Moon of Avellaneda (2004)

Luna de Avellaneda, a social club in a working class district of Buenos Aires has seen better days. In fact, we are given a short peek at the place in another era. The club was full of life, a crowded place where people went to have a good time and mingle with friends and neighbors. That look to the past happens during a night when a sort of fair is going on. That is the night in which Roman comes into the world as his mother, attending the feast, gives birth to him in the club house. As a gesture, Roman Maldonado is made free member for life. Roman's fate was sealed the night when he was born. His love for the institution will never die.When we next come to the club, years have gone by. In fact, seventy years the club has been in existence. Sadly, Aquiles, founder of the Luna, and the board of directors are told they owe forty thousand pesos in back taxes they neglected to pay. Roman, now active in the affairs of the Luna, goes to the municipality to find out what can be done. One of the problems is the dwindling membership and people not socializing as before. Alejandro, who is a member of the club has received a proposal from someone interested in developing the site into a sort of amusement park which will employ 200 workers from the club. What Alejandro proposes is to sell their beloved Luna where he stands to make a handsome profit.It is the end of an era. To complicate matters, Roman's marriage has reached an impasse. His wife Veronica, a school teacher, wants a separation. Dario, his son, wants to leave the country to go to try his luck in Spain. The place is crumbling and no one knows the solution to bring back the Luna of Avellaneda to a semblance of what it was.Juan Jose Campanella, co-wrote and directed this film that is laden with symbolism. One can see the parallel between the Luna and the country, Argentina. Both have seen splendor, but alas, both are going through difficult times. The back taxes from the social club stands for the money the country owes because in spite of having the potential to be great, not much is being produced. Dario, the young son of Roman, like some of his contemporaries want to leave to seek a better life, in his case to Spain, only to see the dream probably ending at present because of the high unemployment in Spain. Loyalty, as well as nostalgia, are two of the themes that come into play. Only Roman and a handful of members vote to keep the club going. Ricardo Darin is an actor that always gives his best in everything he appears. He shows he can carry a picture as he has proved with "Son of the Bride", "The Secret in Their Eyes", "El mismo amor, la misma lluvia", all directed by Mr. Campanella. Mr. Darin is a welcome presence in any film in which he decides to appear. He shows a special understanding with the director.Mr. Campanella always include Eduardo Blanco in his films. His Amadeo is not exactly one of his best creations and the way the character is written it does not make much sense, but he is around to give the picture some sort of comic relief. Daniel Fanego, Mercedes Moran, Valeria Bertuccelli and the late Spanish actor Jose Luis Lopez Vazquez do good work for Mr. Campanella.

just saw it last night,at 2:30 a.m.,on cable TV.it was such an unexpected joy!i'm still digesting the film,its humor,its brilliant direction,every single aspect that makes it a superb film.had never seen anything from the director before,but while watching it,i reckoned:it's a genius,sheer,pure genius.not to tell that i kind of woke up the family laughing,terribly,laughing...his little touches of being human,that belongs ,only,to the big ones.i'll talk to everyone about it.if films are made to entertain us,it did it;if films are made to enlighten us,it did it;if films are made to make us feel that we're part of some big thing that we can and cannot discover truly,this did it!success?failure?don't we encounter those in our lives?watch it,and enjoy!

I have seen the movie at the Montreal Film Festival. I am not Argentine and don't speak Spanish. It is, however, one of the ten best movies I have seen in my life. Argentines can rest assured that this will be as powerful abroad as it seems to be down there. Rarely have I seen an audience enjoy a movie so much, thelaughter, the emotion, the high sense of humanity. It is certainly one of the most, if not the most, popular movie in the Festival. Intelligent, timely, human,incredibly witty, deeply emotional. A movie that makes you happy to belong to the human race.Please, wherever you are in the world, if this movie shows up in your localfestival, DON'T MISS IT!!! Anybody can make movies about war and misery andpoverty, but a movie that creates so much warmth and drama from small everyday situations is a gem. It had me crying and laughing and crying and laughing again. The applause at the Festival was thunderous, and so were the reviews.I have not seen "Son Of The Bride" which was a big hit here. I do not want to miss it now. It is refreshing to see that somebody gives us the pleasure to go back to the movies to learn and enjoy life. It's been five days since I've seen it, and I still can't shake it off my mind. I find myself laughing and tearing up in the oddest situations.One of the best movies I've seen in my life.

This movie is not an easy one. The succor and illusion of the previous Campanella seems to have gone the same way as the Argentine industry, education, sense of security, that is gone for good,at least for now. This is a suburb city, Avellaneda, in decay just as the whole society. Crossing the bridge into B.Aires, where Darin goes to reflect, will not change the situation. Argentina and Argentines are trapped, and must figure out ways to come out of yet another crisis, and as Jesse Jackson would say,¨"Keep Hope Alive". Darin asks his friend Amadeo, in a great performance by Eduardo Blanco, when he decides to stay in the country "How do you create a new social club". Amadeo responds: "We will research it and figure it out", which is what almost anyone in Buenos Aires is trying to figure out. The social crisis affects not only the economics of a country but its social and human relations, with couples breaking up, cheaters cheating friends and ex-lovers or spouses, and yet there is the hope AA gives to one of the characters, stubbornness in others who refuse to accept friends'leaving the country, and the biggest symbol of hope, the dance teacher's being pregnant, being the ultimate symbol of survival and hope. Acting is uniformly good, although Darin is getting a little stagnant in the role of the wet-eyed sensitive guy. The production is superb, well beyond Argentine standards. And as remarked above, Campanella did not sweeten the reality of this film (as I felt he did with Son of the bride). Must see to understand Greater Buenos Aires and its people.