Hernán Roselli’s Mauro is an unpretentious and true-to-life portrait of human nature
“From the start, I wanted to avoid some topics of classic realism, but I also wanted to avoid that entomologic distance typical of a certain realism usually seen in film festivals, that kind of gaze that confuses distance with cruelty as regards representation, and so it condescendingly stands above the characters. That’s why emotions are indeed very present in Mauro, but they don’t build a closed system between what happens and what the characters feel. I wanted to strike a balance and achieve tenderness without patronizing,” Argentine filmmaker Hernán Roselli told the Herald about his perceptive debut feature that won the Jury Special Prize at this year’s BAFICI and is now being screened at the Malba Museum.
It couldn’t be any more true that a large number of indie features showcased in festivals have a realistic, documentary-like approach that strips their subjects bare, as though they were scientific material for cold scrutiny. But when Roselli tells the story of Mauro, a wary man who hustles counterfeit money, he does something different. He draws a character study in all its human nature, even if he casts an acute observational gaze at the same time. It’s only a matter of observing close enough, and so you’ll see apparently ordinary occurrences that are the signs of hidden sentiments and unfulfilled yearnings.
Mauro effortlessly eschews a psychologist approach to account for the protagonist’s predicament. Little is known about Mauro’s feelings towards his girlfriend, Paula, whom he met at a bar. You can tell he likes her, but how deep his love is or how it affects him, that remains for viewers to figure out. Accordingly, the dialogue is never revelatory, and neither are the actions and reactions. The point is that simple rules of cause and effect don’t apply in this universe. After all, human behaviour goes beyond that.
The characters here are indeed very real, and so performances must be finely-tuned, or otherwise artificiality would hinder realism. Mauro Martínez, Juliana Simoes Risso, José Pablo Suárez, Victoria Bustamante, and Pablo Ramos fill in the shoes of their characters with ease, and so the drama becomes all the more compelling. Plus an ascetic, a seemingly simple yet elaborate mise-en-scene is the perfect setting for these characters to bond. And something else that sets Mauro apart from other films that have similar goals, but fail pathetically, is how unpretentious it is. No big meanings, no enlightening ideas, no messages for viewers. That is to say no underestimation of its audience.
On the minus side, an aspect that somewhat lessens the film’s leisurely paced dramatic progression is its tendency to repeat, from time to time, some things that have already been apprehended and understood. This is when the film loses some of its momentum. Otherwise, Mauro is the work of an accomplished novel director who clearly knows what he’s doing and where he’s going.
Production notes
Mauro (Argentina, 2014). Directed and produced by Hernán Rosselli. With Mauro Martínez, Juliana Simones Risso, Victoria Bustamante, José Pablo Suárez, Pablo Ramos. Screenplay and cinematography by Hernán Rosselli. Editing: Delfina Castagnino, Hernán Rosselli. Running time: 80 minutes.
