Judíos en el espacio (o por qué es diferente esta noche a las demás noches). Jews in Space (or Why Tonight is Different from Other Nights)

Reviewed by Rafael Ocasio, Agnes Scott Coll., Decatur, GA -- Críticas, 4/1/2008

(Argentina, 2005) color. Spanish (English subtitles). 89 mins. DVD. 2007. $24.95. DRAMA

Written and directed by Gabriel Lichtmann (b. Buenos Aires, 1974), this film looks at the crises that followed the failed suicide attempt of Mauricio, an elderly Jewish man at a loss after the death of his wife. When his extended family determines that he cannot live by himself, they come together to decide what to do. The decision is put aside as members of the young generation decide to celebrate a traditional Seder. As the family struggles with to do with Mauricio, his children have to face issues that go back many years. The slow but well-acted script reveals the difficult life of practicing Jews in contemporary Buenos Aires. At the end, the problems faced by this Jewish family—a fragile economy, loss of traditional family values, and the difficulties of caring for the elders in a fast-paced modern society—are shown to resemble those of gentile Argentine families. Two outstanding characters are Luciana and Santiago, cousins who together produce a plan to make their relatives gather in the ancestral home. Unfortunately, like other characters in the film, their personal stories are not well developed; viewers may end of wishing that at least one of the several story lines was resolved. Recommended as a secondary item for collections of contemporary films from Argentina.