Irish Film Institute -THE EMPTY NEST

THE EMPTY NEST

Director: DANIEL BURMAN

ARGENTINA-SPAIN • 2008 • SUBTITLED • COLOUR • DOLBY DIGITAL STEREO • 35MM • 91 MIN


A central figure in the New Argentine Cinema, director Daniel Burman takes a comic look at the problems inherent in married life in Empty Nest. At once hilarious and nostalgic, Burman’s new film ponders the nature of reality and memory as he invites the viewer into the quasi-surrealist world of playwright Leonardo (played with Woody Allen-like guile by Oscar Martinez) and his wife Martha (a wonderful performance by All About My Mother’s Cecilia Roth).

A famous writer who dislikes talking about his work or having too much to do with other people, Leonardo appears to love his cultured and sexy wife but youthful passion has gone. He embarks on a flirtation with Violeta (Eugenia Capizzano) and has a series of ever more unlikely encounters with a scientist who’s studying the way people turn their frustrated desires into memories that appear real to them. The clever ‘dream or reality’ narrative structure adds interest to a film that works perfectly well as an intelligent romantic comedy with a bitter edge.

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