Anita

I just found this title and decided to see it because in the credits was the name of Norma Leandro. The fact is that the fantastic actress from Argentina is not the one who touches you and remains in your memory: is Anita (Alejandra Manzo), the girl with down syndrome, who performs a truly remarkable, emotional and touching film. The script is simple, but Marcos Carnevale, the director (Elsa & Fred), leads the story with sensibility and yet distance. It's all about this woman, Anita, who loses her mother after a bomb explosion in Buenos Aires, and gets lost in the city. During several days she walks and finds people who doesn't know what to do with her. She isn't able to say too much about what happened to her because her world was limited to her mother's company. With this few elements a great movie is done and delivered to the audience. I don't live in Argentina. But this film convinces me that in this country there is a profound sensibility that is expressed in films. A must see, if you like movies where the human beings are shown as they are, as we are.

Anita (2009) was co-written and directed by Marcos Carnevale. In this unusual Argentinian film, we follow the odyssey of a young woman with Down syndrome. Anita, played by Alejandra Manzo, lives contentedly with her mother, Dora. (Dora is played by the wonderful actor Norma Aleandro.) A tragic event sends Anita wandering the streets of Buenos Aires, armed with little more than a smile, a few words, and a loving and trusting nature.

People with Down syndrome have a range of intelligence that allows some to function fully and independently in society. (I assume this is true of Ms. Manzo, who is a professional actor.) However, Anita is clearly not in the higher range, so that her survival skills are pretty meager, and they are tested to the full when she is lost.

She survives from day to day because people feel sorry for her, and want to help her, although not always in a way that brings them much credit. (People help her, but they help her sporadically and unwillingly.)

What keeps this film from being just a feel-good movie is that the people Anita meets aren't overly kind or effusive, and they certainly aren't saintly. The good news is that no one tries to harm or harass her--they just would rather not be bothered.

We really enjoyed this film, partly because of its interesting plot. Better yet, the movie never succumbed to the temptation to make Anita perfect, or able to mystically discern things that others cannot. She's a young woman with developmental disabilities who, like the rest of us, is doing the best she can to survive and to enjoy life.

We saw this movie at the truly outstanding Rochester Jewish Film Festival. It will work well on DVD as well. This is a must-see film for those who work in the field of developmental disabilities, but I can recommend it to everyone who wants to see a unusual and thought-provoking movie.

Every so often I watch an old Argentinian movie on You tube. For reasons unknown to me, most of those copies are in such rotten condition that most of the time they deflate your desire to watch the movie.

Specially those from the 20s, 30s, 40s and fifties.

What happened, they don't care about the preservation of our historical patrimony? From the 60s to the present there seems to be no problem with audio and visuals.

I mentioned that historical period of Argentinian movie making because the transition from that bland, amateurish, mediocre industry to what became later in the XXth century is something to be seen to believe it - I place the dividing line with "La historia oficial"- "Official Story", 1985, a movie that was a sort of an earthquake (at least for me) a jaw dropping jewel of a movie that defined a new standard of excellency for the Argentinian cinema.

More expert critics with our industry will certainly place that dividing line somewhere else.

And since then, many jewels adorn our cinema. Like this one, "Anita". Wow, what an excellent movie!! Every thing about it is top drawer, from the director down to the last extra. And same thing can be said about the cinematography. Peerless. The girl playing Anita -Alejandra Manzo- fitted the perfect casting like a glove fits a hand, a dream of any director when having to convey Down syndrome with that awesome understanding and delicacy respecting the sensibilities of actors and audiences alike.

Very moving film in most scenes, without being wimpy. Something utterly difficult to hold back in this case, where the director could have gone overboard with emotions creating a tsunami of tears. I assume the girl playing Anita is not, in real life, as incapacitated as the character in the film, otherwise it must have been a miracle to have her saying her lines as she did.

To me, Anita's character is the most pathetic I've seen since "Precious", 2009, with Gabourey Sidibe, and of course Gelsomina, in "La Strada", 1954, that unforgettable Fellini's masterpiece.