Event

CineSeattle: Closing Night - GIGANTE! FILM ONLY

Starring: Horacio Camandule as Jara
Starring: Leonor Svarcas as Julia
Supporting: Fernando Alonso as Julio
Supporting: Diego Artucio as Omar
Director: Adrian Biniez
Writer: Adrian Biniez
Executive Producer: Agustina Chiarino
Cinematography: Arauco Hernndez Holz
URUGUAY 2008 Spanish - English Subtitles 85 Minutes

The story revolves around Jara (Horatio Camandule), a supermarket security guard whose physical mass is belied by his shy, sweet blue eyes. In a few clever strokes, Biniez defines him as an uncomplicated fellow whose head is in the right place. When he spies a cleaning woman swiping food, he turns a blind eye; later, when she tries to abscond with a piece of electronics, he makes her put it back.

Jara's tedious night shifts and couch potato life come alive when he develops a crush on Julia (Leonor Svarcas), a young cleaner from the country. Too timid to talk to her, he begins following her every move on the security monitors, then progresses to stalking her on the street. After following her to Internet cafes and karate class, he ends up shadowing her on a blind date with an Internet chat buddy. When the two part, he trails her nervous date down dark streets, but predictably the threatening situation turns into mild comedy.

This isn't laugh-out-loud fun, but by keeping the story visual and nearly wordless, Biniez is able to bring out the full measure of Camandule's gentle giant humor. Svarcas is simple and unaffected as his obsession.

The shabby Montevideo setting could just as well have been Buenos Aires, haunted by an endless economic crisis that keeps the lower rungs of society counting their pennies. Even though Jara seems fairly apolitical, the film exudes sympathy for the working class stiffs who live under the threat of job cutbacks and redundancy.

Biniez's music background is well served in the film's offbeat use of heavy metal tracks, which are nicely worked into the story.

-From the Hollywood Reporter Deborah Young