# De eso no se habla (1993)

### reviewed by
Pedro Sena

    FILM TITLE:               I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT
    DIRECTOR:               MARIA LUISA BEMBERG
    COUNTRY:                ARGENTINA 1993
    CINEMATOGRAPHY:         FELIX MONTI
    MUSIC:                      NICOLA PIOVANI
    CAST:                        Marcello Mastroianni, Luisina Brando, Betiana
    Blum, Roberto Carnaghi, Alberto Sagado, Jorge Luz, Alexandra Podesta.
    SUPER FEATURES:         Marcello, of course.

             !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is not a bad film. It's just that it isn't that good either. But, one great actor, does make it a little interesting. It's not always boring. And I suppose that the story is a bit to blame.

An elder man, whose life is as mysterious as his stories comes and goes. And he makes the acquaintance, of a lady who has a midget for a daughter. It is never explained, but the daughter may have been born out of wedlock, and during a time when the lady had an affair during a circus visit.

And as D'andrea gets closer to the family, his feelings are turned into the young lady, who is not specially attractive, but is charming and nice. In a social sort of way, she is never going to be appreciated even if her talents are above normal. She has become a rather nice pianist, for example. But all of this is a reflection of the mother's point of view, and her desire to make the daughter fit in at any price, without her daughter's own needs and desires.

D'andrea, is a ladies man, called a "perfect lover" by a woman in a watering hole, and their loss of this man doesn't go by un-noticed. They lose a great lover. He loses some fun, or so it seems. But the elder D'andrea, finally gets his chance, and marries the young lady. And by all accounts, Charlotte is doing very well in the upper class structure that she lives with D'andrea. And one day, a circus comes to town, and the worried mother tries hard to make sure that her daughter does not get to see it.

And the film basically ends. The daughter finds her milieu, and disappears with the troupe. D'andrea, is apparently left behind, or just like his stories, nothing is explained, just gossiped about. And the film throws the story away, just like a circus throws life away for an evening.

The film is nice. The women are the attraction through out the whole story, and when they finally do not become the attraction, it seems that the film loses its guard. Charlotte has won out the attention of the story, and our attraction span has changed. We have to decide between the women, or a life. And D'andrea chooses for a life and living, which the women like, of course, but can not sustain day and night, or he would have been married to one of them.

Not a great film, it is a rather odd one, actually. Marcello Mastroianni is very good, and some of the actors are nice, amidst a bunch of card board women parading around. At times, one feels we are watching a bad soap opera. But the film is better than that.

    3.5 GIBLOONS
    Pedro Sena
    Member of the Internet Movie Critics Association

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