Dark Side of the Heart (El Lado Oscuro del Corazon)

Director: Eliseo Subiela
Screenwriters: Eliseo Subiela

Institute History

  • 1993 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Eliseo Subiela's new film is a dark, at times disturbing, but also wonderfully life-enhancing and humorous study of the mind of a young man who is trying to find the special woman in his life. Balanced between reality and surreality, the film is infused with a rich touch of visual poetry and cinematic surprise, which sharply captures the dilemmas and internal life of its protagonist. Oliveira is a young poet, living the life of a bohemian in Buenos Aires. To get by, he must sell slick one-liners and concepts to an advertising firm, but he still occasionally has to trade a romantic poem for a steak, or recite a few verses for money from passing motorists. But his main obsession in life is to find a woman who will make him soar. His search finally takes him across the Rio de la Plata to Montevideo, where he wanders into a bar and meets Ana, a local prostitute. Their tumultuous relationship undergoes many changes as Oliveira is forced to grow up and confront his romantic dreams.

The power of Dark Side of the Heart lies in Subiela's ability to consistently surprise and affect us. By trading images for words, he turns Oliveira's obsessions into a moving trip through the mind of a male narcissist.


Tuesday Jan 26 7:15 pm
Holiday Village Cinema II

Sunday Jan 31 11:15 am
Holiday Village Cinema II

$6.00

— Piers Handling, Toronto Film Festival

Screening Details

Credits

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