to be, just being. There is not much need to expand, really. There is not much need to feel the crests and falls of emotions. There is not much need to continue seeking, to continue dreaming, to continue hoping. And this is by no way any mistake; this is only part of the process of going through life, getting eased into it to not allow yourself any more anger that comes from lost hopes. Soon, as you get settled into your groove, you don't find going through the same days mundane anymore. You don't question what is expected of you out of life. You don't feel the need to keep expanding and expanding anymore.

Once in a while, you grant yourself the pleasure of watching a picture in a darkened cinema, vicariously and voraciously living the lives of people you don't know; people whose lives seem more exciting than yours; people who experience highs and lows so much that you feel as if you are experiencing the same highs and the same lows. You sit alone in the darkened theater by yourself--you are used to being alone--while somewhere else behind you, young couples are busy checking each other's necks out with their tongues. You see this, but you don't bother. You are only interested in the people living on the screen with you, sharing with you their pains and their hopes. Then you walk out of the cinema, and your life returns back to you. You realize that it is only a short relief, before you have to face reality again, the reality that you are really not so special.

Sometimes, the people in the movies cease being characters. They cease becoming people whom you fantasize about or feel pity for. Their lives suddenly seem so mundane and simple to you, and like you, they have stopped dreaming and started living in the real world. You see their everyday movements, everyday actions of endless repetition, and their normal, placid emotions that do not dare affect them in their daily lives. You grow so used to the repetitive actions, the repetitive shots, the repetitive dialogues, their every movement, that you find them so familiar. You feel as if you are sharing in some of their private lives, even if it is just make-believe. And when they discover something kind or special in their routine lives, your eyes widen and your heart fills with warmth. Mundane lives can be so beautiful too! You tell yourself secretly.

And in their daily effort to live, you see how their lives subtly affect other people's lives. You see how such small acts of kindness, can gladden your heart. You see how they are used to their loneliness, and then when they find companionship, you see how gladly they hang on to them, no matter how minute their friendship may seem. You see how comical they are in their lonesome blues, and you sneak a laugh at them, knowing fully that at the same time, you are laughing at yourself and with them too. Then you find that after all, there is comedy in pathos, and there is sorrow in bliss too.

At the end of the movie, the movie ends and the characters fade away into the blackness of the screen and the dark recesses of your memories. And suddenly you miss the repetition that bored you earlier, the simple mundaneness that was conveyed so simply. As you walk out of the cinema and see people walking out together with you, you feel more alone than ever before, as you're deprived of your newfound friends that you have fallen in love with in that short span of 95 minutes; like when you get used to being with other people, being lonesome again suddenly seems so difficult. And as you sit at the back of the cab on your way home, you feel that you've lost something special, even if that specialness came from make-believe situations, and a tear runs slowly down your cheek.

There's much to appreciate, and yes the repetitive nature of much of the film (perfectly represented by the whirring of the machines in the factory) is part of its allure and yet...in some respects I can't disagree with those who hurled horrible ratings at this film. It IS tedious. That doesn't mean it's not worth watching, but I have to admit it's hard to give boundless kudos to something that barely keeps your attention at times. I've never seen a film where the same things that make it brilliant, also make it dull and hard to watch.

I couldn't disagree more with the last comment. Probably the best movie to come out of Uruguay in a long time. This is a beautiful subtle movie but definitely not for those who need to be told when to laugh or when to feel. Full of humor, full of sadness, and really smart. A great step towards maturity taken by the directors of "25 watts". I cant wait to see where they go with their third movie. Anyone has any idea? Again, if you need an applause sign to tell you what's good, you wont know what to do with this movie.

Give subtlety a try.

Keep it simple.

Another reviewer's summary of this Uruguayan film is 'the psychology of failure' and I think that is probably a perfect description. This film is so subtle and understated that the vein of humour that runs through it - sardonic, dry and immaculately observed - will pass many people by. The mundanity of life, and the failure of some to see the fact that moments of happiness and relief can be wrestled from such an existence only by those with the vision and desire to do so, is reinforced by strands deliberately left untied. This film won't be for all tastes, but for those with the patience to watch beyond a slow (but necessarily so) opening act, it will prove to be a film worth watching.

And the bite is memorable.

I've been somewhat ... reluctant about long atmospheric mood setting shots where the fast-forward button becomes irresistible. The thing with this movie is that if you -like me- become fascinated at the beginning it's impossible to fast-forward anything as "indulgent" as it may seem, everything is directly (not even poetically) related to the movie, so much detail and so underplayed like our everyday lives.. Except it looks so pretty, and it all just hits you like a ton of bricks.

I'm not completely sure about the absolute need to know Spanish in order to enjoy this film, because the acting is superb. You could almost follow the movie by watching the expressions and body language.

This droll, deadpan comedy from Uruguay, clearly influenced by directors such as Jarmusch and Kaurismaki, is a real find. Directors Rebella (who killed himself shortly after this film was released) and Stoll, tell the story of two middle aged Jewish brothers. The elder brother has remained in Uruguay, running a decrepit sock factory, and acts taciturn and resentful, feeling life has cheated on him. The younger, more easy going brother, has moved to Brazil, where he has raised a family and runs a successful textile factory in the Sao Paulo area. When their mother dies, the brother in Brazil returns to Uruguay for the funeral. So that his younger brother will not pity him, his older brethren asks a middle aged, somewhat plump employee to pretend to be with his wife when his brother returns (this plot point is not really very believable, but in the cinema you sort of accept it). There is little else plot wise to the movie, as the brothers and the fake wife tour some of the deserted, sunless beaches of Uruguay to kill time and to get acquainted (or reacquainted) with each other as well as to settle past scores. To those that thing South America is everywhere a tropical and exotic place, they might be surprised to see a movie that is somewhat reminiscent of the old Eastern Bloc movies (Uruguay is well to the south of the tropics, its climate is temperate, and is the least typically south American of Spanish speaking nations in the continent). In a way, this movie might be also be a metaphor of Uruguay, once a country that was called the Switzerland of South America for its democracy and progressivism, but that in the last few decades has seen nasty military dictatorships, and some of its infrastructure and social capital run down. Worth seeing and quite moving.

this movie is just plain awful, dull characters, superficial storyline,no humor. tension, twists or anything challenging whatsoever you just keep wondering what the hell you've just watched for the past 90 minutes, because there is actually nothing going on in there. i just can't find one good thing about this movie it's boring, and you actually feel like it's gonna last forever, let me describe it that way: take 3 middle aged people, and let them spend couple of days together babbling nonsense on and on. and that's what you gonna get if you feel like sleeping. i usually watch lots of foreign movies and this is the worst iv'e seen this year, go watch the sea inside. cause this one just don't worth 90 minutes of your precious time.

There are some people , such as the main character in "Whisky" that have become in such emotional disabled people: they can love and (what's worst) they can't be loved. They cling to their routine, maybe a job in a factory, they live a grey existence. They don't want to suffer anymore, so they shield themselves against the world. Any attempt to communicate to someone like that is in vain, and you run the risk of getting hurt.

"Whisky" ain't an easy-watching movie, in any possible way: short and static sequences in which we can almost hear the tic-tac of the clock. Such a slow rhythm that intends to give the audience that feeling of boredom in the character's lives.

Besides, there're no big revelations in here, there's no catharsis, no teaching... So this dry Whisky (not on the rocks) is only for the most patient, for those who are used to bitter things. The rest of you may hate this...

7/10

I am 20 years old and I live in Uruguay, the place in which the movie "Whisky" is set. I am fond of movies that deal with characters you can sit next to on the bus, and this movie not only shows people that DO exist, attitudes that move ourselves around day after day and ways of life that are acquired almost subconsciously, but it is able to capture the essence of a society that has a personality of its own. Many people have found this movie depressing, boring, pointless, but I find it brilliant because it is exactly through these characteristics that the movie is able to show the core of who we really are. I know that every Uruguayan must have seen him/herself on that screen at some point and the movie has the incredible ability of making you love who you are entirely, good and bad aspects, detached from the objective perspective through which it is shown. The sense of belonging in which I was wrapped was overwhelming, and this is a feeling that resides within us; this movie was able to grab it and put it right in front of me.

I saw this film at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival. This movie is low in budget but big in charm. Jacabo is a dour, middle aged bachelor who lived with his mother. He runs a small run down sock factory in Montevideo with archaic outdated machinery that employs only three people. One, is his assistant Marta. His much more successful brother Herman is also in the sock business in but in Brazil and is married with a family and a seasoned traveler who is up on the latest in technology and outgoing and gregarious and everything Jacabo is not or chose not to be. The mother has died and Herman is coming to Montevideo. To help polish his image Jacabo has enlisted Marta to pose as his wife during Herman's stay. They even have a studio portrait photograph taken of themselves as a happily married couple to display on the mantle. Here is where the film's title Whiskey originates as in Uruguay they say "whiskey" instead of "cheese" when posing for a photograph to muster up a smile. This is an unassuming and unpretentious film as it deals with the mundane, everyday existence of the lives of Jacabo who is trapped in his life and Marta who wishes for something more. This is a slow moving film as it examines the dullness of routine and the ordinary taken to extreme. It has it's moments and there is more to it really than there seems but the general film goer is going to find this too slow and dull with not enough to say "whiskey" about and the roles call for no outstanding acting performances to help carry it. I would give it a 6.0 of a possible 10

I enjoyed Whisky, the joint Argentinean, Uruguayan, Spanish, German production from now deceased director Juan Pablo Rebella and his co-maker Pablo Stoll. Rebella committed suicide two years after this film was released in Britain, something that after seeing Whisky comes as a great shame as he will not be gracing the film-making circles in the future. The film is about everyday people in everyday locations, the fact it takes place in South America is irrelevant because the film is about the want to escape the everyday; the mundane even if it is just for a brief time. The people that inhabit the film are grim and expressionless people; unfulfilled and worthless felt people who could go through their daily routine in their sleep. The people are elderly but single; friendly and understanding but in their own downbeat manner – the film is slow and deliberate but brilliant all the same.

The fact co-director Rebella took his own life two years after this film adds an odd layer on top of an already interesting study. Rebella co-wrote the piece and to me has quite clearly put down some of his own thoughts, feelings; even emotions into this project. Rebella does not want to say anything too grander during the opening twenty to thirty minutes but just wants to, through editing, get across a feeling of frustration in life; a frustration of repetition as Jacobo (Pazos) opens up his factory each morning and we see the employees enter thus starting the same procession each day.

But Jacobo learns of a visit from his more successful brother Herman (Bolani), someone he shares an uneasy friendship with due to a prior event in their lives revolving around a family tragedy; usually an efficient back-story idea for this sort of downbeat, dramatic genre. Thrown in amongst the mix is a supervisor of the younger factory employees of sorts; Marta (Pascual) who will eventually play Jacobo's mock wife but seems to have more in common with Herman than she'd first think.

The film is about relationships; friendships but relationships of all sorts. Men and women pretending to be married; brothers that share uneasy truces; friendships that strike up between a male and a female of which one thinks the other is already taken. These are confused and tantalisingly so relationships but relationships none-the-less. Prior to this running idea is a series of shots and scenes dedicated to real life objects that don't work or do work but only after a lot of attention. These include a car the very first shot of the film which takes a while to fire up and get going. There are other visual references within the factory of objects working in odd fashions; the banging on the top of the light and the frequent mentioning of a blind that does not work all seem meaningless on the surface but are clues and precursors to the unorthodox relationships and the manner in which these odd people operate that follow.

One thing leads to another and the real study gets going when the three people arrive at a holiday resort. The resort is an interesting 'space' in which the hotel rooms; the swimming pools and the casinos will act as places these three people will try to enjoy themselves but figure each other out anyway. Outside of the resort are beaches and restaurants that will act for some of the more sedate scenes in which characters, namely Herman and Marta, will get to know each other more. What's interesting during these exchanges is actor Andrés Pazos' face and how he plays the character as someone who doesn't really know how to behave given the flirtatious elements the conversations his supposed wife is having with his brother.

But the character of Jacobo is interesting all the same; a downbeat and perhaps the more personified character Rebella wrote in relation to himself at the time. We get glimpses of the real him; a calm and sedate exterior is partially substituted during a scene at a football match when he just unloads at a linesman for something he may have done further in the past – this is much to his brother's surprise and it may catch the audience out by coming across as quite humorous material when really it's a subtle hint at why prior relations may have failed for him. But the film is deceptive in this retrospect; the idea that one man and a female he knows become pretend husband and wife to fool a brother sounds like something out of an old, Hollywood screwball comedy. The film isn't played for laughs as much as it played to be understood as to why someone would go through with it; maybe we all get to the point in our lives where we don't care as much anymore and the sense of adventure or risk is better than a repetitive; zero emotion lifestyle.

If the film works, it's because it's a look into a world some of us might be familiar with. Yes, it's South America but it could be anywhere – location isn't the point as much as it is with other South American films such as City of God. It's about a breakaway from a life one has become embedded with or chained to. In this case, watching someone snap off the chain as others interact around them is fascinating and somewhat humbling. Even if Rebella died early under tragic circumstances, he went out on a high filmic note.

The film shows us the monotony of life; the plot is good and the acting is excellent; I recommend it if you like Latin cinema.

Yes zeidinho, you're right, it is an extremely slow movie and no, you're wrong, because it is a beauty as well. Every time you expect something to happen (which is not so often) it does not. And when you do not it does, but so casually and so not emphasized that you could very well miss it. In this respect the film is very surprising because, in contrast with its contents, the film itself does not follow the familiar patterns of storytelling. The acting is very small and very effective. The repetitive patterns (does your life change dramatically, every day?) are as painful as they are familiar. The language of images is very smart, no need to explain much. I laughed sometimes, I moaned more often and I liked it very much.

My wife and I just watched this movie this past weekend and we are stumped how it has so many high reviews, let alone how it won any awards (which it did). This is by far one THE most boring, uneventful movies I've ever watched. The premise of the movie with one brother needing to have a woman pretend to be his wife to show off to his brother is just plain dumb. Umm, wouldn't he have told him he's getting married?? Even if they don't talk much, as implied by the movie?? I don't need all my movies to be action movies, but there needs to be some tension and/or movement to make it worth watching and then perhaps recommending. There is little to any movement and absolutely NO TENSION in this movie. And, in my opinion, you just don't care about any of the characters. There are so many other things to say about how bad this movie is, but there's no reason to bore you. Just please take my word and don't waste your time watching this movie. Not unless you need to fall asleep!