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Medianeras (Film)

by Emmet O'Cuana | March 28, 2011 15:35 | Edited March 28, 2011 15:38

A strange but seamless mix of comedy, romance and social commentary, this offers up thought-provoking questions about the impact of modern technology on human interaction.

Medianeras opens with a collage of different buildings in Buenos Aires - offices, apartment complexes - densely packed together, with conflicting architectural styles representing the various people living in the overpopulated city. Martín (Javier Drolas), a neurotic web designer who rarely steps away from his computer in his shoe-box flat describes how he is part of a "culture of tenants" - everyone is just passing through.

 

In the building across from him lives Mariana (Pilar Lopez De Ayala), a frustrated architect who can only find work designing shop front mannequin displays. She has developed her own set of emotional complexes following a recent break-up and rarely leaves her high-rise apartment.

 

These two lonely souls live in perfect parallel - both are at one point witness to a shocking ‘dog suicide' - but repeatedly fail to meet. Escapism is a particularly common trait, as Martín is obsessed with ‘Astroboy' and Mariana has been studying ‘Where's Wally' books for fourteen years. An interest in the music of Daniel Johnston is also something they share, used to great effect in one scene.

 

Both cross paths with various individuals who are all in their own way incapable of relating to others, the city seemingly full of insecure, emotionally distant neurotics. Modern technology promised to bring people closer together, but for these two people it has only succeeded in insulating them from genuine human interaction.  

 

Gustavo Taretto's debut feature is largely based on his 2005 short of the same name. The opening images of Buenos Aires divorced from the countryside around it is later contrasted with shots of plant life springing up from amongst the concrete, symbolising the director's hope that people will learn to adapt to this "era of virtual relationships". This is a sweetly comic romance that remains oddly hopeful despite its vision of contemporary alienation.

 

Medianeras is set to open the La Mirada Film Festival on April 14. To buy tickets to this film, or to check out the full program of the festival (which runs until April 26), go here.