Monica Galan Movies

Argentinean filmmaker Eliseo Subiela directed this idiosyncratic drama that uses sex and love as a springboard for an exploration of bold philosophical ideas. Twenty-something Eloy (Leandro Stivelman) has a gift for walking on stilts that her inherited from his father, but while Dad tried to use this talent for creative purposes, Eloy has made a career out of his skill, wandering the city dressed as a high-rise sandwich to promote a diner. One day, a stumble causes Eloy to crash through a ceiling window into the bedroom of Elvira (Antonella Costa), an attractive older woman. Both Elvira and her mother (Maria Elena Ruaz) are convinced that a greater destiny has brought Eloy into her life, and she takes the young man under her wing. Eloy loves women and is delighted when Elvira expresses a powerfully sexual interest in him, but she's a student of tantric sex techniques, and as she opens his eyes to the possibilities of lovemaking, he's introduced to new worlds of eroticism that allow him to leave his body and travel through time and space. No Mires Para Abajo (aka Don't Look Down) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Guadalajara Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Documentary veteran Hugo Grosso makes his first foray into fictional narrative with a collection of free-form vignettes exploring the effects that the construction of the Rosario-Victoria Bridge had over the citizens of the Argentinian cities and providences it connected over the Parana River. As an elderly gentleman (Hector Bidonde) ponders the prospect of moving from his longtime home due to the constant rumble of mammoth bulldozers, a pair of quarreling middle-aged sisters (Monica Alfonso and Monica Galan) find the arrival of a handsome German lodger (Julian Knab) reigniting their sensual passions; little do the sisters realize that the hunky engineer only has eyes for his transvestite lover (Juan Pablo Geretto) who loves across the Parana. Meanwhile, two children (David Olmos and Emanuel Rojas) take off on a nautical quest for fun as scammer Jaibo (Miguel Bosco) and his smoldering shill (Milagros Alarcon) stumble into a historical anomaly and freelance filmmaker Abel (Miguel Franchi) commences filming a positive-slanted documentary on the construction of the bridge. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Eliseo Subiela, who made the Philip K. Dick-influenced Man Facing Southeast (1986), takes a lighter approach in this Argentine comedy-drama with fantasy elements. Customers at a Buenos Aires supermarket are unable to answer theological questions asked by cashier Rosalia (Julieta Ortega). Rosalia and her bitter mother were abandoned years earlier by Rosalia's father. Rosalia volunteers to help two blind people; one is the wealthy Don Francisco (Paco M.), and the other is a middle-aged woman (Monica Galan) studying for a law exam. Rosalia, who uses her telekinetic abilities to help these two and others who are needy, sees herself as a "fairy godmother," and she gets a total makeover from a trio of young women she assumes are other fairies. Eventually, Rosalia finds her own Prince Charming -- physicist Santiago (Antonio Birbent) who has been tracking her movements at the bus stop with a video camera transmission to his computer. Black-and-white dream sequences show Rosalia rescued by a winged fairy. Shown at 1998 film fests (San Francisco, Miami). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Love and reincarnation are the basic themes of this metaphorical Argentine fantasy. It is a serpentine tale with many interesting surprises. The story begins in 1885 New Jersey, as Thomas Edison's assistant says his final good bye to his recently deceased wife. Suddenly a vibrating zoetrope is seen and dreamy images and titles fill the screen which suddenly bursts into the vibrant world of contemporary Buenos Aires where Leopoldo is working as a projectionist in a ramshackle cinema. Leopoldo is married to Susana. He is obsessed with devising a machine that will record human dreams, an aspiration he shares with his closest friend Oscar, who has invented a robot in the image of a famous tango singer Carlos Gardel. One day Leopoldo awakens to discover that he has successfully recorded that night's dream in which he felt great love for a woman who lived 110 years ago. Shortly thereafter, he sees the very same woman standing outside his theater. Her name is Rachel and she calls him William. She explains that they have been lovers throughout the ages and have been reincarnated many times. Unfortunately, Leopoldo has no memory of her. Still they become lovers. The two come to a difficult juncture when Rachel decides that she has had enough reincarnation and simply wants to stay dead; on the other hand, Leopoldo is terrified of death and yet does not want to be forever apart from her. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this suspense story, the main character, Johann Neudorff (Gotz George), immigrated to Argentina from Germany after World War Two, and has become a successful businessman there. He is unconcerned with the nature of the government there, which at the time of this film (1978) is a military dictatorship. His comfortable existence is disrupted when he discovers that his beloved daughter Laura (Emilia Mazer) has become the lover of a political activist (Miguel Angel Sola) who is on the military's hit list. When his daughter is kidnapped, Johann attempts to use his government connections to free both her and her lover. However, his son Alfredo (Alex Benn) undermines his efforts, and Johann himself is incarcerated in a military prison, but not before he discovers that his daughter and her lover are both dead, killed by the regime. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi