This is a great movie. It deals with the strained relationship between two sisters. One is a politically active student in 1975, a member of the Argentine leftist-militant group the Montoñeros and the other is more concerned about starting a normal family life. When the military dictatorship begins in 1976, the academic sister is nearly captured by the government and has to flee abroad, while the other sister moves to Texas with her husband. The movie takes place in a flashback, as the two sisters meet for the first time in 8 years, in 1984, while the exiled one visits her sister in Texas, looking for a boyfriend who was taken captive by the dictatorship. The Texas sister wants to lead as normal life as possible, while the other wants to find answers.
7 Reviews
Impressive debut by Julia Solomonof--intelligent and intellectual
JuguAbraham22 December 2005
Director Julia Solomonof has shown viewers that she can present a work that has an assured pace of a structured thriller while presenting a film that is basically a character study of two sisters reacting differently under the Argentinan dictatorship and reign of terror in 1970. She has learned the craft from working with Walter Salles on "The motorcycle diaries" as an assistant director.
I saw this Spanish/Argentinan/Brazilian co-production at the recently concluded Dubai International Film Festival and was bowled over by the competence of the director and the performances of the actors especially that of the young boy interacting with his aunt.
The film reminded me in many ways of Hungarian director Zoltan Fabri's "The Fifth Seal", a film set in Hungary under Nazi occupation, where friends crack under fear and pressure. "Hermanas" looks at how an individual can place priorities on saving a near one from torture, while others look at the moral responsibility beyond the immediate kith and kin. The film leaves you disturbed: does the family matter more than a larger community? Even philosophers will find this disturbing to answer--which is why the late Fabri related the question to the opening of the Fifth Seal in the Book of Revelations.
Julia Solomonof has proved her mettle. Though I am physically far removed from Argentina, Spain or Brazil, I will watch out for her next directorial effort with anticipation.
I saw this Spanish/Argentinan/Brazilian co-production at the recently concluded Dubai International Film Festival and was bowled over by the competence of the director and the performances of the actors especially that of the young boy interacting with his aunt.
The film reminded me in many ways of Hungarian director Zoltan Fabri's "The Fifth Seal", a film set in Hungary under Nazi occupation, where friends crack under fear and pressure. "Hermanas" looks at how an individual can place priorities on saving a near one from torture, while others look at the moral responsibility beyond the immediate kith and kin. The film leaves you disturbed: does the family matter more than a larger community? Even philosophers will find this disturbing to answer--which is why the late Fabri related the question to the opening of the Fifth Seal in the Book of Revelations.
Julia Solomonof has proved her mettle. Though I am physically far removed from Argentina, Spain or Brazil, I will watch out for her next directorial effort with anticipation.
Slow, but good drama
dcldan17 July 2007
Natalia and Elene are two Argentinian sisters that had to go out of their country due to the dictatorship. Now (1984), after lots of years apart, they meet in Texas, where Elena lives. There, they will meet new people and old phantoms. As the wounds from the past are still open. The film is touching and is is done with good tune. The characters of the two sister are well build and the story is interesting, in the style of Coixet's films, where everything is hard and moving. Its main bad part is the fact that during the first hour almost nothing happens but the meeting of the two sisters, it develops slowly and it bores a little. After that, when Pandora's box is open, the real movie begins and we can enjoy 45 minutes of good cinema. Bad luck for the first part, but the drama is well set. With a little more of something at the beginning could have been much better, the result is just correct, despite the good second part.
Superb
pistachopistachez15 March 2021
Reunion
jotix10025 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Argentine filmmakers love going back to the "Dirty War" era. In Spain, it is a must for their creators to try to explain the Spanish Civil War as a right of passage. Julia Solomonoff, the director of "Hermanas" goes back into the past in this story set in Texas in 1984, ten years after the worst days in Argentina where the military government was getting rid of revolutionaries, or anyone that was deemed a threat to their regime.
Two sisters, Natalia and Elena are reunited after ten years of not having seen one another. Elena is living in suburban Walnut Creek with its clean neighborhoods and houses that look alike. Elena is married to Sebastian, a boy next door type; they have a young son, Tomas. Elena's arrival stirs the flames of the past. We get to know in flashbacks Elena's revolutionary past and how she had to flee Argentina from an almost sure death. Elena's boyfriend, Martin, does not survive the horrors he was put through. In a surprising twist, we get to know the truth about what happened to Martin, the victim of a betrayal.
Valeria Bertuccelli and Ingrid Rubio play Elena and Natalia, respectively. The problem lies in the way Ms. Solomonoff wrote the characters, the sisters are not interesting enough to hold our attention. Both actresses have done better in other films. The screenplay will present problems for viewers without a background about that dark period of Argentine history.
Two sisters, Natalia and Elena are reunited after ten years of not having seen one another. Elena is living in suburban Walnut Creek with its clean neighborhoods and houses that look alike. Elena is married to Sebastian, a boy next door type; they have a young son, Tomas. Elena's arrival stirs the flames of the past. We get to know in flashbacks Elena's revolutionary past and how she had to flee Argentina from an almost sure death. Elena's boyfriend, Martin, does not survive the horrors he was put through. In a surprising twist, we get to know the truth about what happened to Martin, the victim of a betrayal.
Valeria Bertuccelli and Ingrid Rubio play Elena and Natalia, respectively. The problem lies in the way Ms. Solomonoff wrote the characters, the sisters are not interesting enough to hold our attention. Both actresses have done better in other films. The screenplay will present problems for viewers without a background about that dark period of Argentine history.
Movie saved my life
whoreheycastle25 November 2023
This movie has got to be the best movie from 2005, even going as far as surpassing corpse bride, this movie is what inspired my cult, the Hermanas cult is still going strong btw. I watched this movie while my dad was giving birth my mom helped with the C-section I plan to conceive my child while watching this movie, the reason I love this movie so much is because Pedro pascal was in it, smash smash smash, perhaps captSC should give it another watch after 15 years period exclamation point comma dash parenthesis Pedro pascal smash#iwshdff. I got to put more words so I'm just gonna talk about how hot, nvm I just surpassed it.
The most boring movie that I have ever seen.
CaptSC23 January 2008
I had to watch this movie for Spanish 101. I was expecting something bad, since I am slightly biased against foreign films (Pan's Labyrinth being the one exception), but I was blown the wrong way.
The acting is bad, the characters, while in sympathetic situations, aren't that sympathetic themselves, and I found myself not really caring about any of it. The plot leaves out a lot of story, and even tantalizes us with a possible side plot that may wake the audience from their stupor, but drop it as well.
The one bright spot of this atrocious film is the child of one of the sisters.
Without the child, this would be 1/10. Only watch if you are assigned to watch it for a class. You are better off reading a book on the Ar gentian coup than watching this.
Stay away. Don't say I didn't warn you.
The acting is bad, the characters, while in sympathetic situations, aren't that sympathetic themselves, and I found myself not really caring about any of it. The plot leaves out a lot of story, and even tantalizes us with a possible side plot that may wake the audience from their stupor, but drop it as well.
The one bright spot of this atrocious film is the child of one of the sisters.
Without the child, this would be 1/10. Only watch if you are assigned to watch it for a class. You are better off reading a book on the Ar gentian coup than watching this.
Stay away. Don't say I didn't warn you.
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