# Silvia Prieto (1999)

### reviewed by
Steve Rhodes

    SILVIA PRIETO
    A film review by Steve Rhodes
    Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
    RATING (0 TO ****):  ** 1/2

Silvia Prieto, played with a spunky sadness by Rosario Blefari, has lunch with the only other Silvia Prieto in the phonebook. The other Silvia suggests that they form a Silvia Prieto club, complete with weekly meetings. After all, there must be some Silvia Prietos with unlisted numbers, some too young to have phones, others who live in the suburbs and others still who are listed under their husband's last name. Argentinean director Martin Rejtman's quirky little comedy, SILVIA PRIETO, consists of a series of such subplots.

(Having once shared adjoining cubicles with the only other Steve Rhodes at a large company, I can understand the fascination with someone who shares your exact name. We remain friends to this day, but we've never felt compelled to seek out all of the Steve Rhodes's in the Silicon Valley so we can band together.)

I don't know if linguists have studied the speed of delivery of various languages, but I've always had a theory that Spanish lends itself to some of the most rapid elocution possible. The characters in SILVIA PRIETO have a lot to say, and the poor subtitler can barely keep up. I suspect that the subtitles represent a vastly abbreviated version of the dialog so I fear that the movie will not play as well with non-Spanish speaking audiences. Nevertheless, the film does have some nice moments in it for those of us who aren't conversant in Spanish.

Silvia is a careful woman. She buries her money, and she makes a point of always turning on the hot air dryer in the restroom, even if she's too busy to dry her hands. She has changed her life now that she is divorced and has given up smoking marijuana. She has also been cooking a lot lately. As a therapeutic exercise, one supposes, she fiercely whacks raw chickens with her meat cleaver, fixing at least 4 chickens when she has a man over for dinner.

Marcelo (Marcelo Zanelli) is her ex and still her friend, so when he meets a new woman, Brite (Valeria Bertucelli), he naturally brings her over to meet his ex. Given this scenario, what would be more appropriate than to show Brite the video of their wedding. The deadpan humor takes this all very seriously and naturally. Brite makes her living giving out samples of Brite soap on the street and gets Silvia a job doing it with her. The writer loves to give characters the names of objects. One guy, Armani, is only known by the brand of his sport coat.

In this twisted tale, who else would Silvia date but Brite's ex, Gabriel (Gabriel Fernandez Capello). Gabriel is a writer so he claims he dreams in words, not images. Gabriel has many quirks but none more so than his deodorant habit. He sprays a half a can on his underarms and his shirts after sex and every morning. People don't understand it since he showers every day, but the odor of the spray makes anyone who comes in contact with him smell. He also manages the undoable when he simultaneously drops acid, smokes pot and drinks whiskey while staying absolutely clearheaded and articulate.

After a series of funny little episodes, the movie ends abruptly. There is a video of the first Silvia Prieto club meeting, which isn't the least bit funny and feels tacked on as almost an afterthought.

SILVIA PRIETO runs 1:32. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. It is not rated but would be an R for drug usage, sexual situations and a little profanity and would be fine for older teenagers.

Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com

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