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DOWNTOWN

ROYAL OAK

`Suddenly'

A comedic tale of a lonely, overweight lingerie
saleswoman "kidnapped" by two lesbian punkettes.

GEORGE ROBINSON
Special to the Jewish News

D

epressing but true, chaos
and bad times produce bet-
ter art. For a case in point,
see the exciting rise of a
new Argentine cinema."
Right now, Argentina is threatening to
replace Iran and Taiwan as the most
interesting national cinema of the new
millennium and, given that many if not
most of the Argentine filmmakers in
question are in their 20s and 30s, this
could go on for a while.
Argentina has a significant Jewish
population, so it is also producing some
interesting Jewish filmmakers.
Indeed, one of the putative "fathers"
of the "new Argentine cinema" is
Martin Rejtman, director of Rapado
(1992) and Silvia Prieto (1999), whose
quirky, dry-martini wit seems quintes-
sentially Jewish.
And Diego Lerman, another Buenos
Aires Jew is by his own admission, a
descendant of Rejtrnan's wry deadpan
humor, as his own first feature,
Suddenly, amply testifies.
Suddenly is a shaggy-dog story about
Marcia (Tatiana Saphir), a frumpy,

Decorate in style with

C C

2003

MICHIGAWS
)FER1
iStsV4L

Veronica Hassan (Lenin), Tatiana
Saphir (Marcia) and Carla Crespo
(Mao) in Diego Lerman's "Suddenly"

dumpy underwear sales clerk whose
inner life consists of daydreaming about
her ex-boyfriend.
One day she crosses paths with two
punky lesbians, self-named Mao (Carla
Crespo) and Lenin (Veronica Hassan),
who "kidnap" her. The first half of the
film is the sort of aimless road movie
that gives fits, but when the trio leave
Buenos Aires to visit Lenin's elderly aunt
Blanca (a hilarious and knowing per-
formance by Beatriz Thibaudin) and her
two boarders, the film takes a charming
turn involving sex, family and a (not
altogether unexpected) death.
Where the first half suffers from its
own sheer randomness, the second half
is pointed, witty and, finally, moving. In
a film that starts out playing at being
drop-dead hip, one is delighted to find a
sincere, deeply felt respect for its charac-
ters, particularly Blanca, the most
unlikely of feminist heroines.
It's not a preachment about "life les-
sons," and we don't really know what
will happen to any of the three protago-
nists; as a result, Suddenly turns fresh
and clever in a way that reflects its tide.
The film is shot in a funky, grainy
black and white that gives it a certain on-
the-fly quality Lerman might not have
enough material here for a feature, not
even a relatively brief one, but he has a
certain jokey elan that makes him worth
keeping an eye on in the future.

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-

Robert Downey Jr, right, and
his girlfriend, producer Susan Levin

Also, Downey Jr. is currently
dating producer Susan Levin,
whom he met on the set of his
upcoming film Gothika; she has
been credited with helping him say
clean and sober. She "has got me
in a freakin' choke chain," he told
People magazine, "and I love it."
Maybe his new Jewish girl-
friend has something to do with
his new "self-identification."

❑

t The Jewish News is a tradition and a source of vital

information for Jews both in Detroit and abroad.

Suddenly screens 7 and 9:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday and 4 and 7
p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14-16, at the
Detroit Film Theatre at the
Detroit Institute of Arts. $5.50-
$6.50. (313) 833-3237.

- David, West Bloomfield s

I get it, you should too.

❑

J

ILT subscribe and save! call 248.351.5174
N or visit www.jewish.com

11 /Pi

2003

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