Amor Etc is billed as a comedy, but is it really? After viewing I wasn’t so sure.
Dib and Lisa have just moved in together. Lisa orders a new phone line and gets several calls which are not for her but from the previous owner, someone called Maria Eugenia who will become an obsession for her.
For Dib, the move also brings changes: the neighbours, the girl on the ground floor, and a puppy barking, all which exasperate his mood. Setbacks and unexpected joys throw the young lovers into laughs, music, kisses and tears. How will their relationship change and how will they solve the problems that a lot of couples in new relationships experience?
The premise of Amor Etc is appealing – young love begins in all its fervour and becomes stale as the relationship develops. However, it is billed as a comedy and I didn’t laugh, not even once! There could be several reasons for this, including that the translation does not do justice to the comedy in its original language, or it’s just not funny.
The performances were excellent, Maria Canale (Lisa) is idealistic, romantic and naive. She lives in the moment and firmly believes everything will turn out for the best. However, life isn’t like that, as she discovers. Canale highlights Lisa’s vulnerability in her performance.
Alberto Rojas Apel plays Dib as a twenty-something laid back lover. There is never any doubt about his devotion to Lisa, but he simply does not put the work in to the relationship with inevitable results. His decent into despair is really worth watching.
The supporting performances are uniformly good, as is the cinematography. The colour palette of the film highlights the Argentinian colours of blue, white and gold. It is, at times, moody and at other times, flashy.
So, is Amor Etc a comedy or not? I didn’t think so. Have look and see what you think.
Reviewed by Barry Hill
Twitter: @kinesguy
Rating out of 10: 6
Amor Etc. will screen on 23 August 2016 only, as part of Cine Latino: Latin American Film Festival, running 11 – 24 August 2016 exclusively at the Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas.
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