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(More customer reviews)Imagine joining a dozen other people inside a cramped 1956 van for a 600-mile trek across Argentina just to attend a wedding. It's the middle of summer, and there's no air conditioning. Any volunteers? Now imagine that all your fellow travelers are - Egad! - your family. Yes, Rolling Family (Familia Rodante) presents the nightmare scenario of one such journey, from Buenos Aires to Misiones (on the Argentina-Brazil border). You can just imagine all of the humor and drama sure to arise from such conditions. It's a long, hard trip for an old 1956 Chevy Viking camper, but mechanical problems are the least of this family's worries, as the trip takes both a physical and an emotional toll on all involved.
So who do we have here? We must start with Emilia (Graciana Chironi), the matriarch of the family. It was her idea for the whole family to travel with her to Misiones for the marriage of her niece. From her position as the very heart of both the family and the film itself, Emilia's endurance is pushed to the limits by the heat, cramped conditions, and general behavior of family members she can criticize but never control. Sisters Claudia and Marta are married to Oscar (or "Fatso") and Ernesto, respectively - but that doesn't keep Ernesto from putting the moves on Marta (and you know no good can come from that). A further generation down, you have Paula, who's brought her baby along after another row with her boyfriend (and that certainly makes for a volatile situation when said boyfriend shows up). There's also Yanina, who has the hots for her cousin Gustavo, who in turn prefers the friend Yanina brought along on the trip with her (although he's not averse to messing around with his cousin, as well). Young Matias is actually the sanest and most civil one of the whole lot - all he does is sneak a dog along for the ride.
Much is made of Graciana Chironi's performance as Emilia - and rightfully so, as she's wonderfully real and human in the role. What makes her performance particularly impressive is the fact that she had never acted professionally before - although she did have quite a rapport with the director. She is in fact director Pablo Trapero's very own grandmother. And that's not the only thing that makes this a story particularly close to Trapero's heart. The whole thing was inspired by his own childhood memories of family camping trips - trips that were made in the very same van used in the filming of this movie.
Rolling Family is really an unabashed look at the interdynamics of family life. Feelings and emotions that might have festered beneath the surface for years explode under the pressure of these mucho caliente conditions. It's hot, it's loud, it's basically just crazy. I can't say I found the film all that heartwarming, though - real, yes, but heartwarming, not so much (there's certainly nothing in the way of a fairy tale ending to be found here). This has a lot to do with the ending, which is an ending rather than a conclusion. The lack of cloture sort of bothered me initially, but I'm coming around to the idea that it's really a fitting way to end things. After all, there's no cloture in life itself; there's never a moment when we know for sure what has gone down in our lives, and there's certainly no point in which something worrisome doesn't loom somewhere in the future.
This was my first Argentinean film (and I should point out that the DVD does have English subtitles). Besides reminding me that I've forgotten everything I ever used to know about Spanish, the film served up a wonderful, albeit limited, introduction to the Argentinean countryside and, to some extent, the people. One scene in particular puzzled me, but I'm sure that is due to my relative ignorance of the cultural aspects of Argentina. There's no trouble understanding what this film is really about, though, as family is family wherever you are and whatever language you speak.
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Plot Outline: ROLLING FAMILY is a warm, vivacious comedy about love, life, laughter and the compromises we make for family.When Emila, (Gracina) an Argentinian grandmother is invited to be the 'matron of honor' at the wedding of a distant niece she invites her whole family to accompany her.They set off in a 1956 Chevy Viking camper on a cross country journey to the border of Argentina and Brazil.Between the starting point of Buenos Aires and the destination of Misiones, all the anger, sorrow, attraction and warmth between four cramped generations comes to the surface.ROLLING FAMILY is a joyful and complex film that illuminates family life filled with affection, melancholy, and plenty of humor.Product Details: Actors: Liliana Capurro, Graciana Chironi, Ruth Dobel, Federico Esquerro, Bernardo Forteza, Laura Glave, Nicolás López, Sol Ocampo, Marianela Pedano and Carlos Resta.Director: Pablo Trapero Run Time:95 mins / Special Features: 35 minsDVD Features: Making of Featurette Argentinean theatrical trailer US theatrical trailer 5.1 Surround Sound Palm Previews Weblinks
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