“There’s no doubt about the testimonial value that documenting a certain time in the life of a great writer has. And we’re talking about a very special time period, meaning the revision of a writer’s own life by reading a diary he’s kept for 50 years. First, a personal document comes out of that and at the same time there’s also ‘a time capsule,’ which contains half a century of Argentine life,” says filmmaker Andrés Di Tella (La televisión y yo, Fotografías, Hachazos, Máquina de sueños) about his new documentary 327 cuadernos (327 Notebooks), which provides a lot more than an insightful gaze into the life of Ricardo Piglia, one of Argentina’s great contemporary writers.
Di Tella could not have chosen a more appropriate time for his project: the return of Piglia to Argentina after having lived abroad for several years. Among other things, Piglia comes back with a very important goal: to review, for the first time, the 327 notebooks that make up his 50-year-old personal diary, a document that also speaks eloquently of key aspects of Argentina’s social and political life. This way, 327 cuadernos, the film, comes across as an inspired film diary of the reading of a multifaceted diary.
As in many of his previous films, Di Tella shows once again he has a knack for interviewing well-known personalities who still have much to say, despite having been interviewed many times before by an endless number of journalists. That’s why it’s the filmmaker’s ability to establish a rich conversation what triggers apparently lost memories, secrets, and an occasional confession. As Piglia is interviewed — with Di Tella rightly keeping out of the frame — the topics he tackles and the observations he makes are sometimes accompanied by archive footage from both his personal life and Argentina’s politics. So in some cases they do attain a larger scope, whereas other times short silences and pauses allow the writer’s words to linger in viewers’ minds on a more personal note.
Never solemn or preachy, 327 cuadernos is not keen on providing mere information you can get anywhere. Instead, it probes deep in the writer’s soul in a very effective and nonchalant manner. And while the use of a voice-over to glue the account together usually is not a very interesting technique because it’s so overworked, in this particular case the result is the exact opposite. Piglia’s voice, with its soft inflexions and rephrasing, is more of an emotional vehicle than an informative one.
In short, Di Tella’s documentary is a fine auteur work with many singularities that turn into a brief study of a man whose writings have been enjoyed by many generations, here and abroad.
Where and when
Gaumont Movie Theatre (Rivadavia 1635), Malba (Av. Figueroa Alcorta 3415). Saturday 10pm, Sunday 6pm
Production notes
327 cuadernos (Andrés Di Tella, 2015) Cinematography: Guillermo Ueno, Gastón Girod. Editing: Valeria Racioppi, Felipe Guerrero. Running time: 78 minutes.
