Review
VALENTIN
Starring Julieta Cardinali, Rodrigo Noya and Jean Pierre Noher
Written and directed by Alejandro Agresti
Monday, December 6
Lux Cinema (Banff)
In reference to his own 1948 masterwork The Bicycle Thief, director Vittorio De Sica proclaimed, "You're not really a director unless you've directed a child." In Valentin, Argentine director Alejandro Agresti joins the ranks with a touching portrait of the eight-year-old titular hero who dreams of both becoming an astronaut and of reuniting his dad with a girlfriend somewhat more interested in keeping tabs on the son than on the father.
As Valentin, the young Rodrigo Noya looks through thick-rimmed glasses with huge eyes, forever gazing upwards at both the stars and the adults around him. As a performer, the kid's a swoon-worthy natural, single-handedly keeping the proceedings from dipping into mawkish sentimentality (Hayley Joel Osment wouldn't last two scenes with this kid). As Leticia, Valentin's father's ex, Julieta Cardinali literally floats through the frame, ripped from the pages of a 1960s Vogue photo spread. Holding together the film's central relationship, Cardinali and Noya create an adult-child chemistry every bit as nuanced as that between Nicole Kidman and Cameron Bright in Jonathan Glazer's brilliant Birth (albeit without all of the bathing together and sex chat). While Valentin's attempts to play Cupid fail, a genuine friendship develops – natch – but its poignant levity is rivalled by few other films treading similar waters.
Shot in gorgeous soft-focus pastels, Valentin also works as Agresti's own personal visual tribute to the Buenos Aires of the 1960s, both the period immediately pre-space travel and the years in which he began making films himself. The family house is alive with surprise visitors, happy shouts and golden lights – Agresti keeps his frame constantly full and fast, maintaining a glow around Cardinali in particular as she tip-toes down the cobble streets like Twiggy on holiday.
As a film, Valentin is a triffle – these types of coming-of-age stories are a dime a dozen – but Agresti, working hand in hand with Noya (wonder if he ever used the old trick of telling the poor kid his parents had just died to get the crying scenes right?), manages to pull off the admirable feat of covers old ground in honest, heartfelt style. |
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