Abel (2010)

From a brief description, Abel sounds like a lighthearted comedy. A boy, possibly autistic, takes charge in his household when he realizes that his mother is struggling to raise her three children. After staying up all night watching Pedro Infante movies, he begins to act like a father, taking care of his younger brother and older sister. However, problems arise when he takes his role too far. The film gets slightly disturbing when Abel begins thinking he is actually an adult. There are predictably cute moments that occur when a child acts like an adult, but they are constantly undermined by slightly disturbing moments. Don't get me wrong, Abel is still somewhat of a comedy, but it has a much darker side.Luna is clearly well versed in Lacan (or, at the very least, he's read Mulvey). Abel's problem is with his identification. Something went wrong in the mirror stage and now his entire understanding of the symbolic order is incorrect. He rejects the name of the father and things get strangely Oedipal. In a climactic sequence, Abel's father makes use of a mirror in an attempt to correct Abel's identificatory issues.Usually, Lacan is evoked for commentaries on the medium itself. Luna gives the ideas a fresh take by tackling them within the plot. If you've read Lacan or are familiar with his ideas, you'll definitely get a kick out of this film. Even if you haven't (but if you're interested in film, you should definitely read Mulvey's short article Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema) you can still enjoy the film as a bizarre story about a kid who challenges his absent father.

"Think, therefore I am" is the best way I could describe this movie. The Director shows how a child with a mental illness found its place in this world by assuming the role of the family's head in the absent of it. Something to think about is how this child built its role in his head by models found in old fashion movies, and then the film shows what happens when he found a free way to expressed himself without finding any obstacle playing the father and husband's role, accepted by a mother who found in this odd behavior, a hope to rescue him from an mental isolation life.Life is the addition of little moments with a meaning and this film shows a drama with those funny and tragic moments of the family.The director let us see urban art invoking nostalgic moments from past decades in its scenes and little details. He did a great work to catch the natural and graceful performance of the children.

Diego Luna's first film is a good movie about a kid with a mental disorder. The boy named Abel (Christhoper Ruiz Esparza) is the main character in this story about a middle-class Mexican family. This boy take the place of his father (nobody known about him by 2 years)trying to fill out the space at the father in the lives of his brothers. This movie has drama and comedy in an interesting mix. Jose Maria Yazpick (Anselmo's character)deserves a special mention, very good actor. The movie change from drama at beginning, comedy in the middle and return to drama. This is a god film but needs more punch at end to become a great, I noted that Luna needed more experienced to make it an extraordinary movie.

I was looking forward to watch this film since the first time I saw the trailer. It seemed like an interesting idea and it didn't look like the kind of story Mexican cinema is used to show.And it, indeed, is a peculiar story. There are some awkward and funny situations as a result of a boy acting like his own father, but on the other hand, the drama of a delusional kid who doesn't really know who he is and feels the need to fill the father role in his family. The real conflict begins when the real dad decides to finally show up after a two year absence.I liked how the characters are portrayed and also the acting, especially from Christopher Ruíz-Esparza (the boy who plays Abel). The story is told with a good balance between comedy and drama and is really enjoyable.