The highway from Assumption in Buenos Aires. A truck driver must drive a woman he does not know. The woman is not alone. She has a baby. 1500 km still to go.
ROAD TO NOWHERELas Acacias is it a road movie? In principle yes, absolutely. The film is actually on the road, inside a car most of the time, and speaks of a journey both geographic and spiritual, and finally at least in theory. The film begins by Pablo Giorgelli yet on a track a little less familiar. With its relative lack of explanation of the background of these characters, the unity of place fairly small and particularly a lack of dialogue rather remarkable, it seems to take the path of a sort of a mini-radical and welcome surprise. And wham, something suddenly comes to any switch. Not an event in the story but something far ignored the film, which feared the worst and which were thought to have survived: the irresistible cute baby. A mid-film, the baby gets very quiet so far to its large number (consisting of the holy trinity Infancy: little smile, cry and change diapers at the most inopportune, ho ho). Thus, inevitably, the potential audience is reversed with joy and emotion in unison, grumpy and taciturn hero begins to see its shell to crack, and the film will not be quite the same.
While it was hoped that this singularity would be on expanding, it falls instead into the more familiar film-world-friendly. So obviously, do not judge the feature on what is not, nor speak of disappointment at what they would have liked to see (and then how will a movie be mean nice?) But Las Acacias is so predictable, so common that it ends up lacking personality. While still quite watchable, it never departed from a strong sense of déjà vu. Elsewhere, in other films, all the possible exotic funds (children from Kabul, Chinese kite etc ...). Las Acacias enters the great family movies baby, like any baby's head was a magic stamp to stick on the passport of a film designed to protect an export and make public an inherit acquired. Suddenly, the baby-movie is it soluble in the road movie? In theory, why not, but is unable to Las Acacias half. The success of a road movie can be measured in part on its conclusion: on the way mental accomplished over geographical displacement. That road is expected here (the baby cracked the hero who hit the crack also for mom), not very good (the scene of the final declaration, without spoiler, is rather disappointing in its ordinariness), especially unfinished because the budding love is not reciprocal, nor clearly rebuffed, but left the next episode. A non-conclusion that leaves a little unsatisfied, and especially in retrospect makes the stakes of the film fairly commonplace.
Returning for a moment on the Camera d'Or, awarded this year's film by a jury headed by Bong Joon-Ho The Korean director he was sensitive to exotic so far from his movies? More seriously, the price is perceived as a reward for a very good film, or rather as an encouragement to move forward, a bet on a future career, one can only wonder if there was This year candidates far more surprising, more contemporary movies with more personality? Anyway Las Acacias, which has been also awarded in San Sebastian, should have no trouble finding its audience.
