Screened as part of NZIFF 2015

El Cinco 2014

El 5 de Talleres

Directed by Adrián Biniez

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.

Argentina / Uruguay In Spanish with English subtitles
100 minutes CinemaScope

Director, Screenplay

Producers

Fernando Epstein
,
Agustina Chiarino
,
Gonzalo Rodríguez Bubis

Photography

Guillermo Nieto

Editor

Fernando Epstein

Production designer

Julieta Dolinksy

Costume designer

Paola Delgado

With

Esteban Lamothe (Patón Bonassiolle)
,
Julieta Zylberberg (Ale)
,
Nestór Guzzini (Hugo Donato)
,
Matías Castelli (Besasso)
,
Alfonso Tort (Negro Iono)
,
Luis Martínez (Tinchio)
,
César Bordón (Mariano)
,
Cristian Wetzel (Maxi Callizo)
,
Marcelo Furchi (psychologist)

Festivals

Venice 2014
,
Tribeca 2015

Elsewhere

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