Milagros Mumenthaler’s slow-burning portrait follows three young sisters alone in a Buenos Aires house. Their dysfunctional relationship gradually unveils the circumstances of their peculiarly isolated, indolent lives.
A beautifully modulated Argentinean family portrait…; which also conveys an authentic understanding of what it means to be a sister.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2012
Back to Stay 2011
Abrir puertes y ventanas
“Milagros Mumenthaler’s debut feature scooped both the Golden Leopard and the Critics Award at this year’s Locarno Film Festival and heralds the director as yet another promising talent from Argentina. Throughout this spare, melancholic film, she guards her narrative secrets – only gradually does it emerge [who] the three lost and bickering souls living under one roof are… The action never leaves the grand but neglected Buenos Aires family home. The camera beautifully stalks its rooms and contents and the piles of possessions – constant reminders of the past – that surround the [three young] sisters… With her preference for low light and a soft focus, a languid end-of-summer aimlessness hangs over the film. Meanwhile she patiently observes every snide comment and questioning stare shared between the three sisters, revealing clashing personalities and exploring in detail the dynamic between them.” — Isabel Stevens, Sight & Sound