Chinese Take-Away

(Un cuento chino)
Sebastián Borensztein | Comedy, Fiction

2012 | 98 minutes | Argentina

Argentina’s national treasure, Ricardo Darín, plays Roberto, a gruff, anti-social loner who lords over his tiny hardware shop in Buenos Aires with a meticulous sense of control and routine.

Synopsis

Argentina’s national treasure, Ricardo Darín, is best known for his intense dramatic performances in films such as Nine Queens, The Aura, and the Oscar-winning The Secret in Their Eyes, but his brilliant comic timing in this instant classic helped make Chinese Take-Away the biggest home-grown box office success of 2011 in Argentina.

Darín plays Roberto, a gruff, anti-social loner who lords over his tiny hardware shop in Buenos Aires with a meticulous sense of control and routine, barely allowing for the slightest of customer foibles. After a chance encounter with Jun, a Chinese man who has arrived in Argentina looking for his only living relative, Roberto takes him in. Their unusual cohabitation helps Roberto bring an end to his loneliness, but not without revealing to the impassive Jun that destiny’s intersections are many and can even explain the film’s surreal opening sequence: a brindled cow falling from the sky.

Reviews

"★★★★ Many really good films allow us to empathize with other lives. I became invested in Roberto and shared his curiosity about the enigmatic Jun. I cared. The film deserved my care." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

"Gold-plated performance by the reliable Ricardo Darín." — Jonathan Holland, Variety

"Chinese Take Away is one of those movies that you can enjoy repeatedly discovering new shades beyond black humor, such as friendship, love, or loneliness." — Vivelo Hoy

"Warm, amusing, and delightfully structured...a feel-good movie." — Mark Adams, Screen Daily

"A genuinely touching story that, with its themes of cultural conflict and language barriers, should resonate deeply with audiences." — Ciara LaVelle, Miami New Times

Citation
Main credits

Borensztein, Sebastián (screenwriter)
Borensztein, Sebastián (film director)
Herrero, Gerardo (film producer)
Bossi, Pablo (film producer)
Buscarini, Juan Pablo (film producer)
García Peralta, Isabel (film producer)
Darín, Ricardo (actor)
Santa Ana, Muriel (actor)
Huang, Ignacio (actor)

Other credits

Director of photography, Rodrigo Pulpeiro; editor, Fernando Pardo; music, Lucio Godoy.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
China, Mandarin, comedy, immigration, Ricardo Darin, friendship, spanish, spanish language, latin america, latin american cinema, latin american film, ibero america, latin, latinx, latino, latina,,latin american studies, caribbean american studies, island studies, latin american culture, latin american history, latin american politics, caribbean american culture, caribbean american history, caribbean american politics, latin american languages, latin american and caribbean studies, hispanic american studies, hispanic people, hispanic culture, hispanic politics,racism, discrimination, prejudice, ethnicity, ethnic, race studies, ethnic studies, racist, racial sensitivity, bias, prejudice, racial prejudice, ethnic prejudice, genetics, hereditary, culture, ethnic culture, ethnology, ethnography, ethnic sensitivity,migration studies, migrant studies, immigration studies, refugee studies, diaspora studies, resettlement studies, settlement studies, migration, migrant, immigration, refugee, diaspora, resettlement, settlement, refugees, international migration, continental migration, resettling, settlers, settler, migrant, migrant studies, first generation immigrant, first generation immigration, new americans, new spaniards,culture, identity, identity politics, culture wars, left wing, right wing, intersectionality, identity groups, civilization, literacy, humanism, cancel culture, online culture, cultural revolution, cultural diffusion, culture shock, popular culture, pop culture, material culture, cultural capital, cultural assimilation ,sociology, anthropology, psychology, sociological, sociological perspectives, conflict theory, human conflicts, sociological thinking,conflict perspective, topics in sociology, sociology topics, sociology studies, social studies, people and cultures, human relations, human relationships, cultural studies, culture studies ,south america, south american countries, countries in south america, argentina, bolivia, brazil, chile, colombia, ecuador, guyana, paraguay, peru, suriname, uruguay, venezuela, south american politics, south american culture, south american cuisine, south american education, south america in media, south american languages, south america history,Un cuento chino,cuento chino,Chinese Take-Away,Chinese,chinese take away,el cuento chino,argentina,Chinese takeaway,Chino,nine queens,ricardo darin,Darin,A chinese story,"chinese take-away",un cuento chico,Chinese Take,cuente chino,a chinese tale,Chinese Take-Away Un Cuento Chino,the chinese take away,chinese takeout,Cuento,Chinese Take-Away - 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Clips
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Festivals

Sur Awards
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina - Best Film, Best Acto,r Best Supporting Actress
Goya Awards®
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Spain - Best Ibero American Film
La Havana Film Festival - Special Mention; Best Film
Rome Film Festival - Audience Award; Golden Marc’Aurelio Award to Best Film
Worldfest Houston - Best Foreign Film & Best Theatrical Feature
Ojai Film Festival - Best Narrative Feature

DIRECTOR: Sebastián Borensztein

NATIONALITY: Argentina

YEAR: 2012

GENRE: Comedy, Fiction

LANGUAGE: Spanish; Other languages

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adults

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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