Tan de repente (2002)

Director:

Diego Lerman

Writers:

César Aira (novel)
Diego Lerman (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

29 January 2003 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian | Fat Woman | Lingerie Store | Lingerie | Punk

Awards:

20 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Tatiana Saphir	...	Marcia
Carla Crespo	...	Mao
Veronica Hassan	...	Lenin
Beatriz Thibaudin	...	Blanca
María Merlino	...	Delia
Marcos Ferrante	...	Felipe
Ana María Martínez	...	Ramona
Susana Pampin	...	Woman in Car
Luis Herrera	...	Truck Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Laura Mantel	...	Empleada del mes

Directed by
Diego Lerman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
César Aira		novel "La prueba"
Diego Lerman		writer
María Meira		writer
Eloisa Solaas		script

Produced by
Sebastián Ariel	....	producer
Diego Lerman	....	producer
Nicolás Martínez Zemborain	....	producer
Lita Stantic	....	producer

Original Music by
Juan Ignacio Bouscayrol
Murciélago

Cinematography by
Diego del Piano
Luciano Zito

Film Editing by
Benjamín Ávila
Alberto Ponce
Roli Rauwolf

Art Direction by
Mauro Do Porto
Luciana Kohn

Costume Design by
Constanza Pierpaoli

Production Management
Sebastián Ariel	....	production manager
Nicolás Martínez Zemborain	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Leonardo Camporeale	....	assistant director
Lila Romero	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Julian Caparros	....	sound
Bechen de Loredo	....	sound editor
Leandro de Loredo	....	sound
Nicolas Giusti	....	sound
Martín Montrasi	....	sound mixer
Rubén Perreta	....	sound editor
Lisandro Schaffer	....	foley artist
Alejandro Seba	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Orilo Blandini	....	camera operator
Gastón Mohadeb	....	assistant camera
Manuel Moraco	....	assistant camera
Mariano Pariz	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Matías Mosteirín	....	post-production coordinator

Other crew
Iván Eibuszyc	....	production assistant
Carolina Fernández	....	production assistant
Cora Mayer	....	paintings artist

Production Companies

• Hubert Bals Fund
• Lita Stantic Producciones
• Nylon Cine

Distributors

• Alamode Film (2003) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2003) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Arthaus (2003) (Norway) (theatrical)
• Contact Film (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Empire Pictures Inc. (2003) (USA) (all media)
• Empire Pictures (2003) (USA) (subtitled)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Pyramide Distribution (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Slovenska Kinoteka (2004) (Slovenia) (theatrical)
• Tartan Films (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2003) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2003) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Zazie Films (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Suddenly (International: English title) (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

90 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | Canada:90 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Canada:92 min

Country:

Argentina | Netherlands

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | USA:Not Rated | Poland:15 | Argentina:16 | Denmark:11 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Hubert Bals Fund

A marvelous, minimalist movie

A marvelous, minimalist movie, laconic, elliptic, constantly ambiguous, all along unforeseeable ; it starts as a thriller, at full speed in every respect : sentimentally (love at first sight of a skinny, heartless, full of bravado punk-girl nicknamed Mao, for Marcia, a plump heartbroken shy sales-girl : a study in contrasts !) and literally (kidnapping of Marcia by Mao, clearly a LEADER, and her mate Lenin, more the following kind, in a hijacked taxi) ; as soon as the trio leaves Buenos Aires, thriller turns into road-movie ; the asphalt jungle hardly behind them, they're in full flight : but little by little everything slows down, finally settling for GOOD in the straggling town of Rosario (what could be quieter than a place called rosary ?), where Lenin calls on an old aunt who agrees to HARBOUR them, on top of the two tenants she already has : a woman painter, a male biology student ; the road-movie now turns, slowly but surely, delicately, imperceptibly, into an intimate Chekovian comedy : so far, there had been mainly OUTER events, now there will be mainly INNER events ; a trio of people incapable of giving comes into contact with a trio of people who can give : the aunt first, who gives naturally : just by being herself ; then the painter, who gives actually, generously, to Marcia : a dress, then one of her paintings ; the biology student at last, who gives ambiguously : by helping Mao in one of her shoplifting sprees. This mixture naturally brings about some changes in the «receiving» threesome ; in fact, in this rather charming household, more bohemian than anything our two punkettes could ever have dreamed of, everything is going to TONE, always as literally as sentimentally, to shift, to skid, to complexify : relationships alter, the line between sex, love, friendship and even family becomes not only thinner but blurrier. All considered, this is more a Bildung-movie, whose main three characters discover themselves as they discover real life : wrenched from her daily routine and stagnation, Marcia matures, finds herself a prey to violent emotions, even to a certain rebelliousness (she reproaches Mao who neglects her, now having designs on the student, and getting sweeter, more feminine) ; with no outlet for their rebelliousness, Mao loses some of her aggressiveness, Lenin owns up to a certain tenderness for her wonderful aunt, acknowledges her nostalgia for a family (she even consents to being called by her real name : Veronica) ; every process has been reversed. This very subtle picture, in black and white and yet all in half-tones, curiously has a moral, clear and classical : welcome the unexpected, live intensely while there's time ; but what is no doubt shown is that there are many very different ways to live, and all sorts of intensities...

If things change imperceptibly, there are nonetheless two symmetrical exceptions : one at the start (wrenching Marcia brutally from the slow metaphorical death that awaited her), the other at the end (the sudden real death of aunt Blanca) ; the latter sequence is a gem : the whole bunch goes for a tour on a rowing-boat (her last «voyage» ?) ; she sits at the rear, in the sun, under a big straw hat, smiling blissfully (we see her pale face close-up, over-exposed, nearly white) ; imperceptibly the camera comes closer, her smile sets, her face becomes strange, A WHITER SHADE OF PALE, the frame becomes blurred, the sound dies ; next frame : the sky (her soul has gone to heaven ?) ; only afterward do we understand that she died then, thanks to the dismayed comments of those who had been close to her ; a masterpiece of INDIRECT directing (that points to, instead of showing, that makes its point without stating it) – another fine example being the last frame : in the bus that takes them back to Buenos Aires, Marcia falls asleep on Lenin's shoulder ; if Mao's nowhere to be seen, it's probably that she stayed in Rosario with the student... ; a good open ending...

One thing is not ambiguous : the charm of this picture, which is real, cannot lie in the three main characters, because they have none ; so it must lie exclusively in the way it was filmed ; a deep, subtle movie, amazingly mature, both humanly and formally.