DOS HERMANOS/Austin Film Society

Who ever knew that Argentina had their own Woody Allen?  Daniel Burman, an Argentinian/Polish director in his 30's  prefers writing/directing films about aging people more than he does teens and young adults.  He finds their conflicts and struggles much more interesting than adolescents'....how refreshing!  We loved this evening's film about a brother and sister approaching seventy and continuing to live out their early childhood relationship.  The sister is a hustling phony wannabe society woman and her brother is a goldsmith who cares for their mother until her death with sheer enjoyment.  He is a housekeeper, a cook and when his sister banishes him to a home in a backwater town in Uruguay he makes a life for himself: acting, playing chess, furnishing his home.  He even finds love in one of the loveliest scenes I've ever seen in film when two people spend time together over a home cooked meal.  Not only did Chale provide great program notes to us (how else would I know that Burman is Jewish and a lover of Woody Allen?) but once the film began and we all realized that the 35mm copy did not have subtitles Chale ran/drove home and retrieved a DVD for us.  Only in Austin would the Program Director of the Film Society prove over and over again what a mensch he is.