News

On the day his acclaimed pianist son is due to visit, bedridden Argentinean writer Antonio Larreta slips free of his coterie of nurses and maids and roams the fields surrounding his estate. He has his IV bag in one hand and his cane in the other, and when he gets weak, he falls to the ground and gazes off in the distance, reflecting. As he’s just explained to his doctor, lately he’s been dreaming about someone he hasn’t seen in years, and he’s not sure if this means he’s reached the end of his life ...

We're all for getting out in the summertime, but there might not be anything more refreshing than cooling off in a movie theater... or seeing a movie in the comfort of your air-conditioned home on demand, on DVD, or online... or better yet catching a classic on the big screen at a nearby repertory theater. With literally hundreds of films to choose from this summer, we humbly present this guide to the season's most exciting offerings.

May 1

"Eldorado"

The Cast: Bouli Lanners, Fabrice Adde, Philippe Nahon, Didier Toupy, Franise Chichy

Director: Bouli Lanners

Fest Cred: Cannes, Warsaw, Glasgow, Palm Springs,

The Gist: When Elie (Adde), a hapless young thief attempts to rob Yvan (Lanners), a 40-year-old car dealer, the two form a unlikely friendship that leads to a road trip across Belgium in this slight comedy that won the Best European Film at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes last year.

At a festival in Spain nearly 20 years ago, I saw a won derful comedy called "Ever smile, New Jersey," starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a traveling dentist in Argentina and directed by Carlos Sorin.

To the best of my knowledge, the film never received a release here.

The same can't be said for Sorin's tender gem "The Window," which today begins a two-week run at Film Forum.

Inspired by Bergman's 1957 "Wild Strawberries" -- which also inspired Woody Allen's 1997 "Deconstructing Harry" -- "The Window" is set in a...

The World Premiere of Carlos Sorín‘s La Ventana (The Window) at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival came and went as quietly as the film’s narrative about the last day in the life of Antonio, an 80-year-old writer awaiting the visit of his estranged son on his hacienda in northern Patagonia. As he takes stock and reminisces, he looks out the window at his fields, the sun, the buzzing life that beckons him even as it fades before his eyes. Distinguished Argentine filmmaker Carlos Sorín once again trains his camera on the small stories written by life, on the humanity behind human beings. By casting the great Uruguayan writer and scriptwriter Antonio Larreta in the lead role, Sorín establishes a link between fiction and reality that makes the protagonist’s fears, hopes and wishes even more palpable. Larreta won the Premio Planeta (the second most valuable literary award in...

Sundance focused attention almost exclusively on new American independent features and documentaries, but what about the rest of the world? Film Movement is doing their part, acquiring Us rights to Carlos Sorin's Argentine drama The Window and planning a May 2009 theatrical release, according to indieWIRE.

That sounds like a good counter-programming move. Film Movement is a small distributor of independent and foreign films and knows how to nurture their acquisitions. And even if The Window doesn't play theatrically beyond a few big cities, this deal will assure that it will be available on DVD this year, which is good news for fans of director Sorin. He previously made dramas such as Historias Minimas ("absorbing, undemanding," per Jeffrey M. Anderson) and Bombón: El Perro ("an unashamed crowdpleaser," per Neil Young), and The Window sounds like it's in a similar vein. Take a look at the trailer, embedded above, which reveals...