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Review: Waiting for the Hearse (Esperando la Carroza, 1985) ★★★

<p>Films that are based on plays&comma; or are produced by those who have spent years in theatre&comma; are often readily identifiable&comma; for better or worse&period; Staging is frequently put at the forefront&comma; with careful attention dedicated to the placement of the actors within each scene&period; We also see longer takes and slower pacing&comma; and each scene is riddled with fast&comma; often biting dialogue to make up for the lack of action&period; Such is the case with <em>Esperando La Carroza<&sol;em> or &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Waiting for the Hearse&comma;” a somewhat strange and over-the-top comedy from Argentina&comma; featuring actors whose names are well known in Argentina’s theatrical world&period; The script is based on a play of the same name by Uruguayan playwright&comma; Jacobo Langsner&period; The director&comma; Alejandro Doria&comma; started his career in television&comma; directing Argentine variety shows in the 1960s before eventually transitioning to film&period; The three different spheres of entertainment involved &lpar;film&comma; television&comma; and theatre&rpar; are somewhat awkwardly blended in this bizarre comedy&period; It is a modern entry in the <em>grotesco criollo<&sol;em>&comma; a theatrical subgenre specific to Buenos Aires&comma; but with roots in Italian theatre&period; These works focus on characters that have a delusional self-image&comma; and the comedy often arises when they are forced to see reality&comma; and their delusions are exposed for ridicule&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Waiting for the Hearse<&sol;em> follows an Argentine family&comma; rife with infighting&comma; as they try to deal with the aged matriarch of the family&comma; affectionately known as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Mama Cora&period;” Mama Cora&comma; played by famed Argentine comedian and impersonator&comma; Antonio Gasalla&comma; is a nuisance to her four children and their respective spouses&period; She is forgetful&comma; stubborn&comma; and insists on helping &lpar;or meddling&rpar; in every situation&period; At the start of the film&comma; her daughter-in-law&comma; Susana&comma; has a nervous breakdown from dealing with Mama Cora &lpar;who has been living with them for several years&rpar; and insists on meeting with the other siblings in the hopes that they will take Mama Cora off her hands&period; None of the children want anything to do with the old woman’s care&comma; though they all &lpar;with the exception of Susana&rpar; profess great affection and admiration for her&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As the story progresses&comma; the somewhat eccentric and absent-minded old woman goes off on her own&comma; leaving the children to bicker amongst themselves&period; Once they realize she is nowhere to be found&comma; they search desperately for her&comma; even going as far as to report her missing to the police&period; The tension amongst the hot-blooded siblings rises&comma; leading to even more fighting and increasingly egregious accusations&period; When a woman who happens to wear the same shoes as Mama Cora throws herself in front of a train&comma; the family members all blame one another for the old woman’s apparent death&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;778" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-778" style&equals;"width&colon; 632px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-778" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;05&sol;Screen-Shot-2017-05-20-at-9&period;05&period;58-PM-1-300x161&period;png" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"632" height&equals;"339" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-778" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">The characters are placed at varying depths of field&comma; and they shift positions throughout long takes&comma; often in very cramped settings &lpar;Waiting for the Hearse&comma; 1985&rpar;&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><em>Waiting for the Hearse<&sol;em> feels more like a play than a movie&comma; and this doesn’t always work in its favor&period; The performances are often excessive&comma; the comedy a little heavy-handed&comma; and nothing on screen comes across as being very natural&period; This&comma; however&comma; is frequently the case with theatrical comedies&comma; as they are usually far-removed from what we consider to be natural or realistic&period; It is entertaining to watch the family&comma; many of whom are so unashamedly selfish as to be caricatures rather than real people&comma; fight over every little detail of their lives&semi; from what drinks should be served to which bedroom the wake should be held in&comma; nothing can be done without someone disagreeing or feeling mistreated in some way&period; This representation of Argentine personalities pushed to the extreme is humorous because it borders on being grating&period; The personas that they have adopted are so grandiose and delusional that one cannot help but laugh at their absurdity&period; Easily the funniest of all the characters is&comma; of course&comma; Mama Cora&period; Antonio Gasalla has perfected his impersonation of crotchety old women from his years working in Argentine television&period; His characters are often women who are completely oblivious to their surroundings&comma; but nonetheless strong-willed and unafraid to speak their mind&period; His blank stare and slack-jawed expressions are trademarks of his comedic ability&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Director Alejandro Doria put his years in television to good use&comma; meticulously staging each scene&comma; with the characters speaking their lines with strong&comma; even excessive passion&comma; before swiftly moving to their marks&comma; creating a mosaic of well-crafted mis-en-scene&period; However this attention to detail often feels strange when set against a script that revels in excess and dark comedy&period; All of the pieces are there for a great film&comma; but the final product comes across as somewhat cheap and bizarre&comma; though this seems to be intentional&period; It is certainly a technically proficient film&comma; but the quality of the writing&comma; combined with the peculiarity of the genre itself&comma; make for a somewhat strange viewing experience&period; However&comma; if for no other reason&comma; <em>Waiting for the Hearse<&sol;em> should be viewed for the exemplary and hilarious performance from Antonio Gasalla&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rating&colon; &starf;&starf;&starf; out of 5<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Waiting for the Hearse<&sol;em> is currently available to stream on <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;netflix&period;com&sol;search&quest;q&equals;esperando&amp&semi;jbv&equals;70266171&amp&semi;jbp&equals;0&amp&semi;jbr&equals;0">Netflix<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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