Penumbra (2011) starring Cristina Brondo, Camila Bordonaba, Berta Muñiz, Arnaldo André, Mirella Pascual directed by Adrián García Bogliano, Ramiro García Bogliano Movie Review

Penumbra (2011)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Cristina Brondo in Penumbra (2011)

Um

Marga (Cristina Brondo) is a busy woman who really doesn't want to be in Buenos Aires but is there to deal with a building she inherited with her sister some years earlier. Whilst she would prefer to be back in Barcelona she is a business woman and time is money which she reminds the realtor when he shows up. But the realtor has a client who is willing to pay over the odds to move in if they can forget all the formalities so he can move in within the hour which happens to be on the same day as a total solar eclipse. As the day unravels Marga finds herself at the centre of much oddity.

Foreign films can be hard work and whilst I approach everyone with an open mind I had a strange sense that I wouldn't enjoy "Penumbra". Okay so it wasn't that strange as I read an opinion somewhere which mentioned Lynch and "Twin Peaks" which I never got into and feared this would be the same, something a little too quirky and too over the top to work for me. And it was as it tosses random people at us as we follow Marga and you wonder where this is all going when she finds herself dealing with a tramp who hassles her and then finds herself in trouble when she uses her stun gun on him as others say she attacks her.

Now for around 40 minutes not a great deal happens, we get some quirky characters and some not too unpleasant cinematography surrounding an old lift but nothing which makes you sit up and pay attention. But all this is really a build up to whether or not Marga is going mad as she sees all this quirky stuff but no one else seems to. The things is that there is an opening scene to this movie which makes it clear that Marga isn't going mad but fails to make you curious as you what is really going on.

What this means is that "Penumbra" is an acquired taste and it wasn't for me. But if you are fan of foreign movies, in this case Argentinean, and enjoy the quirkiness of a David Lynch movie this might just appeal to you.


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