Argentinian director Adolfo Aristarain (A Place in the World, a memorable memory film) sets the action against an up-to-the-minute backdrop of his country's economic crisis: a wordy but truly literate, witty, wise, mature, urbane, novelistic account of the forced retirement of a feisty old Leftist professor of literature, long ago transplanted from Spain, and his new beginning as a cultivator of lavender on a farm christened "1789" in honor of the principles of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. One beautifully written and acted scene -- in which the protagonist's idle flirtation with an attractive new acquaintance by the improbable name of Tutti turns into a declaration of fidelity to his wife of forty years -- would be a media sensation, a cultural milestone, the talk of the nation for at least a week or so, if it occurred in a high-profile Hollywood production. But then again, the absence of such roles for actors of such an age is one of the hallmarks of modern Hollywood. Federico Luppi, Mercedes Sampietro. (2003) — Duncan Shepherd
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