Many commentators before me use the word 'charming'. That's just it. A warm human film, rather focused on the people in it than on the story. I kept being reminded of Kaurismäki. Not only the slow pace, but the poverty, the loneliness, the stubbornness and the engaging warmth and love of the persons are similar. Each character has its 'style' or 'attribute'. Almost as in an 'étude de style', but still the film never ends up schematic. Roberto keeps perfectionizing everything and everyone. Don Justo insists on his independence while being pressed into the 'old-aged senile father-in-law' role, even really secondary personages as, for instance, the concurring player in the TV show or the woman giving the old man a ride, have their really own life. I have seen many films with amateur actors, I adore the way Sorin leads them, not making them play but letting them show us their lives.
Review of Intimate Stories
