In this droll, romantic portrait of a young marriage, a hunky soccer pro reaches the end of his career and has to reinvent himself at 35 – with the discreet support and good-humoured indulgence of his lively wife.
In film, you usually see relationships as they are beginning, or as they are ending. But in El Cinco you see a relationship that is already up and running, a relationship that works.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2015
El Cinco 2014
El 5 de Talleres
Life begins at 35 in this shrewdly observed romantic drama, the longawaited new film from Argentinian writer/director Adrián Biniez (Gigante). Patón (Esteban Lamothe) has been playing professional football since he was 19. Banned for eight matches after a major foul, he begins to think about hanging up his boots full time. But what the hell can he do with the rest of his life? He was never the brightest of students or the most ingratiating of men, and there are no accumulated earnings to fall back on. His father in particular is dismayed at the prospect of retirement. But his wife Ale never wavers in believing that Patón’s got what it takes to make the rest of their lives worthwhile. The tactfully nurturing Ale may sound like every man-child’s dream partner, but in Julieta Zylberberg’s vivacious performance the emotional attachment feels sexy and true: by movie’s end you might be happy to know that she and Lamothe are married in real life too.
“Biniez doesn’t so much subvert the [sports drama] genre as divert it into romantic channels as charming as they are unexpected.” — Ronnie Scheib, Variety