Suddenly

Black and white, 35 mm
Argentina, 2002, 94 min
Section: Horizons - Awarded films

Synopsis

Marcia is a fat, discontented sales assistant in a ladies’ lingerie store who has been recently abandoned by her lover. She doesn’t have too many friends either. Her life in Buenos Aires is grey and tedious until she is spotted in the street one day by a couple of hardy lasses: Mao and Lenin. At first glance, there is nothing particularly feminine or gentle about them, just as there was nothing particularly humane about the original bearers of their names. After Mao, in her distinctive way, declares her passion to the dumbfounded Marcia, the latter has no choice but to allow herself to be drawn into this love game. Mao asserts her will with the words: “The love which has no explanation can be proven, and proof is worth as much as love”. Marcia, who, until now, has been able to distinguish between friendship, sex and love, is bewildered, but she decides to set out on an adventure with her new friends. While Mao hides her identity the entire time, never dropping her mask of a tough, worldly-wise thief of all trades, Lenin, though armed with a knife, conceals a wounded soul: originally named Veronika, she yearns for lost maternal love. It is, in fact, her story which helps the protagonists shed their hard outer shells.

About the director

Diego Lerman (b. 1976, Buenos Aires) studied image and sound at university in Buenos Aires; he also studied theatre for five years at Sportivo Teatral and attended seminars at the film school in San Antonio de los Baňos en Cuba. He initially performed in several stage plays, worked as an assistant director and also in advertising. He made five shorts, of which the most important is The Evidence (La Prueba, 1999) which was screened at over 40 festivals. The film Suddenly is his feature debut, awarded at the Locarno IFF 2002 with a Silver Leopard and the Special Mention to the acting ensemble. The director on his film: “I was fascinated by dangerous situations, to set out for a place from where there is possibly no return, where one is constantly on the point of falling into a chasm”.