Warten auf den Messias

I too was intrigued by the high (8.5) rating for this film, and was very disappointed. I had just seen a couple of good foreign films and was looking forward to making it three in a row, but it was not to be. I went with a spanish speaking friend who felt the same way. There is not much of a plot, if any. I don't necessarily need that in a movie, but it needs to somehow entertain or bring me in. The best I could say would be that it aspires to be an Altman-esque film, albeit with an extremely small ensemble. Sure, there are moments, but a few moments easily get thinned out by 97 slow minutes of nothing. I do not understand the high rating for this film. I give it a 3.

Two Men at a Crossroads "Waiting for the Messiah" shows us two different worlds and two different men and how each deals with personal and professional loss.

Ariel is a young man living in Once, the predominately Jewish neighborhood of Buenos Aires, a city that also has Latin America's largest Jewish community. The path of Ariel's life is clear and certain: marriage to Estela, a beautiful waitress working in his father's restaurant, followed by children, and a long life in the tight-knit neighborhood he's always known.

But the unexpected death of Ariel's mother and the temporary closing of the family restaurant because of Argentina's economic crisis lead Ariel, an amateur filmmaker, to leave the Once barrio each day for a night shift job editing video tape. There Ariel meets Elsa, a lesbian who makes him reconsider his earlier choices.

The life of Santamaria, a middle aged, middle class bank clerk, is also transformed by Argentina's economic problems. Santamaria is thrown out of work and dumped by his wife when his bank closes. Soon he's living on the streets and reduced to rummaging through trash to find stolen identification cards that he can return to owners in hopes of a reward. Santamaria yearns for the conventional wife and the family life that Ariel is considering escaping.

"Waiting for the Messiah" skillfully weaves together the stories of Ariel and the people of their lives as each man explores what to do next. Though the ending feels forced and almost tacked on as an afterthought, the stories that take you there are entertaining and absorbing. The real strength of this movie, however, lies in the glimpses it offers of Jewish life in Argentina and how ordinary people have coped with the country's latest round of economic troubles.

7/10

Tempted by IMDB's rating of 8.7 my expectations were clearly set too high for this movie. Also, the "comedy" genre keyword didn't become clear to me. What did became clear was how hard life can be, what a struggle it can become. Either by the bank employee who losses his job and is put on the street by his wife/girl-friend and becomes homeless. Or by the Jewish young man who keeps working on a temporary contract, always hoping for a fixed contract while courting a lesbian. The interesting comparison that can be made between the two, is that surely the bank employee is much worse off the the Jewish young man, but is much less unhappy. The bank employee gets satisfaction from his "job" of returning personal things from people that have been robbed (he searches garbage for thrown away wallets and such that were stripped from the money by thieves). Especially beautiful are the scenes of the bank employee and the woman he falls in love with, the toilet madame of the train stations' bathrooms. Some very romantic moments are captured there.

However, the movie needs the first half of the time to set things up. That's too long, one starts wondering after 45 minutes where things are heading for. The second half must deliver the satisfaction, but has a hard time doing so. It is certainly a nice movie, but not a must to see IMHO.

This outstanding Argentine independent film is one of the very best of the year 2000 from all South America, including Argentina, which is producing an astonishing number of quality films since 1999. In 2000 alone, Argentina released many quality films, which broke Argentine B.O. records. A half dozen were internationally acclaimed, like this one, at important world film festivals. After viewing this film, one can see how home grown Argentinian films were able last year to recapture 20% of its national movie market.

Directed by one of Argentina's best directors, Daniel Burman, this film examines effects of globalisation worldwide, but emphasizes its impact on Argentina, and particularly the Jewish community of Buenos Aires. Daniel Hendler is wonderful as the nice Jewish boy, trying to survive and even succeed in today's business climate. Hector Alterio, one of the great actors of Hispanic Cinema worldwide, is perfect as Simon, the Jewish father, as is the rest of the cast, which includes Spanish and Italian stars.

So many current themes in urban Western societies are explored, I don't have enough space to go into detail. Daniel Burman cleverly weaves them into the plot with different characters personifying diverse dilemmas. If this film plays at a festival near you, or on video, don't miss it!