Rafael can barely keep his Zorro hat on his head before he trips and begins receiving a beating.
Cue his best friend, Juan Carlos, who shows up just in time to save him, and they run home screaming for mommy.įorward to the present, and Rafael (Ricardo Darin) is 42-years old and runs the family Italian restaurant in Argentina. Dealing with suppliers and the expense of mascarpone in tiramisu, his life is lived from one cell phone call to the next. His one-time savior mother, Norma (Norma Aleandro), now suffers from Alzheimers and lives in a nursing home.His father, Nino (Hector Alterio), hatches a scheme to remarry her in a church as she had always wanted. Nino is disappointed by Rafaels pleas about the expense and that Norma wont even be aware of what is going on. Rafaels ex-wife, Sandra (Claudia Fontan), hassles him about being a better father to their daughter, Victoria (Gimena Nobile), and he also has trouble keeping up with his young, gorgeous girlfriend, Nati (Natalia Verbeke).
Making his life even more hectic, his old friend, Juan Carlos (Eduardo Blanco), returns after a long absence sporting a tragic revelation. But in many ways Bride plays like an Argentine version of Woody Allen's Manhattan, centring on a middle-aged man's search for self, complete with a love affair with a younger woman, lopsided relations with an ex-wife, shared custody of a child and a troubled best friend.Then Rafael has an experience that makes him re-examine his life completely and he considers dropping out and moving to Mexico. This name - as well as the poster image of Darin, Alterio and Aleandro, with Aleandro in the middle - may well represent a nod to the film's two acting giants. The film's title is slightly misleading, as Bride is really more about Rafael's own journey than his parents' remarriage. Other brilliant supporting characters are Juan Carlos (Blanco), a childhood friend of Rafael's who has undergone his own crises and seeks out the companionship of his old friend, and Rafael's world-weary ex-wife (Fontan). The little-known actress injects dignity and pathos into what could have been a conventional or even whiney role as the long-suffering girlfriend. Talented leading man Darin holds his own alongside Alterio and Aleandro and, in the film's real discovery, so does Spain's Natalia Verbeke. Only the film's opening scenes, black-and-white flashbacks to the main character's childhood, threaten to trip into such excess. Rafael is originally opposed to the idea but finally comes around, a change indicative of his gradual emotional metamorphosis.Ĭampanella and Castets tell a smooth story while avoiding the sappy sentimentality that might taint a mainstream US treatment of similar material. Rafael's father, the boyish Nino (the equally renowned Hector Alterio), dreams of remarrying his disabled but beloved wife, this time in a church ceremony.
Naty, obviously longing for a commitment from him or at least inclusion in his future plans, is deeply hurt.Ī secondary storyline concerns the bride of the title, Rafael's mother, an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimers Disease, stoically brought to life by legendary actress Aleandro through a series of wide-eyed and childlike facial gestures. Waking up in the hospital, Rafael reveals to his girlfriend Naty (Verbeke) that what he really wants to do is to run away from everything and everyone. The son of the title is Rafael Belvedere (Darin), a 42-year-old restaurant owner and divorced father who suffers a premature heart attack. This week The Son Of The Bride was also picked up by Sony Picture Classics for North America. Meanwhile in Spain it has taken $1.6m from 57 screens after seven weeks. The film has already done blockbuster business at home in Argentina - where it is the highest grossing film of all time and the country's candidate for the best foreign film Oscar. Language may be a hindrance to the film's international aspirations, but the universality of the subject matter should translate fluidly across borders. 123mins.Īrgentinian director Juan Jose Campanella's The Son Of The Bride (El Hijo De La Novia) is a tender, beautifully acted dramatic comedy that centres on a middle-aged man in crisis.