Leonor Manso Movies
- 2000
A writer and political activist finds a new lease on life when he leaves the big city behind in this drama from Argentina. In 1978, Esteban (Claudio Gallardou) is a journalist covering political unrest in Buenos Aires stemming from Argentina's oppressive political dictatorship. After his reports earn him threats against his life, Esteban flees the city and heads for the mountains, eventually finding himself in the small village of La Paz in Bolivia. In La Paz, Esteban becomes friendly with a priest (Ulises Dumont), who gives him a place to stay and a new direction in life. He joins the fight against a local businessman currently bending the village's politics to his will, and finds another new reason for living when he meets Marina (Mirna Suarez), the priest's goddaughter. Cerca de la Frontera was shown in competition at the 2000 London Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Claudio Gallardou, Ulises Dumont, (more)
- 1998
Fernando E. Solanas directed this Argentine-French-Italian-German drama with allegorical reflections of Argentina's past history. The film is divided into four chapters ("The Mirror," "The Waiting Men," "Oblivion," "Howls") with subchapters ("Punishments," "Rewards," "Obstinacy"). A black cloud brings 1600 days of rain to Buenos Aires, while traffic and pedestrians move backwards. Aging actor Max (Eduardo Pavlovsky) runs the Mirror Theater in a former fish market, but lack of funding means a possible demolition. Max is attracted to Brazilian dancer Fulo (Angela Correa), who worries about her daughter back home. Amid political corruption and police brutality, Max's elderly colleague Enrique leads a protest for unpaid old-age pensions. The pensioners succeed in their demands, only to learn from a government official that no money is available to pay them. Shown in competition at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eduardo Pavlovsky, Angela Correa, (more)
- 1995
A young peasant woman, forced to marry a wealthy man she despises, gets her revenge in this Argentine-Uruguayan melodrama. Most of the story is filmed in black and white. The "Patron" is Antenor, a powerful and wealthy landowner who is desperate to have a son to bequeath his vast grassland estate to. He chooses for his wife the beautiful teen-ager Paula. Though she is in love with a fellow peasant, the patron leaves her with no choice but to marry him. The two barely speak after the wedding and he makes violent love to her in his desperate attempt to have a child. Later Antenor becomes paralyzed and mute, leaving Paula totally in charge. Thus begins her tragic, brutal quest for revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1992
In the northwest of modern-day Argentina, a new Indian ranch-worker has come to work on a cattle ranch. He left his old home after living through the accidental death of his son which, irrationally, he felt responsible for. At his new place of work, the chief gaucho (foreman or head cowboy) has an illegitimate son who is about the age of the Indian's dead son, and they become friends. This irritates the chief gaucho; even though he refuses to acknowledge the boy as his own or have much to do with him, he's still jealous of his parental rights. Meanwhile, the son of the ranch's owner has come back from studying scientific agriculture in the U.S. He persuades his dad that ranching is a low-profit business and that they should convert the whole spread over to tobacco. This spells hardship for almost everyone involved. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patricio Contreras, Leonor Manso, (more)
- 1990
This film is carefully designed to please local fans of the beloved Argentine stand-up comedian, stage performer and magician Florencio Parravicini. His stage name was "Flop." Florencio's father was a prison director, and he was raised among prisoners from the age of seven. Moments from the performer's stage shows are interspersed with shots showing his backstage life, and flashbacks which illustrate his early life. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Laplace, Inda Ledesma, (more)
- 1986
This 1986 film portrays a couple from Argentina who move to New York City for political reasons, but later wish to journey back to their home. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Luis Brandoni, Marta Bianchi, (more)
- 1977
Assisted by a ward nurse, a group of young men enjoy occasional romantic rendezvous with the willing female inmates of a mental institution. One young woman encounters difficulties because of this. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mercedes Carreras, Juan Jose Camero, (more)
- 1974
Given the financial deprivations and rampant censorship bedeviling the Argentine film industry of the 1970s, it is positively miraculous that top-rank films like Far Away and Long Ago continued to emerge. Directed by Manuel Antin, whose 1970 Don Segundo Sombra was sung praises at the Cannes Film Festival, this 1974 release was adapted from the autobiographical novel by Guiellermo Hudson. Covering his youth and adolescence in Argentina, Hudson deftly juxtaposes fact with fantasy--the latter category including many of the superstitions common to his people. In Felliniesque fashion, both the novel and the film touch upon the author's earliest sexual yearnings. Far Away and Long Ago has occasionally surfaced on Spanish-language cable TV channels, but a widespread US distribution is long overdue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1974
- R
Nana (Martha Gonzalez), the heroine of this movie, has only one chance at real love, with the good-looking ladies' man Juan Carlos (Alfredo Alcon). In this film, based on Manuel Puig's novel Heartbreak Tango, Nana is too shy to go to bed with him and reveal that she is not a virgin. When he discovers that he has tuberculosis, he is forced to leave town for an extended rest-cure, and when he returns, she has since married a wealthy man who takes her with him to glamorous Buenos Aires. Years after Juan Carlos' death, she journeys with her children to the town where he died. In her old age, though, she has virtually forgotten their love. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
