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Review: Gigante (2009) ★★★½

<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Many Hollywood films are guilty of exaggerating mundane&comma; everyday events&semi; every flirting glance is meaningful&comma; every moment of serendipity is life-changing&comma; and every relationship is built from a series of zany and unbelievable set pieces&period; Of course&comma; this can also work at the opposite end of the spectrum&comma; where extraordinary things are passed over without a second thought&period; For example&comma; in action films&comma; a helicopter being shot out of the sky over a busy metropolis might be treated as just another day at the office&period; This is why it is refreshing to see films display normal events as unexceptional&period; These stories become reflections of life&comma; and while the plots are necessarily contrived to reach a certain conclusion&comma; they make us feel as though we are peering through a window at someone else’s daily routine&period; This has been a popular narrative model in independent filmmaking&comma; where smaller budgets require a scaling-down of opulence and sensationalism&period; So&comma; while it is technically nothing new&comma; this form of storytelling works well to deviate from the mainstream&comma; and bring the narrative cinema to a much simpler place&comma; where people with cameras record things as they happen&comma; even if those things are still planned ahead of time&period; In Adrían Biniez’ <em>Gigante<&sol;em>&comma; the monotonous routine at a grocery store is played out through the eyes of a security guard who becomes infatuated with one of the cleaning staff&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Jara &lpar;Horacio Camandule&rpar; is a mild-mannered security guard whose large build hides a gentle personality&period; He watches the monitors everyday&comma; observing everything that happens in the grocery store&&num;8217&semi;s many sections&comma; including the interactions of his various coworkers&period; When Jara develops feelings for Julia &lpar;Leonor Svarcas&rpar;&comma; a soft-spoken cleaning woman who is frequently berated by her boss&comma; he starts following her&comma; learning everything he can about her life and interests&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">In this slice-of-life film&comma; there is little in the way of overt comedy&comma; but it maintains an atmosphere of quirkiness and charm that prevent it from being categorized as anything else&period; Jara is oafish&comma; but not unlikeable&comma; and he frequently sticks his neck out for others despite receiving nothing in return&period; Julia is an enigmatic presence in the film&comma; but we get the sense that he sees her as a kindred spirit&comma; and is attracted to both her beauty and status as an outsider&period; Jara follows her throughout Montevideo&comma; making sure to stay out of sight for fear of being discovered&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">With such a minimalistic narrative&comma; <em>Gigante<&sol;em> is surprisingly engaging&period; Since Jara is so quiet&comma; we understand very little about him&comma; which gives the film an air of mystery&semi; <em>Gigante<&sol;em> does not give us much in the way of information for interpreting his interest in Julia either&period; However&comma; it is made clear that Jara is not a bad guy&comma; and this takes <em>Gigante<&sol;em> back into familiar territory&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1427" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1427" style&equals;"width&colon; 850px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-1427" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;03&sol;Captura-de-pantalla-completa-26082016-011916-p&period;m&period;&period;bmp-300x156&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Gigante Jara walks around Montevideo" width&equals;"850" height&equals;"442" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1427" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Gigante &lpar;2009&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">All too often in romantic comedies&comma; stalking is portrayed as an adorable act of affection&comma; something that should eventually be rewarded with love from the party being stalked&period; While <em>Gigante<&sol;em> does not go as far as other films have in belaboring this point&comma; a large portion of the film is dedicated to Jara simply following Julia around town&period; Since we have no other reason to dislike him&comma; it seems to imply that there is nothing wrong with his actions&comma; and that he is merely pursuing a woman in an offbeat way&period; It doesn’t really detract from the film that much&comma; and in some ways the filmmakers use it as a form of comedy&colon; a large&comma; quiet man stalks a woman&comma; but without any ill-intentions&period; It is meant to be funny and endearing&comma; but it is still a tired cliche of the genre&comma; one that reflects a very archaic view of courting&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Despite the reinforcement of the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;loveable stalker” trope&comma; <em>Gigante<&sol;em> is a surprisingly good film that revels in its own simplicity&period; Nothing is overplayed&comma; and while it does fall into the traps of the romantic comedy genre&comma; it more than makes up for it with a well-crafted story&comma; believable performances&comma; and an appreciation for the beauty hidden under the tediousness of life&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Rating&colon; <&sol;span><span class&equals;"s2">&starf;&starf;&starf;<&sol;span><span class&equals;"s1">&half; out of 5<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1"><em>Gigante<&sol;em> is available to rent or purchase via Amazon <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;gp&sol;product&sol;B011TWUPHU&sol;ref&equals;as&lowbar;li&lowbar;qf&lowbar;asin&lowbar;il&lowbar;tl&quest;ie&equals;UTF8&amp&semi;tag&equals;mjones34880c-20&amp&semi;creative&equals;9325&amp&semi;linkCode&equals;as2&amp&semi;creativeASIN&equals;B011TWUPHU&amp&semi;linkId&equals;1b698188ef556d4f257a8cd7341b896b"><u>here<&sol;u><&sol;a>&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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