AN UNEXPECTED LOVE
****
Director: Juan Vera
Screenwriters: Juan Vera and Daniel Cúparo
Principal cast:
Ricardo Darín
Mercedes Morán
Andres Gil
Claudia Fontán
Luis Rubio
Country: Argentina
Classification: M
Runtime: 129 mins.
Australian release date: 4 July 2019
Previewed: in season at Verona Cinema, Sydney.
Juan Vera’s An Unexpected Love opened the 2018 San Sebastián Film Festival and was one of Argentinian cinema’s biggest hits of last year, and it’s easy to see why. It is a baby-boomer romance about a couple forced to re-assess their marriage when they become ‘empty-nesters’, a hot topic currently on global screens. We are seeing a number of films dealing with this theme of late as the population of the developed world ages, e.g. Happy Ending, currently showing in the Scandinavian Film Festival (albeit that the couple in that story are confronting retirement, not the departure of their adult offspring - the underlying premise is the same). Running a bit long at 129 minutes, nevertheless this is a captivating and entertaining movie and it stars two of the best actors in contemporary Latin American cinema. Seeing Darín and Morán together is worth the price of admission alone.
Set in Buenos Aires, the film opens with an emotional scene at the airport where Ana (Mercedes Morán) and Marcos (Ricardo Darín) are farewelling their only son Luciano (Andres Gil) as he is departing for Spain to pursue further studies. They are bereft as he was obviously the light of their lives and the family had lived together, surrounded by their memories, until his departure. Convinced that they have raised him well and done the right things as parents, the couple are left to contemplate whether or not there is any spark left in their 20 plus-year marriage and, after much discussion and deliberation, they decide to ‘consciously uncouple’. In going their separate ways, they encounter the ups and downs of dating in the modern age and discover things about themselves that they’d forgotten while raising their son. They also begin to realise that there’s something to value in a history shared with another person.
With An Unexpected Love, Juan Vera and Daniel Cúparo have created an intelligent script that questions the true meaning of love and the loss of desire. Their screenplay succeeds in crossing cultural barriers, in that the couple’s bewilderment as they try to redevelop their lives and deal with not just the loss of their son but, more profoundly, the loss of their comfortable lives, is universal. It’s an examination of that old adage of ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’ or, perhaps more appropriately, ‘be careful what you wish for because you just might get it’. The two leads are superb and masterfully illustrate the motivations behind the decisions of this intelligent middle-class couple. It’s a wordy script but they deliver it with panache and a twinkle in the eye. Rodrigo Pulpeiro’s camera beautifully captures the action, most of it shot in interiors that reflect the interior life of the protagonists, and it allows us to quietly and unobtrusively observe the characters as they move within the frame.
Juan Vera doesn’t let his film get heavy and he maintains a light-hearted approach throughout. As he has explained, “Although the film portrays serious life themes like the nature of love, the durability and alteration of desire, and infidelity, I definitely intend[ed] to tell the story from a ludic distance, with some kind of optimistic scepticism, allowing the viewer to think, to maybe feel a bit restless, yet without a real urgency or gravity.” With this clever, bright story, he has succeeded in doing just that.
Screenwriters: Juan Vera and Daniel Cúparo
Principal cast:
Ricardo Darín
Mercedes Morán
Andres Gil
Claudia Fontán
Luis Rubio
Country: Argentina
Classification: M
Runtime: 129 mins.
Australian release date: 4 July 2019
Previewed: in season at Verona Cinema, Sydney.
Juan Vera’s An Unexpected Love opened the 2018 San Sebastián Film Festival and was one of Argentinian cinema’s biggest hits of last year, and it’s easy to see why. It is a baby-boomer romance about a couple forced to re-assess their marriage when they become ‘empty-nesters’, a hot topic currently on global screens. We are seeing a number of films dealing with this theme of late as the population of the developed world ages, e.g. Happy Ending, currently showing in the Scandinavian Film Festival (albeit that the couple in that story are confronting retirement, not the departure of their adult offspring - the underlying premise is the same). Running a bit long at 129 minutes, nevertheless this is a captivating and entertaining movie and it stars two of the best actors in contemporary Latin American cinema. Seeing Darín and Morán together is worth the price of admission alone.
Set in Buenos Aires, the film opens with an emotional scene at the airport where Ana (Mercedes Morán) and Marcos (Ricardo Darín) are farewelling their only son Luciano (Andres Gil) as he is departing for Spain to pursue further studies. They are bereft as he was obviously the light of their lives and the family had lived together, surrounded by their memories, until his departure. Convinced that they have raised him well and done the right things as parents, the couple are left to contemplate whether or not there is any spark left in their 20 plus-year marriage and, after much discussion and deliberation, they decide to ‘consciously uncouple’. In going their separate ways, they encounter the ups and downs of dating in the modern age and discover things about themselves that they’d forgotten while raising their son. They also begin to realise that there’s something to value in a history shared with another person.
With An Unexpected Love, Juan Vera and Daniel Cúparo have created an intelligent script that questions the true meaning of love and the loss of desire. Their screenplay succeeds in crossing cultural barriers, in that the couple’s bewilderment as they try to redevelop their lives and deal with not just the loss of their son but, more profoundly, the loss of their comfortable lives, is universal. It’s an examination of that old adage of ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’ or, perhaps more appropriately, ‘be careful what you wish for because you just might get it’. The two leads are superb and masterfully illustrate the motivations behind the decisions of this intelligent middle-class couple. It’s a wordy script but they deliver it with panache and a twinkle in the eye. Rodrigo Pulpeiro’s camera beautifully captures the action, most of it shot in interiors that reflect the interior life of the protagonists, and it allows us to quietly and unobtrusively observe the characters as they move within the frame.
Juan Vera doesn’t let his film get heavy and he maintains a light-hearted approach throughout. As he has explained, “Although the film portrays serious life themes like the nature of love, the durability and alteration of desire, and infidelity, I definitely intend[ed] to tell the story from a ludic distance, with some kind of optimistic scepticism, allowing the viewer to think, to maybe feel a bit restless, yet without a real urgency or gravity.” With this clever, bright story, he has succeeded in doing just that.