PONTS: 6
Featured in the Argentine competition of this year’s BAFICI and now commercially released, Primavera (Spring) is the new film by Santiago Giralt (Jess & James, Anagramas, Antes del Estreno, Upa! Una película Argentina). It’s a very unusual and amusingly irreverent ensemble comedy that tells the story of Leopoldo (Angelo Mutti Spinetta), an 11-year-old kid who has grown up surrounded by artists of different sorts. When spring begins, he falls for a pretty girl, a poetry classmate, and thus a coming of age experience begins — heartbreak included.
Being around so many free-spirited relatives and friends, you can imagine how inventive and open-minded Leopoldo is. Primavera is narrated from his point of view, with the use of a voiceover, so it makes sense that it’s equally unbiased in its outlook. And it puts into play an assorted array of colourful characters. First and foremost, there’s Leopoldo’s mother, Greta (Catarina Spinetta), who’s pregnant yet doesn’t know who the father of her baby is; José (Nahuel Mutti), her ex-husband and Leopoldo’s dad, who fathered him before coming out of the closet; Edgar (Esteban Meloni), José’s boyfriend and future husband; Ramiro (Mike Amigorena), Greta’s current better half; Mecha (Luisa Kuliok), a high-and-mighty diva; and last but not least, Reina, played by showwoman Moria Casán. The one and only.
These and other histrionic characters — who can be as overwhelming as they are affectionate — mingle among rehearsals for a much desired play, while the arguments, secrets and lies all families have explode time and again, all of it laced with the sense of humour and outrageousness of late period Almodóvar — one of Giralt’s favourite filmmakers.
On the one hand, you have the chief assets of Primavera which lie on Giralt’s handling of some key aspects of the language of cinema. A carefully constructed mise-en-scene, spotless camerawork, glamorous and attention-grabbing art direction, and a very neat sense of editing make up a cohesive film from the first frame to the last. Long takes and dolly shots convey the ongoing, feverish pulse of the film while the director’s finely tuned gaze focuses on both the big picture and the tiny details.
On the negative side, when it comes to the coaching of his actors, the panorama is sometimes uneven: some excel in their roles while others are over the top — and I’m not sure this is intentional. It’s hard to accomplish good ensemble acting and you can see Giralt does his best, which in some parts of the film pays off whereas in others doesn’t. And as regards the screenplay, it’s fair to say it’s well oiled and keeps the story moving forward in many stretches, but it’s equally true that when it gets too digressive some narrative focus is lost.
All in all, Primavera deserves enough credit for its ambitions and mostly for what it gets right. Its festive and exuberant tone is contagious and speaks of a good dose of healthy creative freedom. Considering this type of comedy is rare in local cinema and is not easy to pull off, Primavera is more than a good place to start experimenting.
Production notes:
Primavera (Argentina, 2016) Written and directed by Santiago Giralt. With Catarina Spinetta, Nahuel Mutti, Angelo Mutti Spinetta, Mike Amigorena, Chino Darín, Luisa Kuliok, Moria Casán. Cinematography: Tincho Velasco. Editing: Eliane Katz, Andrés Tambornino. Running time: 76 minutes.
@pablsuarez
