Medianeras

★★★★

(2011)

Gustavo Taretto’s utterly charming debut could well be the best romantic comedy without a hint of, what any mainstream audience would call, romance at all. A film which sets up a world of dislocation, of distraction and of isolation, using a long statically shot city portrait for metaphorical fodder, might not reassure those who just want to see a “Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker get together in the end” type of love story but don’t be fooled, Medianeras is a great feel good film on course with Mike Mill’s Beginners…

Unlike Webb’s smash hit however, Taretto is not concerned with battle of the sexes style laughs, gaudy colours, shopping montages and over done feel good moments. The crux of “Sidewalls” is that it’s far more concerned with the romance of anonymity, of chance and of longing and has rightly avoided pandering or spoon feeding his audience a clichéd shit sandwich. In fact in the end, Medianeras is one of the most warm and rewarding love stories of recent memory.

Martín (Javier Drolas) and Marina (Pilar López de Ayala) are perfect for each other. They listen to same music, watch the same films, have a waning interest in swimming, they are even neighbours. But more than that, in the bustling, overcrowded city of Buenos Aires, they are complete strangers to each other. She dresses windows and dreams of being an architect while he spends his coding in his apartment and playing video games, they both date (disastrously), pass each other in the street and we like them, end up growing tired of their moping and desperately will them to get out of the funk and into to real life.

Taretto’s script does voice over right. Producing a double portrait of lost souls without a hint of sap, using the touches and obvious influence of Woody Allen and a drab colour palette and a visual flare somewhat reminiscent of Michel Gondry. Asking questions of our virtual world and of the new way relationships are formed through technology the film is never preachy but obviously cares deeply for the state of detachment which modern life and city living can do to the single and lonely.

The beautiful mirroring of character and of characters actions is the hook which will hold you to Medianeras, which make you love Martín and Marina or will annoy you to no end. Certainly melancholic and even sad in parts but undoubtedly uplifting; The performances, the score and the cool briskness of it all combine to make the whole film a real joy to watch.