Carlos Roffe Movies

Venerable Argentinian filmmaker Alejandro Agresti turns his lens to his own childhood in this nostalgic coming-of-age tale. Set in the director's hometown of Buenos Aires circa 1964, Valentin centers around its title character (and ostensible stand-in for the director), a nine-year-old boy (Rodrigo Noya) whose feuding parents have left him to be raised by his sage, eccentric grandmother (Carmen Maura). With his father (Agresti) visiting only occasionally, Valentin is left to look to the other men in the neighborhood for father figures, and to replace his absent mother, he warms to Leticia (Julieta Cardinali), one of his father's many short-term girlfriends. When he tells her personal secrets about his father, however, Valentin jeopardizes their relationship. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Lots of people love animals, but one man takes his fondness for a sheep beyond the boundaries of what's acceptable at your neighborhood petting zoo in this darkly absurd comedy. Alberto (Carlos Roffe) is a wealthy man whose nearly three-decade marriage to Natalie (Cristina Banegas) has run out of gas. While puttering around his summer estate, Alberto spies a sheep being led through the meadow by his caretaker, Miranda (Pepe Monje). Alberto is immediately infatuated with the sheep, and asks Miranda to lock her up in the barn near the house. Naming the ewe "Fanny," Alberto soon falls in love with the animal -- and begins expressing his affections physically. As it turns out, Miranda also has cast a lustful eye on the sheep, but Alberto genuinely loves Fanny, and even imagines that the sheep is talking to him, though it still sounds like baa-ing to everyone else. Slipping past eccentricity into madness, Alberto decides no one can have Fanny but him -- not Miranda, and certainly not that ram grazing nearby -- and he hires a preacher to marry them after he divorces Natalie. Alberto discovers not everyone is accepting of his new "bride," and Alberto responds to those who cannot celebrate their love with violence and murder. Animalada was shown in competition at the 2001 Buenos Aires Independent Cinema Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Argentine director Alejando Agresti directed this surreal, allegorical Argentine-French-Dutch- Spanish comedy-drama. Winner of the "Golden Shell Grand Prize" at the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival, the absurdist tale is set during the '70s. Young Buenos Aires cabdriver Soledad (Vera Fogwill), tired of fending off molesting passengers and dealing with her exploitative boss, keeps driving her cab straight out of the city and into the mountains, arriving at a remote and dusty Patagonian village, Rio Pico. The town's only contact with the outside world is a cinema which shows film reels out of sequence or upside-down -- as referenced in the title's reversal of Gone With the Wind. This has impacted on local inhabitants, causing them to speak in non sequiturs. Soledad checks into an inn run by Doña Maria (Angela Molina), and when locals find out she was a journalism student, they ask her to host their newsreels about life in Rio Pico. Her new job as news anchor leads to a romance with film critic Pedro (Fabian Vena). Doña Marie finds love blossoming when faded French film star Edgar Wexley (Jean Rochefort) arrives in town as a result of massive amounts of fan mail. Village scientist Antonio (Ulises Dumont) makes regular jaunts to Buenos Aires with his discoveries (such as the theory of relativity), only to be told these were previously discovered in earlier decades. Change comes to Rio Pico when electricity and television arrive, and the town's magical, idiosyncratic appeal begins to fade. Also shown at the 1998 Chicago Film Festival. Spanish and French dialogue. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

In this dark comedy from Argentine director Alejandro Agresti -- best known for his social and political dramas -- follows a depressive, boozy and self-absorbed middle-aged film critic down a self-destructive path. There is nothing very nice about Alfredo so it is not surprising that his wife and daughters left him months before. Since then, his ability to review films has been seriously impaired. When his editor confronts him, an explosive argument ensues and Alfredo loses his job. As a result, his drinking and his funk increases dramatically. When not wandering aimlessly around Buenos Aires ranting and raving about his wretched life and his wife, he plots revenge upon Pablo the painter whom he believes stole her from him. His plan involves finding Pablo's ex lovers and interviewing them for potentially damaging gossip. He hits paydirt when he encounters Eloisa and starts pretending to be Pablo to confuse her. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Argentina's own Eva Peron gets an Argentine film biography in this production. For a woman who conducted her life with the bold strokes of grand opera, this effort to depict her human dimension rather than her mythical qualities might not have won her personal approval, but it offers a useful counterpoint to the musical play Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, which was filmed at about the same time as this movie. Eva Peron was the beautiful illegitimate daughter of a rural landlord and a seamstress. She ran away to Buenos Aires when she was 15 with the help of her lover, a traveling singer. Once in the Argentine capital, she did everything in her power to become a prominent performer. A woman of tremendous intelligence, courage, cunning and guile, she reportedly lacked certain essential assets necessary for stage stardom such as native acting talent. However, her good looks and indomitable will took her a long way toward her goal. Then, in 1944, she met Juan Peron, an army officer on the rise in the Argentine government. Together, they formed a winning team, and with her help, Juan Peron became the President of Argentina. It is during Peron's first presidency that Eva strode from the pages of history into the realms of mythology. With an impeccable sense of drama, she combined her untiring and passionate advocacy for the poor with an unbridled contempt for the pretensions of the moneyed classes. Among her lasting and noteworthy accomplishments was winning the right to vote for Argentine women. Then, at the height of her power and influence, she died of uterine cancer. But despite the ravages of the illness, Peron maintained her public image and died with grace and dignity. While there is enough drama in her story to serve as the basis for countless movies, this one is of particular interest because it is by her countrymen. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Surely you remember hearing about the illusionist who made the entire Eiffel Tower disappear in one of his shows? If you ever wondered about that, or about the magician who pulled off the stunt, perhaps you have what it takes to watch this surreal and nonlinear film, which explores the life, career, and downfall of the Argentine magician Miguel Quiroga. In the story, we discover that Quiroga (Carlos Roffe) had a difficult childhood. He sought solace from it through books, which he would steal and read from cover to cover when he should have been sleeping. One day, he discovers a book full of magic tricks both real and imagined, and the future course of his life is set. His only fear is that someone will find and widely publish another copy of this, his life's sourcebook and inspiration. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this complex political drama, set in Argentina after the demise of its military dictatorship, a young journalist's preference for writing leftist articles endangers his job. His editor assigns him to follow the filming of an American movie. He does so, but not without making many inflammatory comments about gringo intentions. As a result, he is fired. This frees him to begin looking for his estranged lover who mysteriously vanished during the last regime. All those around him suspect that she was among the "disappeared" but he refuses to believe it. He continues his fruitless search, convinced that she is alive and with another man. As he travels, he becomes increasing upset by the complacency of his countrymen who seem more willing to accept life as it comes. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi