Waiting for the Messiah (Esperando Al Mesias)

Starring:Hendler, Sandrelli, Caselli, Pineyro
Studio: Tla
Product Type: DVD

Description

In the Jewish section of Buenos Aires, a young man faces questions of career and love after his mother dies; should he stay in the protective embrace of his Jewish culture and marry his childhood sweetheart, or venture out into the world where he has met a beautiful, confused, bisexual Christian artist? Waiting for the Messiah is a poignant and funny film about self-discovery and passionate confusion. Spanish with English subtitles.

Customer Reviews:

"I told her about China, but she doesn't understand".......2007-04-29

"Waiting for the Messiah" (= "Esperando al Mesías") is an interesting Argentinian film, directed by Daniel Burman. Strangely enough, I only watched it for the first time yesterday, even though it was released some years ago. To tell the truth, I looked it up because I enjoyed watching "Lost embrace" (= "El abrazo partido"), another film directed by Burman, and wanted to find out if "Waiting for the Messiah" was equally good. Thankfully, it is...

This film tells how an economic crisis in Asia ends up affecting people in Argentina, and shows the effect that the abstract forces of the market have on the lives of real people. Santamaria (Enrique Pineyro) loses his job, something that his wife sees as a good excuse to leave him. Ariel (Daniel Hendler), a young Jewish man, loses his family's saving in a bank that closes, and has to hide the bad news from his sick mother. Both characters, and others that the spectator will meet, have to learn how to face their new circumstances, without losing hope and the ability to look forward to new things.

All in all, I think that "Waiting for the Messiah" is a film that you are likely to enjoy, if you are fond of small but engaging movies that tell stories that seem real. Recommended...

Belen Alcat

"I am no longer waiting for anyone".......2005-02-15

Every time I watch a Latin American movie I am amazed by how different the culture is from the one seen in the US or UK. This of course results in the film showing a break from what we are used to getting from Hollywood. A few aspects that create these differences are: a deeper look into everyday events of the characters life, the depiction of a way of living that goes by at a slower pace and the scenery in which the evens occur (in this case mostly the neighborhood in Buenos Aires known as El Once).

Problems with the markets in South Asia have affected businesses and people in Argentina. In particular, the two main characters in this movie are touched by the events in different ways. Santamaria (Enrique Pineyro) works in a bank that goes bankrupt as a result of the Asian downfall, so he loses his job and as soon as his wife finds out, she kicks him out of their house. Ariel (Daniel Hendler) is worried because his father's life savings were in the bank that went broke and now the do not have a safety net anymore. To make things worse, his mother is extremely sick and is expected to die soon. Ariel is convinced that his Jewish mother will not die, just so that she can keep taking care of her family as is characteristic of a Yiddishe Mama. But when the inevitable happens, he needs to find a way to go on with his life and help his father with moving forward.

So basically we have two characters that are having different crises and that come together when Santamaria finds a stack of discarded wallets left in the garbage by thieves, who took the money and got rid of the documents. He then starts callings the victims to see if he can get some kind of reward from returning the remaining personal effects to their owners. In this way at least he can get some food and survive. One of the victims was Ariel's mom and this causes the two men to meet.

The movie touches on a couple of very interesting points, like what it means to be Jewish in Latin American and how they stick together and keep up with tradition. But what I think is even more important is how the film shows the power of love and how it can keep you going even at the toughest times, even if it is not reciprocated. In this regard, there are a couple of very interesting female characters that provide the movie with a collection of moving scenes.

Besides the fact that the story in which the movie is based is very interesting and represents the life in Argentina very well, I felt drawn to this production because I am Uruguayan and the main actor, Daniel Hendler, is the new and probably only Uruguayan star at this moment. There are a couple of directors that have had international success, like Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll with their movie "25 watts", but Hendler is the only actor from my country that has been recognized internationally in the last few years. I recommend this movie to all of those that enjoy a good story, but particularly to those that want to see how people live in the countries around the Rio de la Plata.

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