Whisky
Monday, October 18, 2010
“A Latin American equivalent to recent films by Aki Kaurismäki. Sixty-year-old Jacobo Köller (Andrés Pazos) owns a none too successful sock factory; till a year ago, he lived with and looked after his mother, which seems to have left him morose and devoted to routine. But now his brother Herman (Jorge Bollani), who lives with his wife in Brazil and missed mom’s funeral, plans to visit for the erection of a headstone, so Jacobo – for reasons kept to himself – asks his forewoman Marta (Mirella Pascual) to pretend to be his wife for the duration of Herman’s stay… It should be said that some of the above is deduced by yours truly rather than made explicit in the narrative; dialogue is sparse, especially in the film’s first half, and one of the movie’s pleasures stems from actively engaging with what’s shown in order to make sense of motives, cause and effect, nuance and resonance. Like this audacious, improbably expressive take on characterisation and narrative, the bone-dry comedy is as reticent as the trio portrayed. Everything’s beautifully understated; we’re allowed time to take in and reflect on what’s happening; and, notwithstanding the pervasive wry humour, the threesome are themselves treated with respect. This last virtue derives as much from the use of an un-prying, utterly static camera as from the excellent, entirely unsentimental performances. Lovely stuff.” – Time Out (London)
WHISKY is co-presented by the Global Film Initiative and is part of the Global Lens Collection. For more information, visit www.globalfilm.org
- Rating NR
- Year 2004
- Running Time 95 minutes
IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.