Alejandro Awada Movies
- 2006
A young man learns that cold logic and reasoning can't always trump the heart and soul in this romantic comedy. Fernando Balbuena (Roger Coma) is a Spanish economist who believes that capitalism and the free market system can ultimately resolve nearly any problem. However, Fernando's faith in the market is severely shaken when some poorly chosen investments leave him nearly penniless. Fernando has been reading the horoscope section of a romance magazine called "Sighs From The Heart," and is surprised by their accuracy; wondering if their astrologers could explain what went wrong, he travels to Buenos Aires to pay a visit to their offices. To his surprise, Fernando learns the magazine is put together by a band of aging Leftists who freely admit the horoscope section is pure invention; while Fernando is appalled at first, as he gets to know the staff, he succumbs to their charm and cock-eyed idealism. Fernando also finds himself becoming increasingly attracted to a younger member of the staff, pretty and progressive Fraty (Maria Duplaa. Sighs From The Heart (aka Suspiros de Corazon) received its premiere at the 2006 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roger Coma, Maria Duplaa, (more)
A lonely taxidermist with a photographic memory dreams of committing the "perfect crime" in Nine Queens director Fabián Bielinsky's deliberately paced existential thriller. Espinosa (Ricardo Darín) is an epileptic fortysomething who makes his living by stuffing creatures for the natural history museum in Buenos Aires. It is there that Espinosa meets friend and fellow taxidermist Sontag (Alejandro Awada). After picking up their paycheck at a nearby bank, Sontag kindly invites the lonely Espinosa to join him in the forests of southern Argentina for a brief hunting getaway. Soon after checking into their hotel, Sontag and Espinosa take to nature in hopes of bagging a buck, but their voyage takes a dark turn when, in the grip of another seizure, Espinosa accidentally shoots and kills hotel owner Dietrich (Manuel Rodal). Though his suspicions that Dietrich was involved with some shady dealings seem little more than a means for justifying the tragic turn of events, Espinosa soon realizes that he may be onto something when a pair of thugs named Sosa (Pablo Cedron) and Montero (Walter Reyno) come searching for the missing proprietor. As all of the elements quickly fall into place, it begins to appear as if Espinosa may finally be prepared to execute the crime he has always dreamt about. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ricardo Darín, Dolores Fonzi, (more)
- 2005
Sebastian Borensztein's comedy The Die Is Cast stars Marcelo Mazzarello and Gaston Pauls as half-brothers. As the film opens each of them becomes unemployed. Believing he is the subject of a curse, the theatrical Felipe (Mazzarello) heads to his father's deathbed where he and his half brother decide to grant their father's wish. After dad asks to try cocaine, the men head out attempting to score the goods while overcoming the curse. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gastón Pauls, Marcelo Mazarello, (more)
Airline pilot-turned-whistleblower-turned-actor Enrique Pineyro makes his debut as a writer/director with the autobiographical docudrama Whisky Romeo Zulu. Pineyro essentially plays himself, a principled pilot at LAPA, the Argentinean airline, increasingly dismayed over the company's disregard of basic safety regulations. When he complains, he's labeled a troublemaker, and when things get so bad that he refuses to fly one defective plane, the company simply gets another pilot to take his place. Increasingly frustrated and worried about a potential crash, Pineyro finally writes an angry letter to his superiors, warning that a crash is inevitable if action isn't taken. The letter is leaked to the media, and the airline is sold, but the new owners want Pineyro to retract his statement. Complicating matters, their public relations person is Marcela (Mercedes Morán of The Motorcycle Diaries and The Holy Girl), a childhood crush that Pineyro never got over. She's since married, but that doesn't stop the divorced, embattled pilot from pursuing her. Pineyro's story is intercut with that of a government investigator (Alejandro Awada) looking into a LAPA crash, who starts receiving death threats. Whisky Romeo Zulu was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of their 2004 Latinbeat Film Series. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Enrique Pineyro, Mercedes Morán, (more)
A pair of childhood friends find that their bond has not weakened with the passing of years in this affecting drama from filmmaker Daniel Barone. For nearly a decade, Jaoquin (Adrian Suar) has suffered from depression, but when his childhood friend Mara (Leticia Brédice) returns home after eight years away, the clouds soon begin to part for Jaoquin. As the old friends share memories of the past and visit the place where time seemed to stop for them as children, an old bond once again grows strong and the caring friends take solace in the familiarity of their surroundings. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adrian Suar, Leticia Brédice, (more)
Argentine filmmaker Fabian Bielinsky makes his directorial debut with this taut crime thriller about a stamp and con artists on the make. The film opens with low-rent hustler Juan (Gaston Pauls) trying to scam the workers in a convenience store when Marcos (Ricardo Darin) steps in to arrest him. In truth, Marcos is veteran con himself and the two split the money after fleeing the scene. Soon after, Marcos asks Juan to be his partner in a series of small-time jobs. When one of the men gets a message from his sister, the two head to the tony hotel where she works. There they try to pull off a big con that was initially planned by an aging criminal too ill to do it. The swindle centers around a fantastically accurate forgery of a rare stamp called the Nine Queens. As the two doggedly try to set up the deal, mobsters and the like learn of the job and try to horn in. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ricardo Darín, Gastón Pauls, (more)
- 2001
Six men escape from an Argentinean prison and meet wildly different fates in this episodic drama. One of the escapees never makes it into the outside world; Belisario Zacarias (Oscar Alegre) gets caught in the tunnel they've dug to make their way out of lockup, and his friend Omar Zajur (Vando Villamil) initially refuses to leave him behind, though he soon joins the group, and pays a call to La Varela (Norma Alendro), Zacarias' girlfriend. Tomas Opitti (Alejandro Awada), the ringleader of the group, was a leftist political activist arrested on false charges, and he sets out to get even with Duval (Patricio Contreras), the official who framed him. Domingo Santalo (Ricardo Darin) is a gambler who soon finds himself in a high-stakes card game with master poker player Victor Gans (Facundo Arana), arranged by mob boss Pedro Escofet (Arturo Maly); Santalo also renews a very dangerous romance with Tabita (Ines Estevez), Escofet's wife. Julio Bordiola (Gerardo Romano) is a luckless loser whose lovely wife Rita (Antonella Costa) is sleeping with Ledeyra (Juan Ponce de Leon); he often wonders just why Rita ever married him, and when he learns the answer, it proves to be more than he can stand. And Laureano Irala (Miguel Angel Sola) has nowhere in particular to go, and when the escapees emerge in the coal shed of an old man named Villalba (Manuel Andres), his wife is so frightened that she drops dead. Villalba was sworn vengeance against the jailbirds, but a sympathetic Irala ends up moving in with him, posing as a long lost relative. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miguel Ángel Solá, Ricardo Darín, (more)
- 1999
Argentine director Sergio Bellotti spins a tale about a lowly bank employee, based on a true story. With his 40th birthday looming, Carlos (Gabriel Goity) grows depressed as he feels that his life is one long monotonous waste of time. His daily tryst with his lover seems increasingly empty while his job at the bank is grindingly dull. Just when he feels doomed to a life of quiet desperation, an opportunity presents itself in the bank's overflowing coffers. Tesoro mio was screened at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gabriel Goity, Edda Bustamente, (more)
- 1999
Seventeen years after the Falklands War, veteran Pedro (Julio Chavez), a one-handed taxi driver, is plagued with nightmares about Raul (Mariano Bertolini), who died while trying to help him in combat. Raul, who was a virgin when he died, appears to Pedro to ask if he can borrow his body to get laid. Cue grand sexual hijinks and a matchmaking scheme by Pedro's batty neighbor, who casts spells to get Pedro together with Telma (Valentina Bassi), a young divorcee who lives in his apartment building. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alejandro Awada, Valentina Bassi, (more)
- 1998
Hector Babenco injected autobiographical details into this tale of an Argentine teen's first romance. Living with his parents, 17-year-old Juan (Walter Quiroz) hangs out with several intellectuals who would like to photograph the human soul. The girlfriend of the group's financier is Ana (Maria Luisa Mendonca), and Juan is attracted to her, despite the knowledge that she spent two years at a clinic because she was "crazy." Juan sees Ana when he can and trains as a door-to-door salesman, but when the German photographer on the soul project gives him a viewfinder, it changes his life, putting him on the path to his later success as a Hollywood director. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miguel Ángel Solá, Maria Luiza Mendonca, (more)
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