Recensioni degli utenti

A great feel-good type of film. Campanella lives up to promise and delivers yet again, as he dives head first into the story of a forty-something going through a mid-life crisis. Ricardo Darin (Rafael Belvedere) shows us why he's one of South America's biggest stars as he puts in a performance to rival "Nine Queens" (another great Argentinian film). He's complemented by Natalia Verbeke who plays his girlfriend (and who is in possession of the world's greatest smile) and Héctor Alterio and Norma Aleandro who play his parents. Aleandro in particular contributes some magnificent scenes, playing an aged woman struggling to cope with mental illness. A really good film that will restore your faith in humanity....A bit corny?? oh well.... Funny, original, and well put together. Recommended for everyone!!

Rafael Belvedere (Ricardo Darín) runs a restaurant started by his parents, Nino (Héctor Alterio) and Norma (Norma Aleandro). While he has made it a success, a corporate buyer who wants to buy the restaurant observes that the extreme effort required to keep all of the plates spinning is like running a marathon. He is divorced and, with the constant cell phone calls and sleepless nights, doesn't seem to have much time for his daughter or girlfriend, although he seems to have genuine affection for both. He hasn't visited his mother Norma, who is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's, in a year. As the previews and the title reveal, his father Nino decides that what he wants most of all is to give Norma the church wedding she always wanted, although many wonder if she would even notice due to her mental state.

The wedding and other story turns which I won't give away help the film turn gracefully from mostly a comedy in the early going into an outstanding drama in the later parts of the film. The performances are excellent by all of the actors, helping to make all of the characters seem real. While the photography is often attractive, I would not be surprised if the film was shot on 16 mm film or even high definition video and transferred to 35 mm film for exhibition.

This film was nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film, which should have given it a higher profile than it seems to have gotten. It is highly recommended, and should not lose too much seen on home video, assuming it eventually shows up there.

Note that the star, Ricardo Darín, also stars in "Nine Queens," which is opening very soon in the United States.

This is a real jewel from Argentina... at a time when some viewers are knowing Latin American film making through tasteless stories, I highly recommend "El hijo de la novia". The story is full of discovery and emotions. It touches the importance of the family and the values, it deals with serious issues with a touch of humor, and a lot of class. The rhythm of the story is well balanced and the characters are very real and likeable. Don't miss it! (9/10)

My wife 'found' this film, of which I hadn't heard, in our local video shop and I'm so delighted she did.

The central performance of Rafael was a tour de force - this actor stands very strong beside the likes of Pacino, and I can imagine him in many of the earlier 'gangster with hidden depth' roles the latter excelled in. He was so believable as the 'godfather' neighbourhood restaurateur. The other principal actors were also brilliant, although in my opinion Eduardo Blanco as the comedic interest overegged and hammed a little too much in a couple of scenes, eg as bogus priest. But that is nitpicking in one of the most memorable romantic films I've ever seen.

I totally agree with one of the reviewers who compared and contrasted to the dreadful film travesty made of 'The Notebook'recently which missed all the buttons around Alzheimers and real people with real believable feelings and reactions. I also agree that while if this product had been American with J Nicholson, etc it would have been a surefire Oscar winner, it would actually have been ruined by the Hollywood treatment...

Thanks you Argentina, and I hope to see much more of Senor Darin before long.

Very sweet mid-life crisis movie from Argentina starring the brilliant

Ricardo Darín from 'Nine Queens'. Darin plays Rafael, a driven

restaurant owner who's stressed lifestyle and continuous intake of

ristrettos and cigarettes earns him a heart attack. Lying in his

hospital bed he resolves to start 'a new cycle', simplifying his life.

This proves harder than he expects. Gorgeous younger girlfriend

Nat wants commitment, ex-wife Sandra heaps scorn on his

neuroses and his dapper father wants financial help in enacting a

touching gesture to his wife of 44 years: a proper wedding

ceremony.

Rafael is assisted in meeting these challenges by the appearance

of an old friend, Juan Carlos. Played with memorable comic

energy by Eduardo Blanco (a kind of Argentine Roberto Benigni),

Juan Carlos' loyalty and friendship - and the story of his own

triumph over tragic life circumstances - helps Rafael understand

the treasure he possesses without appreciating it: family.

It may sound kind of soppy, and at moments 'Son of the Bride'

does teeter into sentimentality, but on the whole this is a

consistently entertaining movie, the best of its kind I've seen in a

long time. The film's script is very nearly brilliant, stuffed full of bon

mots and witty asides, from the Padre describing his new speaker

system as 'omnipresent' to Juan Carlos' Jesus-Christ-as-

Maradonna joke.

But its quality lies in more than just a list of gleaming one-liners

and 'zingy' exchanges. There's acres of depth here too, in passing

observations about the universality of corruption in modern day

Argentina, to wry observations about the hypocrisy of the church.

Campanella covers a lot of bases - much more so than comparable comedies from the US - without ever losing his

lightness of touch. It's this that raises 'Son of the Bride' above the

mass and makes it a movie that I'm actually very keen to see

again.

Impossible not to like, then, and if the ending doesn't leave you

with a tear in your eye, you're a heartless swine.



I actually caught 'Son of the Bride' last night in a double with 'Nine

Queens'

I had seen this film for two times, at the first time I believed it one of the best movies I had ever seen alreadly. The story was very very funny and deeply moving.It's quite difficult to find this kind of films, because most of the films nowadays lose sight of the most important thing in a film--the real human emotion,the real lives, the real feelings, the real love.Most of the movies were too sweet,or too violent,or too erotic. The actors and actoresses all given the best performance,even the little girl--Ricado's daugther in the secens. I love it!It should have won the Oscar!

Great performers in an expertly mounted A feature. This one goes on too long but deserves to edge out the glossy English speaking movies which play to the same audience in the multiplexes.

The film is full of great players given the chance to do their stuff. Darin has the authority of a major leading man and it's a great pleasure to see already familiar veterans like Alterio and Aleandro in strong roles. Her spin on senility is a beautifully judged mix of touching and funny that the film needs to grab the broad public. Verbeke registers as an exceptionally vivid version of the sexy, winning fantasy girl that we keep on seeing in films.

If you want to argue that these characters are a distortion of real life you're in a different mind set to the makers and the fourteen dollars a seat customers they are playing to.

I enjoyed seeing this recognisable world of cell 'phones, old friends, resolved family tensions and gourmet food put across in an unfamiliar setting with superior film know how. It's like a good overseas holiday. The old Sascha Guitry gag of the security system picture or the finding the priest at the final wedding were worth the cheer they got at the performance I saw.

This is a very good film from Argentina. It would be a shame if more people fail to see this beautiful tale set in the Buenos Aires of the beginning of the century when times were better and the porteños felt on top of the world.

Director Juan Jose Campanella knows these people. He is really on their side, for they have struggled all their lives to get the family restaurant to be successful. The son, Rafael, has problems making ends meet and his life is a mess. Not only his whole world comes crashing around him, but he cannot cope with the only person that really loves him for what he is, Naty.

His father, Nino, loves Norma, even though her mind is not here any more. He doesn't miss seeing her one day. He finally realizes, too late, that secretly Norma's desire was to have been married in the church, he didn't believe in during his youth. Now he wants to make amends by marrying the wife who cannot appreciate it because of her wandering mind.

The acting is superb. Ricardo Darin gives a fine performance as Rafael. Norma Aleandro proves once more why she's a great actress and Hector Alterio is very effective in a very subtle performance. Natalia Verbeke was a revelation as she stands by her man.

All in all, this was an enjoyable time at the movies.

What else would you say if a movie offers you all this: true life comedy, real life any-day drama, touching moments, and most important: the true meaning of LOVE? Mix all this, in adequate proportions, and add a great script, and excellent performances from every actor in this film. The story has been well commented: Rafael (Ricardo Darín) is a workaholic men that spends his whole life trying to be more important that he really is, always forgetting about the ones that really care about him. But suddenly, a heart stroke and the appearance of Juan Carlos (Eduardo Blanco), a friend that he has not seen in 20 years, as a really true angel that came from the hell of a life full of tragic episodes, turns upside down Rafael's life. All this, mixed with the sacrifice that Rafael father is prepared to make: deny himself from traveling to his mother country, Italy, just to make her wife dream true: to have a wedding, in a church, before the eyes of god. This could be reasonable for any person, but the fact that his wife (Norma Aleandro) has a very advance Alzheimer disease, and his mind is elsewhere, transforms Alterio act in a truly loving and heroic one. To people around the world: go to your VHS or DVD store, and go directly to this movie. Do not fall in the usual blockbusters, that offer you more of the same. "Son of the Bride" has it all... you will not be disappointed. My score: 10 of 10.

PS: If this movie was produced in Hollywood (not likely), with Kevin Spacey, JAck Nicholson, and so, we would be taking about the best movie ever. No joke.

This movie takes a standard soap (telenovela) as a basis of actions that take place in it, but alters the style: much slower, more intelligent editing, and more intimate acting should bring it to another level, but it doesn't work out well. Acting is average at best, furthermore the film mixes too much elements in most scenes (e.g. the videophone scene is not very dramatic, nor very funny, which it could be both) and characters are pure abstractions of real people. The result is a movie that seems to linger forever, and tries to play the sentimentality card to keep its audience involved. It is film making without hardly any visual storytelling or interesting narrative structure: not very imaginative and sometimes even downright dull.

It is a pity that just this Argentinian movie became so famous outside its country because there is heaps of real film talent over there: Historias Minimas, Bolivia come to mind (or even Nueve Reinas).

Son of the Bride

When I read the short description of this Argentinean film, "Son with broken marriage deals with his dads desire to renew marriage vows with his wife with Alzheimer's" I hesitated to watch it. I down loaded it to my Tivo because of it's three star rating, but had no great desire to re--live my mothers long decline into that particular abyss.

We had just started to watch "Out of Sight" a Hollywood product that had George Clooney meeting his co-star "cute" in the trunk of a getaway car. A contrived vehicle for brand name stars that delivered the audience and made a buck for the investors. That's the American way. We cut it off after twenty minutes and decided we may as well give this one a try.

Nobody met "cute" in this film. There is a son with a broken marriage and barely tolerable relations with his ex whom he kept in contact with over the shared love of their daughter. The demented mother, was depicted with just enough realism to give a taste of the true sadness of this disease, while not overwhelming the film with despair. Maybe it was extra meaningful to me, since my Mother was like her, the rare person who did not suffer from her illness, but bathed in some blessed contentment.

I will not try to go into detail why this film was so beautiful. When everything works perfectly, the writing, directing and the acting; all you have is the unfolding of the story on the screen. There is nothing to say about the people or their interactions--- they are just being themselves. In real life, we don't have heroes. The strongest people are those who can make the people around them feel good about themselves. If they are gorgeous they don't wear makeup to accentuate it. If they are rich they talk about a cheap meal they had a restaurant. And if they are very smart, they talk sports.

So, by watching this film, you get to spend a couple hours with these people. Nothing will be more enjoyable. And stay through the titles that roll at the end, there is one final joke that completes the experience.

I see that people commenting about this film are missing the point in which the real purpose of the film is. The film's main purpose is to examine a situation that rises due to the severe economic crisis in Argentina. The film portrays a family that has to make an 180 turn and sacrifice the work of generations. It is an everyday life event in Argentina in which people are forced to leave its family business or life's work due to the circumstances in the country. It is movie in which the family decides to move on with their lives and yet keeping the digninty and unity of the family. It also portrays two different generations in which you see the grandfather still madly in love with its amnesiac wife and the son already divorced yet respecting and honoring the values of its previous generation. It is not meant to become an universal film yet in any country with sever economic crisis, stories like this develop everyday.

MONTREAL -- It's not too early to start anticipating that this outstanding Argentine-Spanish co-production will be one of the Academy Award nominees for foreign film. Close to perfection in every regard, provoking more laughs and tears than all the films one sees in any given season combined -- and a movie that would make such masters as Frank Capra and Billy Wilder proud -- "Son of the Bride" (El Hijo de la Novia) earned the Special Grand Prix of the Jury award in main competition at the World Film Festival of Montreal (HR 9/4).

Director and co-writer Juan Jose Campanella worked for much of the past decade in the United States in television and won two Emmy Awards for directing. He co-wrote the screenplay of "Son" with Fernando Castets after the pair collaborated on Campanella's 1999 feature "Same Love, Same Rain." While the Spanish-language "Son" has strong appeal to mature audiences, a smart domestic distributor could take it on the art house circuit, where the film could achieve a resounding success. Rafael (Ricardo Darin) is a 42-year-old restaurant owner and divorcee who wants to change his life. Always on his cell phone dealing with work problems, he's got a beautiful girlfriend (Natalia Verbeke) and a loyal staff, but money problems and pressures to sell his business are taking a toll. He has a young daughter who lives most of the time with his ex-wife, while his aging father, Nino (Hector Alterio), who started the restaurant Rafael took over, is a gentle, supportive soul.

The title refers to Nino's desire to grant the decades-long wish of his wife, Rafael's mother (Norma Aleandro), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, to have a church wedding. In scene after exquisite scene one gets to knows these characters and sympathize with them. Rafael is a man in crisis who does not judge others and does not blame the world for his problems. But he's also not always aware of how much love and support he has to help him get to the next stage of life. When he has a heart attack but recovers to nearly his former energetic self, Rafael decides he needs more "freedom" and sells the restaurant, while also contemplating a move to Mexico. Fortunately, those around him, including a childhood friend-turned-actor (Eduardo Blanco), are not altogether behind him, and the lead makes the best of what he's already got.

From the constant stream of little jokes and bittersweet moments involving his parents, work and the women in his life to the unabashedly emotional peaks, Rafael's story is so uncommonly rendered with cinematic skill that it frankly leaves one delirious with admiration. The cinematography, music, editing and, most of all, the performances cannot be praised too much.

"Son of the Bride (El Hijo de la Novia)" is an Argentinian "It's A Wonderful Life" for baby boomers.

Because nowadays even George Bailey would be overworked, with sandwich generation responsibilities, and probably an ex-wife. Instead of an angel, here, it's a heart attack, the sudden appearance of a childhood friend, and his aged father who wants to give his mother the church wedding she wanted for the past 40 years, at least before her mind was lost to Alzheimer's.

What makes the movie enjoyable and not schmaltzy, as written and directed by TV director Juan Jose Campanella, is the charm of lead actor Ricardo Darin, the comfortably realistic dialog (with only a couple of missteps in the subtitles) and situations, and the very funny bits that shine through (which Hollywood will smooth out when it re-makes it in English), including boomer pop culture debates (but who is Dick Watson?).

Each of the characters has at least some individuality, even the male fantasy young girlfriend and the loving daughter.

I loved the penultimate line: that his father makes a loving long marriage "look like Fred Astaire."

(originally written 9/2/2002)

Rafael Belvedere (Ricardo Darín) is a stressed owner of a successful restaurant. He is forty-two years old, divorced and neglects his daughter, his girl-friend Natty (Natalia Verbeke) and his mother Norma Belvedere (Norma Aleandro), who lives in an asylum with Alzheimer. His father Nino Belvedere (Héctor Alterio) is still in love with her. Along all their life together, he accomplished all of her wishes except marrying her in the church. Therefore, he decides to marry her in the church. A few days later, Rafael`s best friend in childhood Juan Carlos (Eduardo Blanco) visits him after twenty years without any contact. Then, Rafael has a heart attack. All of these events together makes Rafael reflect about how his life is and he decides to change his behavior. This is a great Argentinean low-budget movie, which alternates drama and humor in right doses, never becoming mushy. The magnificent and sensible story is supported by a great direction and excellent actors and actresses, highlighting the performance of Norma Aleandro. The viewer must wait to the end of the credits, where there is a funny revelation. My vote is nine.

Bravo for Campanella and his actors. I was very touched by this movie i really loved this one is incredible How many excelent Argentine movies are arround those days. I strongly reccomend this one. A True masterpiece.

The Campanella's film Son of the Bride is far away from the best achievements in filmmaking. To say it's a film inscript into the "Hollywood Tradition" and quote such names as King Vidor, Vincente Minelli and even -the greatest lie- Frank Capra it's only a proof of the patriotic chauvinism of some so-called "film critics" in our country. The manipulation of the script, the dmagogic exculpation of a little bussiness man who blames in some way "the system" for his own misery and the hope for a "happy end" out of the screen ere evidences of the type of demagogic way of filming on the "greatest films" (only about the money they costs) in our country. Son of the Bride is far away too from the bravest films made in Argentina, thos who goes with enormous effort to the most important film festivals in the world and catch the moviegoers and critic's attention: Pizza, Birra, Faso; Mundo Grúa, Nueve Reinas, La ciénaga, La Libertad, Bolivia and many others, made with authentic love for the cinema and real respect for the real world.

In 'El Hijo de la Novia', director Juan José Campanella tells the story of a workaholic 42-year old divorced father who has unstable relationship with his daughter and girlfriend and who's father, after 44 years of marriage, wants to remarry his mother who's struck by Alzheimer's disease. But things take a different turn when he has a stroke. Campanella tells a sweet tale of self discovery or rather self rediscovery accompanied by a playful score. He does present the culture quite well as one does get the feel of the local Argentinian life. Héctor Alterio and Norma Aleandro give very spirited performances and they are a treat to watch. Ricardo Darin is adequate while Natalia Verbeke and Eduardo Blanco are very good. In spite of gaining widespread acknowledgement, 'El Hijo de la Novia' remains a small humble little film. I liked how the relationships were portrayed and how the characters and problems were very recognizable. Nino's love for Norma was very moving. The only quibble for me was that the pacing was very slow midway so it requires some patience from the viewer but in the end es una película divertida que eleva. Make sure to watch it through the rolling end credits.

"El Hijo de la Novia" is a brave return to the storytelling form that is regarded today as the "classic Hollywood style", the kind of narrative form where giants like Howard Hawks, Vincente Minelli, King Vidor, Billy Wilder and (specially) Frank Capra developed personal issues. The movie allows director and co-writer Juan Jose Campanella to show a deep sensibility and an amazing tender touch - with a skill where performers like the great Eduardo Blanco can develop an amazing range. At times a melodrama, at times a fast-kind-of-screwball-comedy, "El Hijo..." is an emotional rollercoaster where the audience cry and laughs at the same time (and on cue!). If Francoise Truffaut re-created Hollywood storytelling as a very personal experience, the same can be said of this movie - thanks to a brilliant script, a new collaboration between Campanella and his usual partner, Fernando Castets. In a nutshell: great storytelling in a movie destined to be a classic. And there is no way to beat this, pal.

This movie has all you want. From Comedy, to Drama, to Love. One of the best stories of love I have ever seen. The great performances of the actors such as; Ricardo Darin, Hector Alterio, Norma Aleandro, and Eduardo Blanco. This movie shows us what love means, what love is, and what love can really do.