¨I`ve got a Chinese guy living in my house who
doesn`t speak a word of Spanish.¨
Ricardo Darín has starred in two of my favorite
Argentine films: El Secreto de Sus Ojos and Nueve Reinas. Darín is a great
actor and he has proved he can do very different roles and manage them well. In
this film he plays a quiet grumpy and lonely man whose life turns around when
an unexpected visitor changes his every day routine. Un Cuento Chino was written
and directed by Sebastian Borensztein, a director I wasn’t familiar with until
now. He has made a well crafted film by mixing the right amount of comedy with
drama. The movie shines thanks to the original script and Darín`s performance,
along with two good supporting performances from unknown actors Muriel Santa
Ana and Ignacio Huang. The film claims to be based on a true story, but
actually it is just loosely based on an unexpected incident which had to do
with a cow falling from the sky and sinking a Japanese ship. This story
actually begins with a Chinese couple in a River who are interrupted when a cow
falls from the sky. From that moment on you know that you are in for a very
different movie, but there is a perfect explanation for the event. The cow
falling from the sky is the only true event about this movie which is a fictionalization
about a relationship between this lonely man played by Ricardo Darín and a Chinese
immigrant in Argentina. Their failure to communicate is what makes this film so
funny.
Roberto (Ricardo Darin) is a hardware store
owner who lives on his own in the city of Buenos Aires. He is very grumpy and
always complaining, but also seems to live a very quiet and routine life. His
house is behind the store so he spends most of his time indoors keeping to his
self and collecting newspaper clips of bizarre and rare stories in order to prove
that life is meaningless. He goes to bed exactly at 11pm and wakes up the next
morning to the same breakfast: coffee and bread. He seems comfortable living on
his own. He seems to have had a short relationship with the sister in law of
the person who always brings him the international newspapers. Her name is Mari
(Muriel Santa Ana) and she lives in the countryside far from Buenos Aires, but
happens to be visiting again and is very much in love with Roberto. His life
changes when he runs into a Chinese immigrant named Jun (Ignacio Huang) who is
thrown out of a cab after being mugged. Jun has nowhere to go and doesn’t speak
Spanish so Roberto decides to help him. He takes Jun to the address he has tattooed
on his arm, but the person living there claims that a Chinese man sold the
house to him several years ago. Roberto takes Jun to the Chinese Embassy where
Jun can finally communicate his intentions: He has come to Argentina to find
his uncle since he is the only family he has left. Despite the inconvenience
Roberto decides to take Jun in for a few days until his uncle shows up. This
will change Roberto`s routine and affect his life.
Darin`s character might be grumpy and mean, but
he is also nice and has a big enough heart to accommodate a foreigner into his
home. He will never expect how this relationship will dramatically change his
life, but this relationship is exactly what makes the story work. There are
other funny moments like some of the paper clips that Roberto finds and how he
recreates those bizarre events in his mind, but the center of the story
revolves around him, Jun, and Mari. The story moves slow at times, but it works
really well because it shows us exactly how Roberto lived before Jun shows up.
Once Jun is with Roberto everything changes and that is what makes for the
funniest moments. Un Cuento Chino is a very rare film, but a good one with
memorable characters and an unlikely pairing between Darin and Huang that works
really well. The film has a feel good feeling to it and once the credits begin
to role it`s impossible not to leave with a smile in your face. I absolutely
recommend this movie which won Best Argentine Film and the Goya for Best Iberoamerican
Film in 2011.
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