cesarberrios80 Review of Lovesickness

Lovesickness (2007)

Amazing effort by a group of puertorrican filmmakers!

[10/10 · 30 April 2007]

I had the enormous privilege of seeing this film at the Tribeca film festival this past Monday, April 30th 2007 and I cannot stress enough how wonderful this film is. The film itself centers on 3 story lines that focus on love as their central theme. Not just love, but love at different stages in a person's life. To say the least co-directors Carlitos Ruiz Ruiz and Mariem Perez Riera elaborate and handle all three stories with amazing ability. Being a puertorrican myself just recently "transplanted" from Puerto Rico to NYC I can say this is the best puertorrican film that has come out of my home country in years! I am not saying this just because this is a puertorrican film, but because it is truly great. I myself am not a big fan of puertorrican films because they tend to be too talkative and have a somewhat theatrical aesthetic to them. Its interesting to see how this aesthetic seems to be changing in recent films and especially this one. The dialogue is sharp and doesn't expose more than is necessary (which tends to be a problem of past films), and the camera work is eloquent and perfectly suited to the stories being told. The time the director spent away from Puerto Rico (recieved his BFA in Film Direction from the Art Institute in Chicago and is also an international commercial advertisement director) clearly shows through the movie, as he is able to present such a heartfelt slice of what it means to be a puertorrican born and raised on the island with the eloquence that not even Jacobo Morales could in his films. I guess you need to be away from your country for awhile in order to be able to create such a beautiful work that clearly feeds off the memories we take with us wherever our paths may take us. Carlitos y Mariem you have made Puerto Rico very proud! Pa'lante!