The Camera Obscura (2008)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The Argentinian film La cámara oscura (2008), directed by María Victoria Menis, was shown in the U.S. with the title "The Camera Obscura." It stars Mirta Bogdasarian as Gertrudis, a woman so unattractive that her own mother cannot bear to look at her. (Actually, Ms. Bogdasarian isn't even remotely as unattractive as the character she portrays. Nonetheless, the point of the story is that she's unattractive, so we have to accept it.)I knew that some Jews who escaped the Holocaust managed to get into Argentina. However, I didn't realize that immigrants like Gertrudis's family had arrived much earlier, to escape the Russian pogroms. They settled in rural Argentina, and became farmers and ranchers. The story moves forward 20 years, by which time hope has been lost in regard to a marriage for Gertrudis. Nonetheless, she does eventually get married, to a wealthy widower, whose first wife was beautiful but unfaithful. The plot really begins much later, after World War I, when Gertrudis, her husband, and her family are living on their large ranch. Into this situation comes a French photographer, a former war correspondent, who takes pictures of everyone, including Gertrudis. What happens next is somewhat ambiguous, and each viewer will have to decide the significance of the last scene in the film. (Apparently Ms. Menis has been quoted as saying that the last scene is not ambiguous. Most of us in the audience thought it was.)An interesting facet of this movie is the portrayal of Gertrudis's husband and their sons, who have adopted the Gaucho costume, and who work alongside the hired ranch hands. In the same way, the women work hard at the traditional female jobs. An English squire, in similar circumstances, would have a life of leisure, and his wife would have maids to do the hardest work. Not so, apparently, in Argentina. Assuming that this is an accurate portrayal, I found these facts fascinating.The film has some beautiful scenic shots, and they'll be mostly lost on the small screen. Better to see this film in a theater if possible. We saw it at the excellent Rochester Jewish Film Festival.P.S. For reasons I don't understand, this movie has a dismal weighted IMDb average of 6.3. It's not a great film, but it's much better than that. The Camera Obscura is definitely worth seeing.

This is the story of a sensitive woman who has the misfortune of having been considered unattractive all her life. Since her unfortunate and ill-timed birth, Gertrudis will be the butt of derision. Having been born from a Jewish mother as she arrives in Argentina, the unwanted baby is not even given a name by her parents. The customs inspector suggests she could be called Gertrudis, after his own girlfriend.Gertrudis has a hard time throughout her youth. Growing up, she meets a subtle cruelty from her classmates. Her own mother even suggests how to pose for pictures, by almost disappearing from the frame. In spite of her lack of physical attributes, Gertrudis has a vivid imagination; she sees beauty everywhere. When Leo Cohen, a Jewish widower, goes to find a substitute for his dead wife, he passes over Gertrudis' sisters, and selects her. He obviously sees quality in the homely woman, whom he will use as a way to get children; for all practical purposes Gertrudis becomes his slave. We do not even see a kind gesture from this man toward the woman that has done everything for him, without even complaining.When the French photographer Jean-Baptiste arrives in the farm, he is surprised by the self effacing woman who refuses to be photographed with her family. During his stay, Gertrudis listens riveted to what the stories the man has to offer. Jean-Baptiste, who has been injured during WW1, has seen enough horrors in his lifetime that he now wants to escape from them by taking pictures of beauty. He finds in Gertrudis the kind soul that has been taken for granted by her family and the world, at large.Maria Victoria Menis, the director and adapter of a short story by Angelica Gorodischer, works in subtle ways in this moody film that is basically a character story about Gertrudis. The film is slow in the European tradition. Ms. Menis has brought the viewer into a magical world where beauty of the land contrasts with the outward appearance of a woman that has tried to erase herself from existence. Gertrudis has lived with a man for many years without being given any kind of affection by a cold husband and indifferent children. When Jean-Baptiste arrives, she begins examining her life and she is reborn because she feels wanted and appreciated by the French man that happens to come her way.The work of Mirta Bogdasarian is pitch perfect. She really understands what it is to be looked down because the outward appearance. Gertrudis is played with a subtlety that with another actress it might have not been possible. Ms. Bogdasarian is the whole reason for watching the film. Patrick Dell'Isola does a fine job for the director. Fernando Arman gives a solid performance as the selfish husband that has no clue about the gem he had, but did not appreciate.The film is beautifully photographed by Marcelo Iaccarino. The musical score is by Marcelo Moguilevski. Not having seen the previous work of Ms. Menis, we can only go by this film which shows a talent for giving her audience a subtle story, told in gorgeous detail.

"Camara Obscura"Yes, it is painfully slow-moving and not easy to comprehend at times. However, there is a message and I do think it is an important one.The film shows an unattractive child, shunned by her mother. We usually associate a mother's love with unconditional love. Here, Gertrudis gets neither. Growing into adulthood does not improve the situation. An arranged marriage gives her a loveless life filled with drudgery but also the joys of being a parent and living close to nature. Moreover, her mother's painful cringe is nowhere to be seen.The main character's self-image can change if only another human being can find her features attractive.The last part is the best part and rewards us for having sat through a long, seemingly uneventful story.

the movie tells the story of an ugly woman, and that's all, it has not a single moment of action or any kind of deep emotion expressed on the screen, it only tells the sad boring story of an ugly woman, its true that it has nice landscapes and the dressing and costumes of the epoch are well represented, but besides that it left no taste in my mouth it was as boring as watching a wall for an hour and twenty minutes with the difference that by watching the wall i could imagine cool stuff. I have nothing against Argentinian movies, in fact i've watched some of them last year that were really good movies, even with a slow pace and simple stories to tell, but this wasn't the case. This movie features nothing, there's not a single performance of quality, the actors spoke as actual Argentinians, supposing that the film took place one century ago, this is not believable, none of the characters (including the main character Gertrudis) has nothing, absolutely nothing to say, no importance at all in the story, some of them could even be erased and the movie would still be the same. I like Argentinian movies to come out, but please, not everyone deserves to be a director.