Marcia (Tatiana Saphir)
is a heavy-set woman who is stuck in a dead-end job selling underwear in
a lingerie shop that attracts few customers. Rejected by her fiancé
after a two-year courtship, she goes through the motions of living. Her
world is turned upside down, however, when she is kidnapped at knife point
by two sullen, ice-cold, look-alike lesbians named Mao (Carla Crespo) and
Lenin (Veronica Hassan) who tell her how much they want to have sex with
her.
Based on the novel La
Prueba by Argentine writer Cesar Aria, Deigo Lerman’s Suddenly is a fascinating
examination of power struggles in relationships that takes us to unexpected
places - suddenly. Filmed in 16mm black and white by cinematographers Diego
del Piano and Luciano Zito and reminiscent of Jim Jarmusch’s episodic style,
Lerman’s first feature
has, according to the director, “contradictions reveling in contradictions”.
The film contains moments
of comedy but these are undercut by a mysteriously sinister air that keeps
us guessing as to where the film is headed. Marcia is scared but does not
attempt to run away and seems curious about their overtures. The tough
young women highjack a taxi and drive Marcia to visit Lenin’s seventy-year
old Aunt Blanca (Beatriz Thibaudin), who lives in Rosario, a seaside town
near Buenos Aires with her two tenants, the shy Felipe (Marcos Ferrante),
a Biology student and Delia (Maria Merlino), a painter and part-time teacher.
Aunt Blanca in a fine performance by Thibaudin, is one of the few sympathetic
characters in the film and her unconventional warmth allows Lenin to connect
with the value of relationships.
When Marcia tells Mao
that she enjoyed being with her, she tells Marcia to shut up and go to
sleep. Mao is an unpleasant bully who, after consummating her relationship
with Marcia, neglects her and rudely shifts her interest to Felipe. Passive
to the end, Marcia does not stand up for herself or try to leave. Felipe
seems bewildered by the girls but supports Mao in a shoplifting spree without
considering the ramifications. Suddenly is a strangely involving film that
shows great promise by the director but the lesbian butch women are caricatures
that detract from the film’s message, which after all is quite simple -
when people are finished playing ego games with each other, what is left
is love.
GRADE: B+
Howard
Schumann