The Fish Child (2009)

A Brilliant Conflict

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Lala is in love with her maid Ailin whom she has known since she was 13. They plan to steal from Lala's Argentinian family and run away back to Ailin's Paraguay home town on the lake. There is a mysterious legend of the Fish Child at the lake. Ailin is caught for the thieve and refuses to turn on Lala. The detention center has a dark secret and Lala strives to retrieve her love in a daring escape.The two women are compelling characters and there is a nice forbidden love going on. The chemistry is OK but could be better. The movie could have a better flow. It is edited in a time-jumping disjointed way. It's not the best way to establish chemistry for the couple and for the flow of their journey. Time jumbos are not fit for everything. The movie stumbles a few times and the last act is where the movie fumbles. It's all jammed together with sex slavery, the escape, and the reveal of the legend. The worst is the overly emotional reaction to her dead dog in the middle of the shootout. I kind of chuckled when they carried both the injured and the dead dog as they escaped. The movie has some interesting aspects but overall, it is a slight miss.

It sounded interesting; almost like an Argentine version of "Heavenly Creatures" - but in the end "The Fish Child" fails to live up to the promise that it seems to have. The story revolves around the teenage daughter of an Argentine judge and his wife, who falls in love with the family's Paraguayan maid. The two plot to run off together to Paraguay, to live in a house by a lake, but things don't turn out as planned when the judge is killed. There's not a lot of mystery about his killing; there is a lot of intrigue about the past - particularly the maid's past - but somehow the movie seemed kind of choppy to me (perhaps the result of subtitles) so that it didn't really draw me in particularly well.The strongest part of the movie is probably the performance of Ines Efron as the judge's daughter. She was quite good and convincing in the role. Mariela Vitale was also quite good as the maid.That said, the movie still disappointed a bit. (4/10)

"The Fish Child" or "El Nino Pez" is Argentinean director Lucia Puenzo follow up to the critical hit "XXY". Puenzo once again casts Ines Efron to star in this story of a family in the rich upper class suburbs of Buenos Aries."The Fish Child" is more ambitious and sprawling in its story telling which also contributes too many of its faults. While "XXY" was a small character drama focused on the struggle of one persons search for identity "The Fish Child" reaches for a more broad almost soap opera like style. The story is told in a fractured non linear style making a first viewing somewhat of a challenge.It is a modern day love story between two young women Lala (Efron), the daughter of a judge and, Ailin the family maid. They plan to run away together to Paraguay and live in a house on the shores of Lake Ypoa. The problem is they have no money. Lala's father is about to retire and write a scathing memoir about the rampant corruption within the police force. But before he can do any of this he is murdered but by who? Lala and Ailin have their motives as do others.The story is told from Lala's point of view and mainly focuses on Ailin. She is accused and arrested for the murder and send to prison. The story flashes back and forth in time to give us a background on the characters, but when it comes to the third act the plot is just too bloated and over stuffed. We find out a bit more about Ailin's past and an anticlimactic resolution to who killed Lala's father. Needless to say they escape to Paraguay and live happily ever after or something like that. Obviously not the greatest movie but the acting of the two girls is pretty decent and will appeal to those who scour the foreign films section looking for something different.

excerpt, full review at my location - The writer/director of the synopsis- defying Argentine intersexuality melodrama XXY follows up her directorial debut with this adaptation of her own novel. With Inés Efron returning as another gay protagonist, Puenzo this time treads more traditional ground with her lesbian noir drama, but is the result Argentina's answer to the Wachowshi brothers' Bound or a case of a difficult second album depreciating the promise of the first?There's plenty of intrigue in this film for it to be of interest, and while it often fails to deliver on its promises, Lucía Puenzo is not on the list of Argentine directors you'd be wise to ignore. But given her impressive prior work, The Fish Child represents an overall disappointing work from an artist we've been given reason to expect more from.