Chinese Takeaway
September 2012
When a recent Chinese arrival to Argentina, who speaks no Spanish, is rescued by a gruff loner it begins one of the most unlikely and touching fish-out-of-water friendships seen in recent film memory.
The Secret in their Eyes star Ricardo Darin is Roberto, a surly lonesome (but seemingly not lonely) hardware store owner who takes pleasure in reading the misfortune of others in bizarre accidents in the paper and then cutting his favourites out to keep them. He comes across Jun (Ignacio Huang), a recent arrival in Argentina who is trying to find his uncle. Reluctantly Roberto takes him in (after Jun has an altercation with a cop, whom Roberto seems to find just as infuriating as painful hardware customers) to quickly find Jun’s uncle so he can get back to his life of treating annoying customers rudely and cutting out the weird stories from the paper. Mari (Muriel Santa Ana) joins the duo; a woman who is keen on the loner Roberto (who of course is oblivious to her intentions) and who is also eager to help Jun. The Best Film winner at the Rome International Film Festival is a moving and fantastic low budget tale from Buenos Aries. Writer/director Sebastian Borensztein (Sin Memoria) doesn’t overplay or bring unnecessary sentimentality to the film. And the two leads (especially Darin) are wonderful. While this seems a simple tale it unravels into something quite spectacular and intricate near the end.
Rated M. Now showing on general release.
TAGS christopher sanders
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