Cinema Society

LA CAMERA OSCURA

Average
Rating

4.1

Tuesday, February 02, 2010, AMC La Jolla 12 Theatres

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2

5:00PM or 7:30pm (You Choose!)

Salute to the 20th Anniversary of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival

LA CAMARA OSCURA

Auditorium 4 Only!

Discussion will follow screening

AMC La Jolla 12 Theatres

Salute to the 20th Anniversary of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival

LA CAMARA OSCURA

The Cinema Society of San Diego is proud to salute the San Diego Jewish Film Festival, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year. For the celebration, we are pleased to be presenting one of the many prestige films shown over their 12-day celebration.

LA CAMARA OSCURA, a film based on the short story of the same name by Angelica Gorodischer, invites us from the title itself—which refers to an ancient painting technique, the most primitive form of photography—to enter the singular universe of the human gaze, and the mysterious process of its creation.

In a colony of Jewish immigrants in Entre Rios Province, Argentina, at the end of the 19th Century, we discover the story of Gertrudis, a woman who in the eyes of her family was born an ugly baby, grew up into a not very pretty child and finally became, in the eyes of everyone around her, an insignificant, almost invisible woman. Ignored by all, Gertrudis does not let the fact interfere with the keen interest for those delicate, minuscule signs of beauty that surround us, and that we can only perceive if we stop to contemplate them.

Years later, when she's married with children, a French photographer arrives at Gertrudis's farm and becomes the only one to discover, through his special “gaze,” Gertrudis's singular beauty and her intense inner world.

Starring Mirta Bogdasarian, Fernando Armani and Patrick Dell'Isola, LA CAMERA OBSCURA is directed by Maria Victoria Menis.

Running Time: 85 Minutes

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21-Feb-10: Mroe - Rating: 4

What a soulful film. This was a insight into human behavior in how much a person can and will endure. Not only where the photographer's pictures obscure (the obvious) but so was the way Gertrudis was treated from birth by her mother, then later by her husband/ family. The mind/brain is an amazing tool, it can get us through painful and traumatic experiences, it can help a person "escape" when necessary. Maybe being an only child myself I could more easily relate to the fantasy /imagination of Gertudis because when one is alone/lonely (even in a room full of people), ones mind can go to a place of comfort and welcome. I like the subtitles of Gertrudis just wearing earring to indicate want to be attractive to the photographer or maybe that he made her feel attractive enough to want to put on the earrings. I am glad she went off with the photographer (I believe that is what happened), she had given up enough of her life already and deserved to live the rest of it the way she wanted.

11-Feb-10: SMM - Rating: 5

Loved this movie! One of my favorites of the season and one that I will want to share with my friends when it is available on DVD. Andy, I think you said that this film says a lot without saying much, and I agree with that wholeheartedly. I loved the way that Gertrudis and the photographer saw that they were kindred spirits, both seeing beauty in the world and in each other. I imagined them living wonderful full lives together in an artists' colony or something like that!

9-Feb-10: Dennis - Rating: 4

I enjoyed this film and the ironies that it contained. The loss of dignity to give birth in public on the boat ramp, only to transfer that by robbing the child you gave birth to her dignity reminded me of "The Joy Luck Club" when the mother recognizes the lack of spirit in her daughter that she was not able to nourish as a mother. Gertrudis not being nutured by her mother, but loved by her father paves the way for what develops later in the plot. She is so in touch with beauty, be it the placement of items on the table, the garden of flowers and what she does with them, the gift of her culinary talents. She did this because of the world that she created to buffer the experience of her childhood, she did not need affirmation, her self developed talents and ties to the beauty of the world and of poetry was sufficient. Family had let her down from early on, self resilience was her survival. And then, one day, a photographer, with his perception, trained eye, and recent experience in the war recognizes the rose in the briar patch. Idealic, but sweet. On a side note, the Argentinian film (of this and last years offering) also gives me a chance to listen to Castillian being spoken in a way that is familiar to me, like coming home...Thanks Andy!

7-Feb-10: Jo - Rating: 5

This film is the reason I joined the Cinema Society. The visual, unspoken story of this woman's perception of her own invisibility is far more universal I believe than many would admit. It was told with such purity and filmic simplicity that the depth of her feelings were palpable and could be shared without gratuitous dialogue.

I like to see the films that theatre owners typically don't choose and we don't usually have an opportunity to see. Thank Andy, for choosing this undeniably beautiful and meaningful film.

4-Feb-10: pb - Rating: 4

I really enjoyed the film. The pace was not too slow for me. Watching the main character's pain turn to joy was wonderful. It felt like we were watching a photo come to life. Her sadness and insecurity and her family's insensitivity were portrayed perfectly. Framing the film with the same scene at the beginning and the end worked well. Kudos to the director and cinematographer. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

3-Feb-10: Georgi - Rating: 4

Perhaps the most thought provoking movie of the season. Not emotionally impactful because of its cool and langurous pace, but visually a saga on how living life in the shadows lets you see the light more clearly. That this was a Jewish family added to the story, but the movie did not center around that aspect as its main point. The muted veil of the film was beautiful to look at but probably much better in film, rather than DVD which made all of it a bit subdued, even when the energy was opening up to the sun. I never realized that mean mothers were so plentiful!

2-Feb-10: Mark - Rating: 3

A serious movie with fine acting and beautiful cinematography, but too slow — and perhaps a bit too "oscura" — for my taste.